The dwindling field....

John Edwards, who vowed to stay in the race "right up to the convention," pulled out of the Democratic contest yesterday. Although most agree that his poor showing in his native South Carolina was the deciding factor, there was in fact something else going on.

Edwards' main financial support came from trial lawyers. Not surprising since he is a trail lawyer by trade. But after his disappointing showings, the lawyers could see the handwriting on the wall. And after South Carolina last Saturday, they put the word out that they were looking to back someone else (and both the Obama and Clinton camps immediately dispatched folks from their campaigns to talk about the issue.)

With his primary source of funding about to end, Edwards had no choice but to pull the plug. He simply couldn't afford to continue.

Rdy Giuliani's decision to drop out is much simpler. He wanted to avoid looking really bad if he lost New York.

And why is Huckabee still in the race? He's polling much better in the southern states that will vote as part of Super Duper Tuesday next week, taking votes away from Romney -- andh he's holding out hope that he can grab the number two spot on a McCain ticket. A McCain/Huckabee ticket could bring the GOP ranks and file together for the November contest.