Time to get busy people: Edwards is out and Tuesday is rapidly approaching

Per MSNBC, Edwards is getting out of the race today and will throw his support behind Obama.

We have got to get out and bust our collective asses and work to get Obama his supporters before tuesday.

GObama

behind Obama before Tuesday, my respect for him just tripled.

Most of the Edwards-supporters here on DU have been respectful of other views, unlike some other folks. Let's all be extra-nice to them, and see if we can bring them over to our side.

...very good president. His campaign changed the debate in this country, and for that I am very grateful.

My thoughts are with him, his family, and his supporters (especially those on DU) today.

speculation on MSNBC about Edwards and Obama? Was there anything credible at all or were they just blathering?

per http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/30/91135/2310/426/446047">this post on dkos, CNN and the AP are both confirming Edwards' withdrawal. They do not reference Obama.

And it's here too along with the speculation by Chuck Todd of MSNBC about Edwards endorsing Obama.

John Edwards Drops Out, It is OFFICIAL.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/30/9357/71002/132/445316

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2008/01/source_edwards_not_endorsing_for_the_moment.php

An Edwards adviser confirms to me that John Edwards won't be making any endorsement "for the moment."

However, this source refused to rule out the possibility of an endorsement before Feb. 5th, which is six days away. If Edwards were to throw his support to either Hillary or Obama before that date, the impact could obviously be huge.

So I think there's a good chance he'll go Obama's way if/when he endorses. And on MSNBC they were saying that those two were closer than either are to Clinton personally. So let's hope he picks Edwards.

The more educated Edwards voters, and those who are firmly anti-Hillary, will go for Obama. However the demographics of the bulk of the actual Edwards voters favors Clinton.

Ironically the best chance we have comes from the Clintons' recent conduct. If they had not gotten so dirty I think that Clinton might be unstoppable with Edwards out at this point.

If Obama wins it will be largely due to his added support from the anti-Clinton backlash for their recent tactics, which includes the addition of Ted Kennedy. Fortunately momentum has been moving in Obama's favor over the past week and it might be enough to pull in more Edwards voters than he would normally receive.

This analysis assumes that Clinton would have still have won New Hampshire without the dishonest mailers about Obama's positions. It is also possible that if they hadn't gotten dirty Obama would have won Iowa plus New Hampshire, and then totally dominate the race.

which will be interpreted as a tacit okay of Hillary, in spite of his anti-lobbyist crusade this past year.

This has always been an uphill battle for Obama, let's remember.

I think everyone should hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

An endorsement will definitely bring over some voters but the demographic factors which favor Clinton will still cause many to support for her.

Yes, it has always been an uphill battle. This is just one more time in which an insurgent candidate goes up against the establishment candidate. However this time Obama has a number of advantages which previous insurgent candidates have not. Often it is the more educated Democrats against everyone else. At very least Obama adds the black votes. Clinton has a number of negatives which might make her less unbeatable than most establishment candidates. The support of people like Kennedy and Kerry help pick up many more core Democratic voters who would normally not go with the insurgent.

I've been hoping for the best and preparing for the worst the entire time. (Well maybe after Iowa there were a few days in which it really looked like we had it won.)

beacuse Bill has put the focus on just race and experience instead of the issues, very Rovian.