John Edwards

Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards, pictured here with family in New Orleans today, ended his bid for the presidency Wednesday.: Getty Images PhotoLas Vegas- Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards ended his presidential campaign today, speaking from New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, the place where he announced his run over thirteen months ago. 

Edwards ended his campaign after only the first four nominating contests of the Democratic calendar, races where he failed to gain a win but did receive twenty-six pledged delegates to the national convention.  Edwards had also received the endorsements of thirty-six super-delegates across the country who will likewise now have to choose between N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Ill. Sen. Barack Obama.

Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards is dropping his bid for the presidency today, according to the Associated Press.

The former 2004 Vice Presidential candidate had been unable to catch fire in a Democratic field that held such celebrity candidates as Ill. Sen. Barack Obama and N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton.

He is expected to officially announce the end of his campaign from New Orleans at 1 P.M. Eastern time (10 A.M. Pacific).

A week that began with the Democratic presidential candidates sharing the Las Vegas spotlight with the AVN awards, ended with Nevadans supporting the candidates who had gained early footholds in the state and captured their respective party establishments. In between, we were treated to a rebuking of O.J. Simpson by Clark County Judge Jackie Glass; an invasion of national and international reporters trying to figure out how to make sense of Nevada politics; a media narrative dead set on accentuating racial and gender differences and refighting the Civil Rights movement; Democratic presidential candidates refusing to take the media’s bait and choosing to play nice (at least during Tuesday’s debate); a feisty and combative Bill Clinton taking on reporters, Barack Obama, and union bosses alike; a lawsuit that laid bear the animosity between traditional unions supporting Hillary Clinton and unions aligned with UNITE HERE! that disdain all things Clinton; a fiery John Edwards who attempted to stay relevant in a state that feels little guilt about ignoring poverty; accusations and counter-charges of dirty politics between the Obama and Clinton campaigns; and a state Democratic Party that did not believe its own hype and was thus, unprepared for so many caucus participants.

In sum, caucus week in the Silver State did not disappoint and in all likelihood established Nevada as the gateway for the battle for the west for the near future. But since we are talking about politics and at the end of the day, politics is about winning, what follows is my round-up of caucus week winners, losers, and those somewhere in between.

Las Vegas- With over 90 percent of precincts reporting on both sides, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney have won their parties respective Nevada caucuses today. 

On the Democratic side, Clinton defeated Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) by a strong margin of 51 to 45 percent.  Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards received four percent of precinct delegates.

With the Republicans, Romney coasted to an easy victory over his nearest rival Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) 51 to 14 percent.  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who had led Romney in at least one recent poll, finished a disappointing third place with 13 percent of the vote.

Las Vegas- Sixty-three Democrats showed up at the Von Tobel Middle School in northern Las Vegas today to caucus in precinct #2413.  There they battled an insufficiently trained temporary chairman and not a little intra-party antipathy to make their voices heard in the Nevada caucuses.

The first sign of trouble for the good-intentioned but woefully unprepared temporary chairman was the unexpectedly large turnout.  An Obama precinct captain, who like the other players in this comedy of errors will remain nameless, was amazed by the throng of people that lined up to register as the caucus began at 11 a.m.

“I was expecting like five people,” she said, surveying the line and pushing Obama stickers into outstretched hands.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) shakes hands with Obama volunteers before a Friday morning canvas.North Las Vegas- With less than a day to go before the Nevada caucuses, 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) was in North Las Vegas today pumping up campaign volunteers for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) before they set out for a morning canvas.

Kerry surprised many last week by coming out for Obama rather than his ’04 running mate, former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) or fellow senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Kerry said that Obama had “more legislative experience that either of the other two” and pointed to the relative ages of other famous Americans when they left their marks on the country.

If Nevadans don’t put John Edwards into first or second place in their presidential caucus on Saturday, Edwards may lose his New Jersey campaign chairman: Senate President Richard Codey – who spent fourteen months as Governor after James E. McGreevey resigned in 2004 -- says he’ll consider endorsing either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama before the February 5 New Jersey primary.  An independent poll released this week has Clinton with a twelve-point lead over Obama among likely Democratic primary voters; Edwards was at 9%.

John Edwards campaign manager David Bonior was out with a fundraising email yesterday. It’s focus: the RGJ poll. The spin: that the poll shows the Nevada race as a dead heat.

“The press may be trying to spin this as a two-person race -- but the voters in Nevada are saying differently,” Bonior writes.