(Updated) Edwards to Quit Prez Race Today

Edwards campaigns in Seneca NC last week, where he was born

UPDATE: See below the fold for video of the speech.
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John Edwards will withdraw from the race for the Democratic nomination for president today at 11 AM MST during a speech in New Orleans, where he began his campaign. His top advisors have said he won't endorse another candidate today. Elizabeth Edwards and their three children will be at his side for the speech. Afterwards, Edwards will work with Habitat for Humanity at their New Orleans rebuilding project called Musicians' Village.

From the beginning, Edwards' platform was the most progressive and populist of the top-tier Dem candidates. Refusing to take money from lobbyists and PACs, his campaign operated with significantly less funding than the Obama and Clinton campaigns, and received much less coverage by the traditional media. A number of his positions on issues were eventually adopted by the Dem frontrunners. According to an AP story by Nedra Pickler:

Edwards Speech Today in New Orleans

With that, Edwards' campaign will end the way it began 13 months ago - with the candidate pitching in to rebuild lives in a city still ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Edwards embraced New Orleans as a glaring symbol of what he described as a Washington that didn't hear the cries of the downtrodden.

Edwards burst out of the starting gate with a flurry of progressive policy ideas - he was the first to offer a plan for universal health care, the first to call on Congress to pull funding for the war, and he led the charge that lobbyists have too much power in Washington and need to be reigned in.

Now the question is whether Edwards' supporters will move primarily to Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. If he decides to endorse another candidate it will most likely be Obama given Edwards' labeling of himself and Obama as agents of change while dubbing Clinton a force for the status quo. Edwards' numbers have generally been in the teens in national polling.