Bayh out, Edwards in

Even though this is a Saturday, there is major news on the 2008 presidential front.

First, Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) has decided to bow out of the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination because of all the media attention that has been squared directly at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  This comes just a few weeks after announcing on ABC News' Sunday talk show "This Week" that he would launch a presidential exploratory committee.

Bayh submitted a letter that was posted on the Indianapolis Star web site:

The odds were always going to be very long for a relatively unknowncandidate like myself, a little bit like David and Goliath. And whetherthere were too many Goliaths or whether I'm just not the right David,the fact remains that at the end of the day, I concluded that due tocircumstances beyond our control the odds were longer than I felt Icould responsibly pursue.

As the New York Times hinted this morning, Bayh's decision probably had a lot to do with what happened in New Hampshire last weekend.  While the media was busy reporting Barack Obama's appearance in Manchester, not many people knew that Evan Bayh was there as well.  The media's silent treatment of Bayh's candidacy sent the signal that it would be too difficult to pursue a presidential run this time around, and he might be better off waiting until 2012 or 2016.

Now to John Edwards.  According to a variety of sources, John Edwards will officially announce his entry into the presidential race.  Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter said that Edwards may be the only other candidate that can compete with Hillary and Obama:

"There'sroom for one more. The question is: Who is it right now? And I don'tthink anybody can tell you with any real certainty of who that couldbe," she said.

Edwards will make his announcement around December 28th, which will preempt a decision by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama:

Edwards plans to give Iowa more attention an announcement tour tobegin around Dec. 28, the Democratic officials said. He plans to travelfrom New Orleans to Iowa and the three other early voting states -Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The officials whodiscussed Edwards' plans spoke on condition of anonymity because theydid not want to pre-empt his announcement. Edwards' spokesman, DavidGinsberg, would not confirm or deny Edwards' plans.

So does that mean Edwards' announcement speech would be given from New Orleans?  Talk about political pandering!