Edwards可惜了,希望Clinton勝選以後能夠用他當勞工部長.
接下來的情勢對Clinton相當有利.先前的初選Edwards在白人
男性選民中表現不錯.在南方各州Edwards民調強勢的地區,
這些票在Edwards退選後,應該多半會流向Clinton陣營.Clinton
在Super Tuesday後的領先距離可望因此拉大.
The New York Times
http://0rz.tw/d23FJ
NEW ORLEANS — John Edwards, the progressive Democratic candidate who made a
populist, anti-poverty message the centerpiece of his campaign, has decided
to drop out of the presidential primary race, and is to give a speech this
afternoon at the same place where he began his campaign — in New Orleans.
Throughout this season, Mr. Edwards has not been able to break through the
dueling high-profile candidacies of Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Barack Obama. And he had not been able to raise the kind of money that his
two chief rivals had early on.
On Tuesday Mr. Edwards placed separate telephone calls to Mr. Obama and Mrs.
Clinton, telling each he was considering leaving the race and asking them to
commit to talking about poverty more during the rest of the Democratic
nominating fight, as well as the general election. But top advisers said that
Mr. Edwards would not be endorsing another candidate today when he makes his
formal announcement at 1 p.m.
“He just made a decision that he didn’t see a path to the nomination and he
didn’t want to stick around to be a spoiler or a kingmaker,” said Jonathan
Prince, a deputy campaign manager. “He wanted to go out the same way he’s
been running the entire race, which is leading on the issues and shaping the
agenda.”
Mr. Edwards canceled events in Alabama and North Dakota on Tuesday, opting
instead to fly to New Orleans late Tuesday night. His press aides told
reporters that he would make a “major policy speech” on poverty, in the
city where Mr. Edwards announced his candidacy in December 2006.
Mr. Edwards placed a distant third Tuesday night in Florida’s primary. And
even more disappointing, as a native of South Carolina, he finished in the
mid-teens there, as Mr. Obama won overwhelmingly. Mr. Edwards had campaigned
heavily in Iowa for months and months, fine-tuning a populist message and
issuing many proposals, including one on health care, long before his rivals
issued theirs. In the caucuses, he finished second, but just about a
percentage point ahead of Mrs. Clinton.
Despite never having captured a first-place finish, Mr. Edwards had insisted
that his campaign would carry on “to the convention.” And as the primary
season headed toward Super Tuesday, and several of the big Southern states,
Mr. Edwards was expected to draw a swath of white voters his way.
Indeed, Mr. Edwards was poised to collect enough delegates in early
nominating contests to potentially influence the outcome at the Democratic
nominating convention in August, if neither Mrs. Clinton nor Mr. Obama won
enough delegates to clinch the nomination.
But Mr. Edwards began notifying close advisers and longtime supporters about
his decision to drop out of the race early today. It was a decision rooted
simply in the political reality of the challenges he faced in the 22 states
holding contests on Feb. 5, according to people familiar with the decision,
and had nothing to do with the health of his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, who has
been battling cancer.
Mrs. Edwards and the couple’s two young children were traveling to New
Orleans to be on hand for his speech this afternoon.
For days, the question of whether he would stay in the race was an off-limits
topic of conversation among those in his inner circle, but several major
contributors began growing antsy, with some eager to begin lining up with
either Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton.
In the days leading up to the South Carolina primary, chatter among
contributors intensified, but Mr. Edwards and his advisers worked to tamp
down the speculation. His third-place finish, though, essentially sealed the
decision and several contributors began raising concern that he was acting as
a spoiler in the race.
John C. Moylan, a close friend and campaign adviser, said this morning that
Mr. Edwards came to the decision to drop out within the last 24 hours.
“I think the timing now felt right to him,” Mr. Moylan said. “He felt like
it would do more good if he stepped aside.
“I don’t think there was one overriding decision that says you have to get
out now,” he added. “Clearly he could have stuck it out.”
Mr. Edwards decision to leave the race has set off a furious — and delicate
— scramble from Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama. Mr. Edwards spoke to each of his
two rivals in separate conversations on Tuesday for several minutes.
According to people familiar with the conversations, Mr. Edwards offered no
specific timeline for when he would withdraw or whether he would endorse one
of their candidacies.
In the hours leading up to his speech in New Orleans, Mr. Edwards was placing
calls to several important supporters in Iowa and other states, as well as to
his longtime financial contributors.
“We could have stayed in and been competitive in some of the Feb. 5 states,
but the path to winning the nomination had expired,” said one longtime
associate of Mr. Edwards who spoke to him on Wednesday, but agreed to be
interviewed on the condition of anonymity until Mr. Edwards made his formal
announcement. “In the last couple of days, he made the decision that it was
time to get out.”
Since the New Hampshire primary, Mrs. Clinton has reached out to Mr. Edwards
aggressively, through telephone calls and private meetings. Mr. Obama has
spent far less time courting Mr. Edwards, according to people familiar with
the talks.
Mr. Obama, who was campaigning in Colorado on Wednesday, heard the news about
Mr. Edwards’ withdrawal from the race while he was doing his morning
workout. Aides said he would give his public comments on Mr. Edwards’s
decision today during a speech in Denver.
The decision by Mr. Edwards marks the end of his second attempt at the
presidency. His 2004 bid ended with an unsuccessful run as John Kerry’s vice
presidential running mate.
The son of a textile worker from Robbins, N.C., Mr. Edwards built a highly
successful law practice before entering politics, frequently securing
million-dollar verdicts in medical malpractice claims and damage lawsuits
against corporations on behalf of injured people. In fact, Mr. Edwards showed
little inclination to seek public office until the death of his 16-year-old
son, Wade, in a 1996 traffic accident.
Over the next year, Mr. Edwards launched a foundation and a scholarship fund
in memory of his son. In 1998, in his first campaign, he defeated Senator
Lauch Faircloth, a conservative Democrat-turned-Republican, for a Senate
seat.
Julie Bosman reported from New Orleans and Jeff Zeleny reported from Denver.
Anahad O’Connor and John Sullivan contributed from New York.
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