January 30, 2008
Edwards Ends WH Bid But Keeps Anti-Poverty Message Alive
UPDATED.
John Edwards ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination this afternoon during a stop in New Orleans, where he first announced his entrance into the race one year ago in order to punctuate the primary theme of his campaign: combating poverty.
"It's time for me to step aside, so that history can blaze its path," he told the assembled crowd against a backdrop of newly built homes in the hurricane-ravaged Ninth Ward. "We do not know who will take the final steps to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but what we do know is our Democratic Party will make history."
Edwards, surrounded by his wife, Elizabeth, and three children, said he had spoken with the two remaining Democrats in the race -- Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama -- who both pledged to him that they'd make "ending poverty central to their campaign" and, if elected, their presidency. However, he did not formally endorse either candidate.
"America's hour of transformation is upon us," Edwards told the crowd, returning to the message of "change" that has dominated the Democratic primary race. He evoked numerous images of the kinds of struggling Americans -- the homeless, the hungry, the uninsured, neglected veterans and working people -- that he has pledged to fight for, and he promised to continue that fight even as he exits the White House race. "It's hard to speak out for change when you feel like your voice isn't being heard," but "the Democratic Party hears you," he said.
"It's time for all of us together to make the two Americas one," he concluded, echoing the theme of equality that he first laid out as a presidential candidate in the 2004 race.
Edwards thanked his supporters, volunteers and campaign staffers after saying he was "suspending" his campaign. That terminology may generate some head-scratching, but AP reports that, according to his advisers, it "was simply legal terminology so that he can continue to receive federal matching funds for his campaign donations."
The former vice presidential nominee had said after repeated defeats in the early primary states that he would remain in the race until the Democratic National Convention in August. He didn't exactly state this afternoon why he changed his mind, but many saw his distant third-place finish in his home state of South Carolina last weekend as the final nail in his candidacy's coffin. Edwards also trails far behind both Clinton and Obama in funding, which is going to be crucial to next week's Super Tuesday contests.
Throughout the past year of campaigning, Edwards repeatedly tried to steer the debate toward issues important to low-income workers and struggling middle-class families. For the most part, however, his message has gotten lost in the excitement and hype surrounding his outsized rivals. Indeed, many journalists and pundits began treating the Democratic race as a two-person fight long before the first votes were counted. Edwards actually had to remind the moderators of the most recent televised debate that he was still there.
His underdog position in the race even prompted talk-show host Tyra Banks to quip in an interview last week that Edwards was the true "minority" in the race. Edwards, however, preferred in recent weeks to cast himself as the "grown-up" candidate who managed to stay above the identity politics game that has ensnared Clinton and Obama.
The news of Edwards' departure has sparked a wave of speculation among pundits and talking heads over where his supporters will go leading into next week's Super Tuesday contests, with most, but not all, commentators seeing his exit as a boon for Clinton. According to NBC News/National Journal reporter Aswini Anburajan, Edwards campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said he called both Obama and Clinton personally yesterday to announce his intentions to leave the race but did not discuss endorsement plans.
The two had nothing but glowing praise for Edwards today. "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 in a statement. At a campaign stop, Clinton said, "He encouraged all of us in his passion and advocacy, and I hope he will continue that work because it is really important that we stay focused on what we're going to do to help people."
Both candidates are no doubt hoping his supporters will cross over into their respective camps.
Edwards had been campaigning in several of the Super Tuesday states since his South Carolina loss, but yesterday he abruptly canceled planned stops in Alabama and North Dakota and announced he'd be giving a "major policy address on poverty" in New Orleans instead. NBC News/National Journal reporter Tricia Miller, who has been traveling with the Edwards campaign, told MSNBC this morning that the news of his departure came as a shock this morning.
The surprise move has also returned the spotlight to Elizabeth Edwards. When she was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer early last year, she encouraged her husband to push ahead with his presidential bid, adding an emotional and deeply personal element to the campaign. "We've been confronted with these kinds of traumas and struggles already in our lives. You have a choice. You can go cower in the corner and hide, or you can be tough and go out there and stand up for what you believe in," John Edwards said when he announced he would remain in the race last March.
Elizabeth, who was diagnosed with breast cancer toward the end of her husband's vice presidential run, has been a strong presence on the campaign trail -- standing up for her husband against criticism and helping to cut through the media clutter that often marginalized his position in the race. The two clearly view themselves as a team; a press backgrounder released by the campaign in anticipation of his announcement today was titled, "What John and Elizabeth Accomplished."
Slate's Melinda Henneberger interviewed both Elizabeth and John Edwards about their personal and political partnership last month.
Posted at 2:05 PM
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Campaigns, Democrats, John Edwards, WH 2008
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