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Of the 62 Edwards stories in 2006, five were on the front page. Two were in the last week of the year, when Edwards announced his candidacy from New Orleans.

Was the coverage too easy on the home-town candidate? I don't think so. The announcement stories contained quotes from analysts critical of Edwards' chances. One of the five front-pagers in 2006 was a delicious story about how an Edwards aide invoked the candidate's name to get to the front of the line at Wal-Mart to buy a PlayStation 3 for Edwards' children -- the same day that Edwards was protesting Wal-Mart labor practices.

Still, Curran, the Chapel Hill reader, says she thinks the paper needs to bring more scrutiny to Edwards, such as the arrangement that gave him a perch at UNC's law school between campaigns. I had also wondered about that.

I do think the paper can be criticized for too lavish coverage of Edwards' campaign announcement, which included front-page stories from New Orleans two days in a row, Dec. 28 and 29. One of those stories included a full-page rundown on the Edwards candidacy. Two days later, the paper ran two stories on Page 5B about Edwards' post-announcement campaign swing.

Overall, it was excessive; I'd chalk it up not to conscious Edwards-boosting, but to internal newspaper factors. The two stories about the announcement made the front page, Christensen said, because it was a slow news week (just what Edwards counted on, I'm guessing). The double-barrel follow-up was because the paper chose to run separate stories on his appearances in South Carolina and Chapel Hill -- one from The Charlotte Observer, one from an N&O staff reporter.

As Christensen says, The N&O is never going to satisfy the hard-core anti-Edwards sentiment, which is virulent in a state that voted for Bush-Cheney over Kerry-Edwards in 2004. But you should look for more, not fewer, Edwards stories as the campaign cranks up. And The N&O, as the home-state newspaper, should lead in bringing to bear the scrutiny that this presidential candidate needs to face in a national campaign.

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