Top Items:
Washington Post:
John Edwards to Quit Presidential Race — John Edwards will end his presidential bid today, a source close to the Edwards campaign confirmed. — The former North Carolina senator is scheduled to speak in New Orleans this afternoon — an appearance billed as an anti-poverty speech …
RELATED:
CNN:
Edwards quitting presidential race — (CNN) — Former Sen. John Edwards is dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, CNN has learned. — Edwards has told top advisers about his decision. It is expected he will announce it at a speech in New Orleans, Louisiana, at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Discussion:
MoJoBlog, TalkLeft, The Corner, The Sideshow, The Democratic Daily, Booman Tribune, Open Left, Wake up America, Outside The Beltway, Cadillac Tight, QandO and PoliBlog (TM)
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
John Edwards to quit presidential race — DENVER - Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters' sympathies, The Associated Press has learned.
Dick Morris / The Hill:
McCain may win, Romney can't — Some may agree with Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) positions on his myriad of causes and enthusiasms. Others may embrace Mitt Romney's record as governor and his experience in business. But one fact remains pre-eminent — McCain has a much better chance …
Associated Press:
John Edwards to Drop Out of Presidential Race — Former Senator's Campaign Adviser: 'It Just Became Clear It Wasn't Going to Happen' — Former Senator John Edwards, D-N.C., will drop out of the Democratic presidential race on Wednesday. — “It just became clear it wasn't going to happen …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Edwards' Departure & A New Democratic Race — Former senator John Edwards (N.C.) will end his bid for the presidency today in New Orleans, bringing to a close a five-year quest for the nation's highest office. — Edwards will be joined by his wife, Elizabeth, as well as his three children on stage.
New York Times:
For Giuliani, a Dizzying Free-Fall — As Rudolph W. Giuliani ponders his political mortality, many observers point to the hubris and strategic miscalculations that plagued his campaign.
Michelle Malkin:
20% of GOP votes cast by non-Republicans? Updated — Update: Ed Morrissey has your answer: … Yesterday afternoon, I noted reports of independents voting in the closed Florida Republican primary and pointed out the state law requiring that voters establish party ID by registering 29 days before an election.
Discussion:
Washington Post, HorseRaceBlog, Riehl World View, Don Surber, Hot Air, RushLimbaugh.com, Gateway Pundit and Right Voices
RELATED:
The Corner:
It's All Over — Assuming there is no shocking revelation …
It's All Over — Assuming there is no shocking revelation …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, protein wisdom, BLACKFIVE, Commentary, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Carpetbagger Report, Right Wing News, michellemalkin.com, UrbanGrounds, Crooked Timber, Jules Crittenden, Washington Monthly, The American Mind, QandO, NW Republican, The Daily Dish, PoliGazette, alicublog and No More Mister Nice Blog
Krooney / The Page:
THE “STOP ROMNEY” COALITION
THE “STOP ROMNEY” COALITION
Discussion:
joshua.treviño.at, Associated Press, MSNBC, Political Machine, PoliBlog (TM), Newsweek, The Discerning Texan, Outside The Beltway, The Gate, The Corner, Group News Blog, Cadillac Tight, Matthew Yglesias, Suitably Flip, Political Radar, The Reaction, Townhall.com, Commentary, The American Mind, CNN, The Campaign Spot and Daimnation!
David Brooks / NYT:
What Florida Taught Me — Here are a few things I learned Tuesday night. — First, good candidates are never completely out of it. Several months ago I was covering a John McCain event in Keene, New Hampshire. It was at the low point of the McCain candidacy, after his staff explosion and when the campaign bank account was dry.
RELATED:
Ross Douthat:
Fortune's Favorite — For the first six months of this presidential campaign, everything went wrong for John McCain, putting him in a position where to win the nomination, he needed just about everything else to go his way. And with the exception of the Michigan primary, that's exactly what's happened.
Philip Shenon / New York Times:
Mukasey Offers View on Waterboarding — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said Tuesday that the harsh C.I.A. interrogation technique known as waterboarding was not clearly illegal, and suggested that it could be used against terrorism suspects once again if requested by the White House.
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, JustOneMinute, CNN, Comments from Left Field, The Crone Speaks, The Heretik and The Politico
RELATED:
Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
What Part Of Not Authorized Did Khalilzad Not Understand? — The State Department reacted angrily to the appearance of UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on a panel at the Davos Economic Forum, along with two members of the Iranian government. The US restricts diplomatic contacts with Iran …
RELATED:
Benny Avni / New York Sun:
U.N. Envoy Speaks on Panel With Iran Officials, Angering Rice
U.N. Envoy Speaks on Panel With Iran Officials, Angering Rice
Discussion:
New York Times
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Compassionate to the End — When President Bush took his final walk to the rostrum of the House chamber, his speech and manner conveyed little nostalgia. He views both meditation on the past and speculation about his legacy with equal suspicion, preferring to live in the urgency of the now.
Donald Lambro / Washington Times:
Talk radio impugns McCain's liberal record — Conservative talk radio is ganging up on presidential candidate John McCain, attacking him for joining Democrats to push liberal legislation and opposing bedrock Republican positions from tax cuts to immigration.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Time, The Strata-Sphere, The Sundries Shack, Talking Points Memo and RADAMISTO
RELATED:
Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
Fox News is in for a very rough 2008 — My guess is that Fox News guru Roger Ailes has been reaching for the Tums more often than usual early in the New Year, and there are lots of reasons for the hovering angst. — Let's take an extended multiple choice quiz.
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
The Politico:
Rudy defeat marks end of 9/11 politics — Rudy Giuliani's distant third-place finish in Florida may put an end to his bid for president, and it seems also to mark the beginning of the end of a period in Republican politics that began on Sept. 11, 2001. — Giuliani's national celebrity …
Wall Street Journal:
Terminated — Arnold Schwarzenegger's “universal” health-care plan died in the California legislature on Monday, in what can only be called a mercy killing. So let's conduct a political autopsy, because there are important lessons here for the national health-care debate.
Chicago Sun Times:
Obama cuts Rezko ties — Barack Obama on Tuesday night aimed to scrub Tony Rezko's taint off his political fund-raising machine, saying he's identified all remaining donations to his U.S. Senate campaign that are tied to the indicted businessman and is donating them to charity.