One day after Daily Gotham and Culture Kitchen opt for Obama, John Edwards drops out of the race. Coincidence?

Well, yeah. But many at DG and CK really liked John Edwards, feeling far more leery of either Obama or Hillary because of their tendency to, as we see it, pander to the right. Honestly, I think an Obama Presidency, a Hillary Clinton Presidency and a John Edwards Presidency would all look very similar, and very good. But Edwards leaned more left and we liked that.

But, for our various reasons, most of us had already been shifting to Obama and it pretty much gelled for us within the last week. I guess you could say we saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship just before it sank. But really we also have warmed to Obama (and I have even warmed to Hillary) and it is a credit to Obama that he has convinced us that he is the the right choice now.

For more on the shift to Obama from Edwards and from Hillary, there are some good diaries around. Here is a touching one on Daily Kos of a woman tearfully abandoning what she sees as her last chance to see a woman president and votes for Obama because she thinks he'd be the better President. Here is my decision diary on Culture Kitchen. Here is a Daily Kos article reasoning through why Edwards supporters might want to consider Obama. Here is Michael Bouldin's (a solid Edwards supporter from early on) endorsement of Obama from yesterday. Here is the former president of NOW Chicago's endorsement of Obama.

We regret to see Edwards leave so soon. But it is looking like it is a very real possibility that we may have our first black president, and possibly our most inspiring Democratic president of my lifetime. Thank you John Edwards for the issues you kept our attention on. I hope you keep it up.

Now, Go Obama!

LINK : John Edwards to quit presidential race