Then There Were 2...Edwards Drops Out..

As most know by now, Edwards is now running for Vice President...I mean he's no longer running for President...lol. Now the Democrats are down to the same two it was always down to and now Edwards has more relevance than he has had at any point since losing the Iowa caucuses. The question now is whether he will endorse a candidate? If he endorses a candidate, who will he endorse? And regardless of whether or not he endorses anyone who will his followers vote for?

Forbes.com did a pretty interesting article noting a couple factors to give consideration to when answering these questions.

1. The Labor Vote: The labor unions were a large portion of Edwards' followers and it's not a given that the unions will move as one to Obama or Clinton. But if this is any indicator...remember Nevada? Although Obama lost in Nevada he did secure the endorsement of the 60,000 strong Culinary Workers Union.

2. The Southern White Vote: Edwards has a large contingent of white southern voters. If they vote along color lines this entire group may go for Clinton. If they vote according age, it could be split amongst Obama and Clinton.

3. Mo' Money, Mo' Money: Although Clinton and Obama have raised substantial amounts of money, there's still no money like mo' money...so expect both to begin tirelessly wooing Edwards' big spending donors. Seeing as this is America and this is Politics with money follows favors, so the money will most definitely get split between Obama and Clinton depending on what these donors want and what they can get for their dollars.

4. Voters for Change: Edwards' message of change was most similar to Obama's message of "change you can believe in" and on an ideological level it's likely that Edwards' followers who value this message will migrate to Obama.

But I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that if we don't get an endorsement from Edwards for either Clinton or Obama by February 1st, we won't get one until after Super Tuesday for one reason and one reason alone. He's hedging his bet and doesn't want to risk aligning himself with anyone but the winner of the nomination and after February 5th it'll be a lot clearer who that person will be...he hopes.