memeorandum: John Edwards to Drop Out of Presidential Race (Associated Press)

1:15 PM ET, January 30, 2008

Top Items:

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 …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Gun Toting Liberal™, The 7-10, Washington Monthly, Liberal Values, Scobleizer, Middle Earth Journal, Rox Populi, Comments from Left Field, Taylor Marsh, The Reaction and skippy the bush kangaroo

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, Wake up America, Booman Tribune, Open Left, 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.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, The Newshoggers, The Campaign Spot, Crooks and Liars, BuzzFlash.org, The Impolitic and Blue Crab Boulevard

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 …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Open Left

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 …

Discussion: The Swamp, Scholars and Rogues and PoliGazette

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.

Discussion: Power Line and Sister Toldjah

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.

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Political Radar, NY Daily News, Reason Magazine, New York Post, TPM Election Central, Norwegianity, The Democratic Daily, Blog entry, AMERICAblog, Connecting.the.Dots, LiberalOasis, Liberal Values, TalkLeft, Daniel W. Drezner, Brendan Nyhan, American Power and PunditGuy

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Why John Edwards Won

Discussion: The Caucus and Matthew Yglesias

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
The Heart Of The Democratic Party

Discussion: The New Republic

New York Times:
Edwards to Drop Out of Democratic Race

Discussion: The New Republic, Matthew Yglesias and The Page

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.

Discussion: Weekly Standard and The New Republic

New York Times:
McCain Is Florida Victor; Giuliani Set to Exit the Race

Discussion: The Hill, techPresident and SIVACRACY.NET

Krooney / The Page:
THE “STOP ROMNEY” COALITION

Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
Giuliani to exit presidential race

Discussion: D-Day, Sweetness & Light, JammieWearingFool, MSNBC and First Draft

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: HorseRaceBlog, Riehl World View, Don Surber, Hot Air, HillaryClinton.com, RushLimbaugh.com and Gateway Pundit

The Corner:
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, michellemalkin.com, Right Wing News, UrbanGrounds, Crooked Timber, Jules Crittenden, Washington Monthly, The American Mind, QandO, NW Republican, The Daily Dish, PoliGazette and alicublog

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
On Closed Primaries — A number of commenters in my threads …

Discussion: Suitably Flip, Kiko's House, Sister Toldjah and Hot Air

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 …

Discussion: Think Progress, Power Line, Los Angeles Times and The Newshoggers

Benny Avni / New York Sun: U.N. Envoy Speaks on Panel With Iran Officials, Angering Rice

Helene Cooper / New York Times:
White House Criticizes Envoy Over Iran

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Firedoglake

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

National Review:
The Right Guy? — It's looking more and more like John McCain …

Discussion: Democratic Strategist

Washington Post:
After Romney's Barrage, McCain Stands Tall

Discussion: Power Line, TownHall Blog, NY Daily News, Boston Globe, New York Post, New York Times, Sweetness & Light, Brad Warthen's Blog and The Corner

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 Heretik, The Crone Speaks and The Politico

Think Progress:
Mukasey On Waterboarding: ‘I Would Feel That It Was’ Torture ‘If It Were Done To Me’

Discussion: The Corner, The Raw Story and Democratic National Committee

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.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Shakespeare's Sister, Suburban Guerrilla and If I Ran the Zoo

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 …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Comments from Left Field, TIME and Right Voices

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.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and Commentary

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.

Discussion: Hot Air

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.

Discussion: Wonkette and Chicago Boyz