News has just broken that John Edwards is quitting his campaign to become president of the USA. This is a very interesting move as it now leaves only Obama and Clinton as the remaining runners and people will want to know how Edwards is going to side when it comes to his previous competitors.

It is both a surprise and not that he has decided to pull out, on one hand he was getting a decent share of the vote and so perhaps could have done well through super Tuesday, but on the other hand it is clear that America wants either Clinton or Obama, and when it comes to super-delegates and their power to sway the final result it was always going to be the case that Edwards would lose out even further.

But what next? If Edwards endorses Clinton's campaign then it is almost certain that she can take momentum from that, plus the added support from high up, and go on to win the Democratic nomination. If Obama is the guy that he puts his name behind then it, at the least, becomes one of the closest leadership elections this side of a Lib Dem contest. The worst thing for Obama, at least in terms of hopes and aspirations, would be for Edwards to side with no-one. It would keep Clinton as the favourite and would mean more work for him to make up that ground. Voters that vote for Edwards tend to also vote for Clinton due to demographics.

Only time will tell whether or not recent results will change the tide on which way voters move now that they haven't got Edwards to support.