In case you somehow missed it, John Edwards just dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination.
I have no special insights on what this means for the race - although without an endorsement of Obama, I suspect this gives a slight edge to Hillary - so having just briefly speculated, I'll stay away from that!
Instead, I'll simply say this: Thank you, Sen. Edwards. For the past year, you have been a strong, clear voice for people who often have no voice in our system. You changed the debate in or party, and in so doing you changed the campaign. For that we should all be grateful.
Now....
Would you hurry up and endorse Obama already? You'd make one hell of an AG!
UPDATE: It took me a second to find it, but here's a piece by Chris Hayes that ran in The Nation awhile back. It provides a great overview of Edwards' impact on the race. An excerpt:
But no matter who wins the Democratic nomination, the fact remains that the Edwards campaign has set the domestic policy agenda for the entire field. He was the first with a bold universal healthcare plan, the first with an ambitious climate change proposal that called for cap-and-trade, and the leader on reforming predatory lending practices and raising the minimum wage to a level where it regains its lost purchasing power. Edwards's rhetoric has started to bleed into his rivals' speeches as well. "Too many have been invisible for too long," Clinton said in her victory speech Tuesday night. "Well, you are not invisible to me. The oil companies, the drug companies, the health insurance companies, the predatory student loan companies have had seven years of a President who stands up for them. It's time we had a President who stands up for all of you."
UPDATE II: More from Ezra here.
UPDATE III: Trippi doesn't say it explicitly, but he makes it pretty clear that Edwards will in fact be offering an endorsement sooner rather than later.
My guess, and its just a guess, is that he'll wait a news cycle or two before making an appearance with his chosen candidate. If Rudy is planning to go for McCain before tonight's debate, will Edwards announce his choice before tomorrow's Democratic debate?
UPDATE IV: Brian Beutler's analysis here is dead on. Both Obama and Clinton did such a wonderful job of co-opting his message that he never had any chance to emerge on his own. The thing is, in a winner-take-all, two-party system that's to be expected, and unless we're willing to dramatically overhaul our constitutional structure (don't hold your breath), this is something we all need to learn to accept.
To me that makes Edwards campaign all the more important. Change is hard enough to accomplish in our fragmented system, but without people like Edwards I think it would be virtually impossible. This is why primary fights should be encouraged at every level of our political process, no matter what Village Elders like Joe Lieberman and David Broder might say.
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