Today's Fresh Meat

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Former Senator John Edwards will abandon his presidential bid, the San Francisco Chronicle reports today. Edwards, who made povertyand populism the thrust of his campaign, finished a strong second inIowa but a distant third in every state since. Many have speculatedthat a Barack Obama endorsement is forthcoming, but Edwards says heplans to wait.

Given that the race between Obama and Hillary Clinton is likely to be close in California, Edwards supporters could well decide it —aField Poll showed nearly twice as many inclined to support Obama, butnearly half undecided, writes Frank Russo in today's CaliforniaProgress Report.

Just as Edwards' decision to drop winnows down the Democratic field, sotoo has new clarity arrived for the Republicans—after a solid win inFlorida, there is no denying that John McCain is the front-runner and a strong favorite in California,as indicated by the Los Angeles Times. This could be relevant asDemocrats cast their ballots: which candidate of ours attracts themoderates and independents who tend to like McCain and who would turnthem away?

There's more...

Photo courtesy of the Locust Tork blog.