One key Democratic name has already taken himself out of the race to be Barack Obama's running mate: Former rival John Edwards. "I already had the privilege of running for vice president in 2004, and I won't do it again," Edwards said, according to Spanish-language newspaper El Mundo.

Regarding a certain other person who has been mentioned as a possibility, Edwards made sure to stay neutral. "Hillary Clinton is a great force in the Democratic Party and in the United States, whether she aspires to the vice-presidency or to another position," he said. "She is an extraordinary woman, and the role she will play depends only on her and Sen. Obama."

Before dropping out of the presidential race, John Edwards secured a private commitment from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that they'd undertake a poverty tour during the general election as the Democratic nominee, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks.

The vows to undertake a poverty tour -- which were confirmed to me by three former top advisers to Edwards -- went considerably farther than what has been publicly known until now about what the two Dems promised Edwards they'd do on poverty. During his drop-out speech last January, Edwards only said that the two Dems had "both pledged" to "make ending poverty central to their campaign."

An actual poverty tour, by contrast, would be a specific, protracted undertaking, possibly with Edwards himself, a possibility that came up in the private talks. Such a tour could be a major media event.

Now that Obama is on his way to becoming the nominee, the private promise is particularly relevant, because it raises the question of whether Obama will honor the commitment Edwards advisers say he (and Hillary) made.

This could require Obama to make a commitment of several days during a hard-fought general election, because Edwards specifically secured a commitment that it be a few days long, one top adviser said.

"Edwards was trying to think of ways to specifically hold them accountable," said another former top Edwards adviser. "It's easy for a Democrat to say, `Sure, I'll make poverty central to my campaign.' A poverty tour was something he felt would be really powerful with the spotlight of the general election, and it was a tangible, real thing he could ask them to commit to."

Matthew Nelson, a spokesperson for Edwards, declined to comment on the talks about the poverty tour, saying that Edwards "does not publicly discuss private conversations."

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In a sign that they are likely to declare victory in the presidential primary very soon, the Obama campaign is now boasting in a memo to reporters that they are on the cusp of winning the pledged-delegate majority, thanks to the endorsement from John Edwards and a group of his delegates.

By the Obama campaign's math, they are only 17 elected delegates away from the pledged-del majority, a number that they are guaranteed to pull off next week in Oregon and Kentucky. Expect them to court super-delegates to break their way en masse after that happens, on the basis that Obama has the popular mandate to be the nominee.

Here's another effect of the John Edwards endorsement that has passed unnoticed.

If Obama gets the support of the vast majority of Edwards' delegates, which is likely, that will mean that Obama could potentially secure a majority of pledged delegates on May 20 -- even if Florida and Michigan are fully seated.

Assuming that Obama is awarded all of the uncommitted slots from Michigan and also wins the support of all the Edwards delegates from Florida, that gives Hillary a total gain of 178 delegates from these two states to 135 for Obama, plus all 18 remaining Edwards delegates from other states switching to Obama.

As such, Obama would have 1,752 total pledged dels to Clinton's 1,625 for Clinton, and only need 32 more delegates to get the new pledged-del majority number of 1,784. A strong win in Oregon and a decent showing in Kentucky would be all that's necessary to pull that off.

In a first indication of that John Edwards' endorsement of Barack Obama has carried some weight, an Edwards pledged delegate from New Hampshire has now announced his support for Obama, as well.

Edwards' pledged delegates are not required by the rules to follow his support for Obama, though as former activists for their candidate they would no doubt be influenced by his recommendation. Edwards has another 18 delegates up for grabs -- and if they mostly end up going for Obama, it would be enough to wipe out Hillary Clinton's gains from West Virginia.

Mark Halperin suggests that an Edwards endorsement of Obama may be imminent, and reports that he posed the following question to six senior Obama officials -- with no answer:

"Is John Edwards endorsing Barack Obama today?"

Following up on Halperin, my experience has been the same. The Obama campaign won't say whether Edwards is endorsing him today. They're saying nothing. Radio silence from an Edwards spokesperson, too.

Obama's one remaining public event today is at 6:30 P.M. in Grand Rapids. Stay tuned.

Barack Obama is continuing to pick up support from former Edwards backers, an indication of both his overall momentum and a strategy to dispel the idea that he can't appeal to the white working class.

The latest endorsement is coming from former House Dem Whip David Bonior, who served as Edwards' campaign manager and was a longtime antagonist of the Clintons on trade issues. Bonior has a lot of pull with unions, so don't be surprised if a few more of them come out for Obama in the remaining contests and in lobbying uncommitted super-delegates.

John and Elizabeth Edwards have finally made their endorsement plans -- or lack of them -- official.

On the eve of potentially decisive voting in Indiana and North Carolina, with political tensions at white-hot levels, John and Elizabeth revealed all in an interview with People magazine, of all outlets.

The news in the interview is that they confirmed they will not endorse either candidate in the presidential race, because they are "saving their political capital for their own causes -- his, fighting poverty; hers, fighting for universal health care," reports, um, People mag.

John also shared his thoughts on the pros and cons of Hillary and Obama...

On Clinton: "I like something different about Hillary. I think her tenacity shows a real strength that's inside her."

What doesn't he like about Clinton? "Um, still a lot of the old politics," John Edwards said.

As for Obama, he says: "Sometimes I want to see more substance under the rhetoric."

But he cited two things he likes about the charismatic young senator from Illinois: "One is, I think he really does want to bring about serious change and a different way of doing things. And secondly, I think it's a great symbolic thing to have an African-American who could be president."

At that, Mrs. Edwards rolled her eyes and, gripping the arms of her kitchen chair with some exaggeration, seemed about to lunge from her seat. "What about the great symbolic thing about a woman ..."

"It's important. It's important," her husband said. "I know it."

Anyone else miss their presence on the political stage right about now?

Late Update: I should qualify that question. There's no doubt that Edwards' presence in the presidential race was salutary in many ways. Whatever his flaws, and whatever you think of his sincerity and/or motives, he forced a focus on certain issues that has basically vanished with his departure.

The presence of the Edwardses had a healthy effect on our political discourse, too. There is little doubt that the decisions by Obama and Hillary to appear on Fox would have been far less easy politically if Edwards, who led the way in taking on the wingnut media, had been in the race to call them out for it. And Elizabeth's constant scolding of the political media for its obsession with trivia and addiction to pre-fabricated narratives amplified the liberal media critique in various useful ways -- even if it was partly motivated by a desire to get her husband more attention.

You needn't have been an Edwards supporter to recognize that these contributions were valuable.

While John Edwards has stayed on the sidelines since he dropped out of the presidential race, Barack Obama has succeeded in getting far more of Edwards' organizational support than Hillary Clinton -- all of which could help him in the upcoming North Carolina primary.

FEC records show that Obama has raised almost $1 million from previous Edwards donors, compared to only $427,000 for Clinton. Another key statistic: Nine of Edwards' former Congressional backers have now endorsed Obama -- compared to zero for Clinton.

Stephen Colbert had three very special guests tonight: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. Clinton and Edwards were in the studio, and Obama appeared via satellite.

The show broadcasts tonight at 11:30 p.m. ET, so here's a thread for you to share your views on the how the two candidates and one ex-candidate came off.

Elizabeth has stepped back a bit from yesterday's statement that she has more confidence in Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama on the issue of health care, saying instead that she and John Edwards could be best effective at this point as "honest brokers" on issues they care about, rather than endorsing any candidate.

She also denied that a reported conversation with Barack Obama turned them off from his candidacy, but did acknowledge some differences: "And where there are differences, we talked about those differences and why I believed John's was right."

Elizabeth Edwards praised Hillary Clinton's health plan this morning on ABC News, saying bluntly: "I just have more confidence in Senator Clinton's policy than Senator Obama's on this particular issue."

This statement from Elizabeth Edwards — done on the record, as opposed to background sources putting out the message — could be yet a further sign that the lack of a health mandate in Obama's plan is what is leading John Edwards to not endorse anybody.

Late Update: Here's the video:

This should get the Edwards endorsement tea-leaf readers going.

I just got off the phone with former John Edwards adviser Joe Trippi, and he says that Edwards would commend and support Hillary's idea for a cabinet-level poverty czar, which she proposed during a speech today.

"That would absolutely be something Edwards would welcome," Trippi says. "As someone close to him, a cabinet level position on poverty is something he would support 100 percent."

"Edwards pushed both [Obama and Hillary] to focus on poverty," Trippi adds. "She's done something to be commended for."

John Edwards just finished up taping his appearance on Jay Leno tonight -- it hasn't aired yet. The fact that he was appearing on the show prompted many to wonder whether he would use the appearance to endorse Hillary or Obama.

The answer: Nope. He didn't endorse either, according to Leno's publicist, Tracy St. Pierre, who emails me this:

No news...it was a catching up interview, but he didn't throw his support either way.

So no Edwards endorsement for now.

The Iowa caucuses might have been over two months ago, but Barack Obama is still making gains off of them. In today's Iowa county Democratic conventions — which those caucus delegates were elected to participate in — Obama picked up the votes of roughly half of John Edwards' former supporters, netting him seven delegates.

Going into the June state Democratic convention, where the federal delegates will finally be selected, Obama is projected to have 23 delegates to Hillary Clinton's 14, with eight remaining delegates either still nominally for Edwards or uncommitted.

To put this in perspective, Hillary's total gains in the Ohio primary amounted to a net advantage of nine delegates.

Late Update: NBC News is now putting Obama's projected net delegate gain at five, not seven. The current numbers: Obama 23, Clinton 16, Edwards/Uncommitted 6. Still, it's hardly a bad day for Obama.

Late Late Update: The newest NBC projections give Obama 25 delegates, Clinton 14, and Edwards/Uncommitted 6. That's a gain of nine delegates for Obama since the January 3 precinct caucuses, and a loss of one for Clinton.

Here's some more detail, courtesy of the Associated Press, on the thinking of John and Elizabeth Edwards about whom -- or whether -- to endorse in the Dem primary:

The couple has been impressed with Clinton, who has more effectively courted them since the 2004 vice presidential nominee dropped out, people who talk to the Edwardses say. Obama has been less attentive, they say, and some of those close to the Edwardses have been annoyed that Obama has continued to ridicule him for once saying his biggest weakness is that he has a powerful response to seeing pain in others.

Mark Halperin says his sources tell him the same.

As I've noted here before, multiple sources close to Edwards have told me (and many others) that he feels closer to Obama on the issues (except for health care) and thinks he represents the possibility of a more fundamental break with the status quo, but has concerns about his toughness and readiness to be president.

Barack Obama met with John Edwards today at his North Carolina home, just as Hillary Clinton did a week and a half ago. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton told CNN that Obama met with Edwards "to discuss the state of the campaign and the pressing issues facing American families."

Edwards might be out of the race, but he certainly isn't being ignored by the remaining candidates. Both Hillary and Obama are probably hoping that an Edwards endorsement could help attract some of the working-class and left-wing voters who had been drawn to his candidacy.

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you up to speed on the whereabouts of former Edwards campaign guru Joe Trippi.

When I reached him moments ago on his cell to ask him about the possibility of an Edwards endorsement, Trippi said he was out of the loop.

"I'm lying on a beach in Key West," he said.

When I asked him if he wanted us to put out word about this, Trippi joked that it might be a good idea, because it would perhaps get people to stop interrupting his beach time to ask him about Edwards' plans.

"It might stop all the calls I'm getting," Trippi said, in his customary wry way.

An Edwards aide confirms to me that his meeting with Obama, which was schedule for today and was expected to focus on the possibility of an endorsement, has been canceled.

"The two of them have had a number of conversations in recent weeks and will continue to do so, but there is no meeting today," the aide says.

It's unclear as yet why it was canceled or whether it was rescheduled. Edwards met with Hillary on Thursday.

An Edwards aide confirms to me that John Edwards met privately with Hillary on Thursday to discuss the possibility of making an endorsement, and will meet with Obama tomorrow, as first reported by Mark Halperin.

The Edwards aide gave me a bunch more detail, including this: "There's a greater than 50% chance he will endorse." He also said that he's been talking to both on and off for some time, including since he dropped out.

The Edwards aide, who played a key campaign role, confirms that in his private discussion with Hillary, the former North Carolina Senator talked to her about similar concerns he raised with both candidates just before leaving the race. The aide says he talked about "who's going to carry on the mantle of fighting for the voiceless," and is trying to gauge which of the two "will sign their name in blood in order to make that commitment." A second source familiar with the meeting confirmed that it took place.

The Edwards aide cautioned against reading too much into the meetings, saying that he'd been talking to both of them before. "He's torn," the aide said "He has reservations about Hillary, which are pretty apparent."

On Obama, the aide says, Edwards worries "whether he's tough enough to be President of the United States. If you look at what Edwards ran on, which is not negotiating with the special interests, taking away their power, that's pretty different than the Obama model."

The Edwards aide added that Obama's lack of a health care plan with a "mandate" is a "tough hurdle for him to get over." He added, however, that Edwards is much more in line with Obama on other issues.

It's starting. Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake, Matt Stoller of OpenLeft, and Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog all blast Hillary for accepting an invitation to debate on Fox. She'll be taking a lot of criticism over this.

Obama won't say whether he'll be accepting the invite. "We'll figure out our schedule, including any debates, soon," Obama spokesperson Bill Burton tells me. What will Obama do? Nixing the debate gives Obama a big opening to outflank Hillary with the netroots, but Obama has already appeared on Fox, and this doesn't seem like the type of battle Obama likes.

It's worth noting that here's an instance where John Edwards' absence from the race will be felt. You can bet he'd be raising his voice against participating. Without a major, top-tier Dem candidate giving voice to the case against Fox, it will be that much easier for Hillary and Obama to both accept the network's invitation.

The new ABC/Washington Post national poll shows a tight race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Here are the numbers, compared to the previous poll from three weeks ago:

Clinton 47% (+5)
Obama 43% (+6)

John Edwards was at 11% in the last poll, an indication that his support may be breaking fairly even between two remaining candidates in the country as a whole — though the breakdowns have also seemed to vary from state to state in other polls.

On the Republican side, it's a different story. John McCain is way ahead, and appears to have picked up virtually all of Rudy Giuliani's past support:

McCain 48% (+20)
Romney 24% (+5)
Huckabee 20% (-4)
Paul 7% (+4)

Here it is: A handy guide to what all the most recent polls are saying in nearly all of the 22 states holding Democratic primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5th.

Taken together, all these polls — which we've assembled for you in chart form for your convenience — offer a clear snapshot of the Super Tuesday showdown as it is shaping up right now.

The overall picture these polls provide: The race is tightening up in practically all the key Feb. 5th states — mirroring what the national polls are showing.

It's true that of the states where polls are available, Hillary Clinton leads in all but three of them. And even in Colorado and Georgia, where Obama is ahead, his advantage is a narrow one. In short, the polls would seem to show that Hillary Clinton goes into Super Tuesday with a clear advantage.

Nonetheless, the chart shows that in recent weeks, and especially in the last few days, Obama has seriously narrowed the gaps in such key states as California, Massachusetts and Connecticut, with more polls coming in everyday. Furthermore, the withdrawal of John Edwards has thrown the race into yet more chaos — the combined Edwards/undecided number is around 20% across the board. If Obama can keep the momentum going by consolidating the undecideds and taking a majority of former Edwards supporters, this could get very close indeed.

If Hillary posts a strong showing on Super Tuesday, dominating across the board, then she'll likely stop Obama's momentum and seal the nomination soon afterwards. But if Obama cuts it close or even overtakes her in the day's delegate count, this race continues onward.

Take a look at our chart after the jump.

Late Update: We've also made a similar roundup for the Republicans

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