Reports are that John Edwards will announce he is dropping out of the race today in New Orelans.

The Associated Press reports that Edwards will not immediately endorse a candidate.

CNN Reports:

A top Edwards aide said the former senator contacted Obama and Clinton on Tuesday, telling them he was considering dropping out of the race and asking them to make poverty a top issue of their campaigns and — if either reaches the White House — a central part of their administration.

Both candidates agreed, the aide said.

Obama made the following statement on the withdrawl of John Edwards:

“John Edwards has spent a lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn’t popular to do or covered in the news. At a time when our politics is too focused on who’s up and who’s down, he made a nation focus again on who matters – the New Orleans child without a home, the West Virginia miner without a job, the families who live in that other America that is not seen or heard or talked about by our leaders in Washington. John and Elizabeth Edwards have always believed deeply that we can change this – that two Americans can become one, and that our country can rally around this common purpose. So while his campaign may end today, the cause of their lives endures for all of us who still believe that we can achieve that dream of one America.”

Clinton reaction:

Well Senator Edwards is a friend of mine, he was a colleague in the senate and I have the highest regard for him, and I’m really admiring of what he has done to make sure that poverty was on the agenda here in America. He encouraged all of us in his passion and advocacy and I hope he will continue that work because it is really important that we stay focused on what we’re going to do to help people.