The presidential field narrowed by two Wednesday when Republican Rudolph Giuliani and Democrat John Edwards both dropped out of the race. Giuliani made his announcement in California just hours before the Republican debate. The former New York mayor threw his support behind Senator John McCain. Meanwhile, John Edwards made his farewell address in New Orleans, where he launched his campaign thirteen months ago.

John Edwards: “It’s time for me to step aside so that history can — so that history can blaze its path. We do not know who will take the final steps to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but what we do know is that our Democratic Party
will make history. We will be strong, we will be unified, and with our convictions and a little backbone, we will take back the White House in November, and we’ll create hope and opportunity for this country.”

Edwards did not endorse either of the remaining Democratic candidates. But he said he received pledges from both Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama to focus on poverty in the United States, which Edwards called the “cause of his life.” As Edwards bowed out of the race, longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced a presidential exploratory committee to decide whether to run as an independent candidate. We’ll have more on Edwards and Nader later in the broadcast.

Meanwhile, Obama and Clinton were on the campaign trail ahead of the upcoming Super Tuesday vote. In Denver, Obama told supporters he would work to bolster the US international standing.

Sen. Barack Obama: “I want to go before the world community and say 'America is back, America is back,' and we are ready to lead the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons, but also climate change and poverty, genocide and disease. And I will once more send a message to those yearning faces beyond our shores that says: you matter to us, your future is our future, and our moment is now.”

Clinton, meanwhile, was in Arkansas. In Little Rock, she stressed her campaign’s Iraq platform of pressuring the Iraqi government.

Sen. Hillary Clinton: “We can tell the Iraqi government that the blank check that they’ve had from George Bush is no longer valid. They have to start making the decisions for themselves.”