Talk about the media jumping ahead of the game. I'm not sure if they're trying to bully him into it or they just need to create some drama ("Hillary vs. Edwards--Will Obama take the Dem nod as they duke it out?"), but this report is timed prematurely, both in terms of Edwards' official announcement, and in length of time before the '08 election.

YahooNews:

Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, has decided he can and is planning to announce his campaign in New Orleans between Christmas and New Year's, two Democrats said.

Edwards' novel choice of sites shows how he wants to distinguish his candidacy: emphasizing policies he believes can unite a country divided by economic inequality, a situation no more evident than in the city's Lower Ninth Ward, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

McClatchy Newspapers ran an editorial by a director at Quinnipiac this weekend calling Edwards "the Dems best hope"