The contest for the White House claimed its biggest casualties so far this week when John Edwards (right) and Rudy Giuliani pulled out, turning it into a two-horse race for both the Democrats and Republicans. The Democratic duo, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, immediately began to court Edwards for his endorsement and scramble for his supporters ahead of ”Super Tuesday”.
But Edwards did not immediately back either candidate when he confirmed his withdrawal. The former United States senator for North Carolina said he had spoken to both candidates and ”they have pledged to me they will make ending poverty central” to their presidency.
In the Republican race, Tuesday’s Florida primary whittled down the field to John McCain, the Arizona senator and US war hero, and Mitt Romney, the multi-millionaire businessman and former governor of Massachusetts.
Romney said he welcomed the reduced field. ”In a two-person race, with myself and senator McCain, I like my chances.”
He admitted that his campaign would be hurt by Giuliani’s imminent endorsement of McCain.
One of Giuliani’s advisers, the congressman Peter King, said: ”I expect him [Giuliani] to be fairly active for McCain. There is a real friendship and respect between the two.”
Edwards telephoned Obama and Clinton on Tuesday night to inform them of his decision. Obama, who asked him for his endorsement, paid tribute to the way he had fought the campaign, describing it as ”classy” and saying his anti-poverty platform had given ”hope to the struggling”.
Clinton was also full of praise and, in an effort to win over his supporters, promised that her presidency would address poverty.
An AP-Yahoo poll published this month suggested that 40% of Edwards’s supporters would go to Clinton and about 25% to Obama.
Edwards decided to drop out after his poor third place in South Carolina’s primary on Saturday, a galling loss given he was born in the state.
Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, flew to California after a humiliating defeat in Tuesday’s Florida primary, the biggest contest so far. Giuliani, who had staked his entire strategy on winning Florida, came a distant third, on 15%. With 99% of the vote counted, McCain took 36% and Romney 31%. — Â