Unlike Rudy Giuliani, who endorsed John McCain the day he left the race, Mitt Romney waits until McCain’s delegate lead goes from insurmountable to a 100% mathematical certainty before finally endorsing the Senator yesterday.  Just one more example of Romney’s inability to shed political calculation and take a principled, slightly risky stand on anything– not even football.

Black superdelegates Rep. David Scott and Rep. John Lewis wait until after Hillary Clinton is on the ropes and after their districts give Barack Obama 70-80% of their vote to begin changing their minds on their previous endorsements of Clinton.  Not that this move is politically convient for them in any way.  But it will probably make it whole lot easier for these black representatives to get reelected in their largely black districts when they’re not going against the overwhelming will of their mostly black constituents to stand in the way of potentially the first black president.

After months of telling us what a corporatized, special-interest driven, calculating, double-talking politician Hillary Clinton is, John Edwards decides that a potential cabinet position in a Clinton White House trumps all of that and mulls the prospect of endorsing her.  It would be just one more politically convenient flip-flop for the man who spent the majority of his campaign apologizing for everything he voted for during his one-term in the Senate.

And finally, Mike Huckabee, who refuses to admit that his lameduck campaign is literally and mathematically a lost cause at this point– famously telling Tim Russert on Sunday, “I didn’t major in math, I majored in miracles”– nevertheless leaves the campaign trail for two days to give a paid keynote address in the Cayman Islands.  I guess he only majored in the miracles of hopeless presidential campaigns, not the miracles of, you know, doing what’s right and trusting God to provide for you.  Defending his decision, Huckabee said, “I think people of America who understand that you’ve got to work for a living and pay your bills recognize that that’s exactly what I ought to be doing,” failing to mention that he makes up to $25,000 a speech (though remember, he didn’t major in math).  I’m sure the thousands of unpaid volunteers who are working night and day on Huckabee’s behalf, despite knowing logically that he can’t win, are thrilled about their boss’s latest fundraising effort.

1. For the first time in American history, there will be a presidential nominee from a major party who is not a white male.  Regardless of how you feel about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, it’s hard not to be a little in awe at such an incredibly historic milestone for our country.

2. The long-anticipated (and long-dreaded) all-New York matchup between Clinton and Giuliani will not take place.  I don’t know if America has ever dodged a bigger bullet than that.  Thank you, Florida.

The conventional wisdom is that there’s two groups of people in the Edwards camp, those who buy his message of fighting against the Washington establishment and will be unlikely to support Hillary Clinton, and those who are supporting him because he’s the white guy and will be unlikely to support Barack Obama.  In other words, either Edwards is splitting the anti-Hillary vote or he’s splitting the white vote.  I tend to think it’s the former, but perhaps not by much.  Of the 15% of votes that Edwards is currently eating up, I’m guessing something like 9% of that goes to Obama and 6% to Clinton, which could maybe be pushed three points in either direction if Edwards endorses.

Though with that said, I guarantee you John Edwards knows exactly who he’s helping by dropping out of the race before Super Tuesday.  There was speculation after Iowa that Edwards was staying in the race in order to collect enough delegates in each state to be the deciding factor at a potentially brokered convention between Clinton and Obama.  Who he would give his delegates to was unknown, but it was assumed that they would come at the price of an attorney general position (or possibly another spot at the bottom of the Democratic ticket) for John Edwards.  But what if Edwards realized that he would have more influence by dropping out before Super Tuesday?

Consider this scenario: In a secret closed-door meeting, Hillary Clinton comes to John Edwards and tells him that according to her pollsters, his presence in the race is overwhelmingly benefitting Barack Obama.  So if Edwards will agree to drop out before Super Tuesday, she’ll guarantee him a spot in her cabinet.  It would be a much surer thing than for Edwards to spend months (and money) collecting delegates and hoping for a brokered convention.  What if he doesn’t get enough delegates to make a difference?  What if the race is already decided by the convention and the delegates he’s spent months and millions collecting are worthless?  By dropping out before Super Tuesday, Edwards exercises more influence over the race and potentially gives himself a better shot at an attorney general position than he would have had by staying in.

The fact is that John Edwards will never be elected president and probably will never be a senator again (he couldn’t get reelected to the Senate in his own home state, couldn’t carry the state for John Kerry in the 2004 general election, and could only win one county in the 2008 primary).  And nobody knows all of that better than John Edwards.  This race– which was a lost cause for him the moment he lost Iowa– was his last opportunity to get back into Washington.  And even though his presidential bid is ending today, my guess is that his chances of being in Washington in 2009 just got a whole lot better.