Consider us gobsmacked. With less than a week to go before Super Tuesday, the primary date shared by a whopping 24 states, two candidates are bowing out of the presidential race today.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who we chowed down with (so to speak) in Philadelphia, is set to endorse the man he was beating in November's polls, Senator John McCain. The Arizona Senator is now the Republican front runner. "You don't always win, but you can always try to do it right," Giuliani told supporters last night. Fred Thompson, who never really got the bus running in Iowa, has also ended his bid for president.

On the Democratic side, former senator and 2004 vice-presidential candidate John Edwards is expected to withdraw this afternoon after placing second in Iowa and third everywhere else. (Including, in a stinging rejoinder, in his native state of South Carolina, which Barack Obama won). With his exit and those of Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic field will be narrowed down to two. To the best of our knowledge, it's the first time all this happened in January.

We pity the campaign workers whose last acts in the bullpen will be to cancel all those Super Tuesday travel arrangements.

Related Stories:
· Giuliani To Exit Presidential Race [AP, via Yahoo]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]

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Check out our Candidates Travel Map to chase down those last undecided primary votes.

Today's the first primary in the nation in warmer-than-usual New Hampshire. The seventeen voters who showed up to the polls in Dixville Notch, the city which began voting after midnight, picked Barack Obama and John McCain. McCain is the big surprise of that pairing after a less than stellar showing in Iowa.

Much has been made of the fact that Hillary Clinton received none of those 17 votes, but maybe a town of 74 isn't a super sample.

Since 1952, the winner of the New Hampshire primary for his party has gone on to be president 85 percent of the time. (McCain is one of those exceptions, having taken the state in the 2000 primary.) Mitt Romney may have had that stat in mind when he stood outside a Manchester polling place trying to catch some of the 45 percent of registered independents, who are free to vote in either primary.

Current polls indicate that Romney's running second, ahead of Iowa champion Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani. Next week, it's off to Michigan, where the candidates of both parties will genuflect to Big Auto on Michael Moore territory. You can bet we'll be following them west.

Related Stories:
· Obama, McCain get early win in Dixville Notch [Reuters]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Candidates Travel Map [Jaunted]

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So John McCain called the retinue of reporters following with him in South Carolina "you little jerks," and we weren't even there! Despite his slide in the polls this year, the Senator from Arizona is not only chipper but appears not to be worried about the Iowa caucus on January 3rd. "If I don't finish in the top 50 in Iowa, I'll still stay in the race," he told the press, which is pretty bold in the face of what looks like a three-way race. (We hear McCain is cool with Mike Huckabee, but not so much with Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani.)

On the other hand, the Senator has more national experience than most of the other candidates in either party, and he just got endorsed by 2000 vice-presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman and the classically conservative Wall Street Journal. Today he'll be in Boston at a lunch in Faneuil Hall Market Place with Henry Kissinger. Tomorrow he stops in Louisiana before returning home to Arizona on Friday.

Related Stories:
· Boston Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]

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Barack Obama stopped by the Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common last night for a big rally that also featured Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. While he didn't have a chance to explore the country's oldest city park, Obama did draw nearly 10,000 supporters on the eve the Red Sox-Rockies World Series.

The Democratic candidate won't be in town to catch the game, but his team isn't playing anyway: He told the crowd last night he's a die-hard White Sox fan, post-season or not. (He even took a dig at Rudy Giuliani, who inexplicably decided to back the Red Sox after his Yankees lost the Division Series earlier this month.)

Had Obama stayed in town, though, he would've found plenty to do around Boston Common. The Frog Pond isn't yet frozen for skating, but it's pleasant year-round. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument honors "The Men of Boston" who died in the Civil War. Adjacent to the Common are Park Street Station and Boylston Station, the nation's first subway stops. And across the street is the Public Garden, the country's first botanical garden.

Related Stories:
· A Principled Sports Fan [The Caucus]
· The Frog Pond [Official Site]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Candidates Travel Map [Jaunted]

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Former mayor and GOP flip-flopper Rudy Giuliani was in Philadelphia recently to beef up his (non-existent) anti-illegal immigration credentials. And since he used to lord over New York City--a place not exactly known for its above board labor force--where did Rudy get a bite to eat while still hammering home his message that illegal immigration must be stopped? Geno's Steaks, of course.

The cheese steak palace is probably just as famous these days for its xenophobic signage as its Whiz-drenched subs. Giuliani did take a moment to explain his position on immigration:

Immigration is wonderful...We need people who are going to inform us, give us new ideas, but it has to be legal. Illegal immigration is a bad thing.

We'd love to know if Rudy picked up one of Geno's shirts with the slogan "I'm an American so I order in English" to go with his dinner.

Related Stories:
· No Giuliani Beef at Philly Cheese Steak Shop [NYDN]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Candidates Travel Map [Jaunted]

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