Edwards takes a softer tone in S.C.

GAFFNEY, S.C. -- The speeches this week end with a poignant moment: Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards joins hands with bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley to lead the crowds in singing "Amazing Grace."

The music of Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys now has more prominence than "The Rising" by New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen, the unofficial campaign anthem at Edwards' rallies in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The campaign's tone has also changed as Edwards has returned to his native state for Saturday's South Carolina Democratic primary. Edwards' basic message of the need for "economic fairness" remains. But some of the edge has been rounded off.

In front of politically moderate South Carolina Democrats, Edwards no longer uses phrases such as "corporate greed" or talks about corporations stealing children's futures.

Instead, Edwards emphasizes his Southern roots and his understanding of small towns where textile mills have closed and of the decline of rural America. And he promises never to forget these people if he gets to the White House.

"No one has to explain to me what happens when the factories and the mills close and the jobs leave," Edwards said in Lancaster. "That is the difference of having a president who comes from here, who understands what is happening here. ... I will not forget where I came from when I'm president."

Edwards has struggled against the better-funded campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in the first three contests, in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. If polls are correct, Edwards is in third place in South Carolina -- the state where he won his only major primary when he first ran for president in 2004.

Edwards: I know you

As the only Southern candidate, Edwards is playing up his roots.

"I remember very well going to Friday night high school football games," Edwards said in Lancaster. "I played in a few myself. I remember going to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. I know very well what your lives are like and are built around."

Edwards strikes a chord with some voters in the hard-hit upstate textile belt.

"He can relate to the cotton mill people," said Glenn Fuller, 57, a retired highway patrolman from Gaffney. "He knows about how we're raised, the values of the South."

Norman Hutto, 57, a retired state employee from Gaffney, said Edwards understands the region's economic problems. "He has a sense of what life is like around here," Hutto said.

Edwards' speech is heavy on economic issues. He says trade deals such as NAFTA may have been profitable for corporations but devastated communities. He talks about the need to invest more in rural America.

Clinton in his sights

Edwards targets Clinton, not Obama. He criticizes her for not being in South Carolina on Tuesday and Wednesday, suggesting she would not help the state if she should get elected. (Clinton returned to South Carolina on Thursday. ) He criticizes her support for trade deals.

Obama has not tailored his message for a Southern audience. In South Carolina, his remarks have been similar to those he delivered in other states, changing only to emphasize topics that pertain to the audience, such as student loans when he's speaking at a college.

If Edwards is going to pull any surprises, the most likely would be for him to finish second, ahead of Clinton. A poll released Thursday of likely Democratic voters shows Edwards narrowing the gap, although it still showed Edwards third, with 19 percent. Clinton was at 30 percent, while Obama was the choice of 38 percent surveyed. The McClatchy-MSNBC poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.