The race for the Democratic nomination is now a two-person contest — and we haven’t even reached Super Tuesday.

John Edwards bowed out today after failing to win any of the early primaries or caucuses, essentially leaving the race to Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

The battle for the Republican nomination has more players, but is starting to come down to John McCain versus Mitt Romney.

Edwards never enjoyed frontrunner status this year, and he had to know it was over when he fared poorly in the South Carolina primary. Edwards was born in South Carolina, a state that he won in 2004.

Edwards brought a lot of energy to the campaign but that didn’t translate into enough support in the early primaries and caucuses.

— John Guerriero