The third-place finishers both bowing out
January 30, 2008Looks like Giuliani and Edwards, who placed third in their respective Florida primaries, are both bowing out of the race for the White House.
Giuliani’s fall from grace is perhaps the more surprising of the two. Earlier this year he was the front-runner in various polls. He had national name recognition, plenty of money he could raise from New York alone, yada yada yada.
You knew though that it was going to be a tough sell in the Republican party. He has a very, um, colorful family history with multiple divorces and strained relations to his kids. That alone was a huge negative for somebody trying to run in the party that claimed the banner of “family values” in the last few elections. Not to mention his moderate-to-almost-liberal views on various social issues like gun control and gay rights.
Edwards on the other hand was doomed to failure the minute Obama entered the race. If it had been just Edwards v. Clinton, he might have held his own. But Obama is stealing the spotlight, the money, and the attention as the rival to the establishment candidate (Clinton). As they say in politics, he sucked the oxygen out of the room for anybody else opposing Clinton.
Will be interesting to see who benefits in both parties from this. I suspect among Republicans that McCain will gain. I doubt the moderate folks backing Giuliani would ever vote for a Huckabee or a Romney, so they have to gravitate towards McCain.
Among Democrats the Edwards departure makes it a two-horse race. It has to help Obama I would think, since Clinton is the establishment candidate while Obama and Edwards were both bucking the establishment.
Super Tuesday has just gotten even more interesting than it already was. There’s a pretty good chance that the Republican nominee might be decided after Tuesday, and possibly the Democrats as well.