photo courtesy alexdecarvalho 

On the heels of Rudy Giuliani’s exit from the presidential race, eternally-third-place-finishing Democrat John Edwards is ending his campaign. The former North Carolina senator is set to make a speech shortly after 1 p.m. today, although he has already informed his aides of the decision. In an unsurprisingly classy move, Edwards, according to his aides, will hold off on any endorsements and instead ask both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to put an increased focus on poverty. According to Edwards’ website, his speech in New Orleans today will focus on that same issue. It is also mentioned that he will work on a Habitat for Humanity project while he is there.

Kudos for Edwards for staying out of the mud battles and keeping his focus on forgotten America. While Edwards’ political career may or may not be drawing to a close (keep in mind, he is still quite young, and as McCain is showing, getting back on your presidential campaign horse is quite possible), it would not be unrealistic to imagine him pulling an Al Gore and focusing on humanitarian work and spreading his message outside the directly political world. Let’s hope his presence can keep the remaining candidates focused on what matters.