The Two Withdrawals

I find the most interesting aspect of the withdrawal from- technically, suspension of- the presidential campaign of John Edwards to be the distinction between the former North Carolina senator and the former New York City mayor.
When Rudolph Giuliani on January 30, 2008 ended his bid to become the Repub presidential nominee, he said little of interest and nothing of importance, other than to take the politically safe course of endorsing John McCain, who had the evening before become the overwhelming favorite to capture the nomination. Not surprising, though, because Rudolph became the poster boy for expediency. Once a mayor who was partial to abortion rights, gay rights, and gun control, Giuliani as a presidential candidate stood for nothing of the sort, and instead promoted what he claimed would be the largest tax increase in American history, a sure vote-getter in a Repub primary, dominated by those most fortunate and not coincidentally most likely to benefit from a further drop in income tax rates. (Still an easy position to take in a Repub primary- note John McCain never missing an opportunity to tout his born-again support for making permanent the Bush give a leg up to the rich tax cuts.)
And John Edwards? He leaves the race on 1/30/08 saying Senators Clinton and Obama "both pledged to me and, more importantly, through me to America, that they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency. This is the cause of my life, and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause." And to those who might have doubted Edwards' sincerity during his run, consider the statements of both Obama and Clinton upon Edwards' suspension. (Clinton: "John Edwards ended his campaign today in the same way he started it - by standing with the people who are too often left behind and nearly always left out of our national debate;" Obama: "John Edwards has spent a lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn’t popular to do or covered in the news.") All point to the former candidate's emphasis on ending poverty, a concern rarely voiced by any politician on the national level (or, probably, on any other level) for, oh, probably the last couple of decades. (Robert Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey are dead.)
So whom are we left with? Two candidates right on most issues, with relatively little difference between them, one emphasizing her gender, the other emphasizing generational differences. If this distinction and appeal sound somewhat inimical to the idea of real, progressive, change, you've been paying attention.