Edwards drops out of presidential race

by The Times-Picayune

Wednesday January 30, 2008, 7:34 AM

By David Hammer

and Bill Walsh

Staff writers

Ending his presidential bid in the same city he started it 13 months earlier, Democrat John Edwards told a crowd at the Musicians' Village in the 9th Ward today that he is giving up the political chase but not the battle against poverty that had been the theme of his campaign.

"We joined together in this city abandoned by our government and forgotten, but not by us," he told those who gathered in the chilly early afternoon weather. "Someday, one day, the trumpets will play loud in Musicians' Village, where we stand today."