Democrat John Edwards quits presidential race
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who focused his bid for the Democratic nomination on helping the middle class but failed to win a single state, is withdrawing from the presidential race, a campaign official said on Wednesday.
The official said Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee, would make his decision public in New Orleans at 1 p.m. EST .
Edwards, 54, has not won any contests in the race for the Democratic nomination for the November election, and lags behind front-runners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in public opinion polls.
The millionaire lawyer was returning to New Orleans to make the announcement where he began his campaign keyed to a theme of combating poverty in America and helping the middle class.
He was not expected to endorse anyone during his speech.
The decision to pull out came shortly after Edwards, who served one term in the U.S. Senate, lost to Obama and Clinton in his native South Carolina -- the only state he won during his failed 2004 presidential bid.
After Saturday's third place finish, Edwards had vowed to stay in the race and continue pushing his message, at least until "Super Tuesday" on February 5, when 22 states will hold Democratic nominating contests.
Edwards' best finish in the nominating contests was in Iowa, where he came in second to Obama after spending a lot of time over the past year courting union officials and visiting small towns around the state.
"It's a gracious way for him to do it," Obama told reporters as he returned from a jog in Denver. "I look forward to talking to him."
In a statement, Obama praised Edwards for spending a "lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn't popular to do or covered in the news."
"At a time when our politics is too focused on who's up and who's down, he made a nation focus again on who matters -- the New Orleans child without a home, the West Virginia miner without a job, the families who live in that other America that is not seen or heard or talked about by our leaders in Washington," Obama said.
One source close to Edwards said he was not dropping out because of his wife's health. Elizabeth Edwards, who was diagnosed with breast cancer just after the 2004 election, announced last year her cancer had returned and was incurable.
The son of a millworker, Edwards tried to appeal to voters by focusing on his humble roots.
His populist message focused on fighting poverty, giving health care coverage to all Americans and reducing corporate influence in Washington.
Hopefully he'll swing his support to Obama and take the rumored AG position
Predictions:Sales of Wii Fit will surpass the combined sales of the Grand Theft Auto franchiseLifetime sales of Wii will surpass the combined sales of the entire Playstation family of consoles by 12/31/2015 Wii hardware sales will surpass the total hardware sales of the PS2 by 12/31/2010 Wii will have 50% marketshare or more by the end of 2008 (I was wrong!! It was a little over 48% only)Wii will surpass 45 Million in lifetime sales by the end of 2008 (I was wrong!! Nintendo Financials showed it fell slightly short of 45 million shipped by end of 2008)Wii will surpass 80 Million in lifetime sales by the end of 2009 (I was wrong!! Wii didn't even get to 70 Million)
