“Having the first serious African-American running against the first serious female — it’s a hard story to get into,” Mr. Moylan said. “There was an alignment of the stars this year, and it wasn’t for us.”
So Mr. Edwards’s pitch to voters came down to the personal. Over and over, he spoke of his hardscrabble upbringing, his rise from poverty and what he described as the deeply held determination that led him out of difficult circumstances, growing up in mill towns in the South.
He pitched himself as a populist, but it was hard to overcome what became known as the three H’s: his haircuts ($400), his house (28,000 square feet in Chapel Hill, N.C.) and the hedge fund where he worked after his 2004 loss (which invested in companies that foreclosed on mortgages of Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans, the city Mr. Edwards was trying to make the emblem of his antipoverty work).
Also, he got more votes from rich people in Iowa and SC, the two states he wanted to win in the worst way.
Why did he jump ship? Again from the Times:
“He wanted to have a shot at being president,” said Joe Trippi, a senior adviser. “He wanted to have a chance to change people’s lives, not be a spoiler or a kingmaker and not play political games.”
Right. He's out of money, which is always the prime consideration for a candidate leaving a race. Also, the Prince of Darkness reported a week ago that Obama would name Edwards Attorney General if he won.
Also Edwards, it seems to me, doesn't want to alienate Clinton too much. By dropping out before Super Tuesday, he takes less votes away from her and thereby gets on her good side.
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