For Edwardians, there has been a spate of bad news. Edwards is being buried under an avalanche of cash flowing to his chief Democratic rivals, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

The haircut story won't go away. Last week, Edwards' Beverly Hills stylist said Edwards had repeatedly used his services over a period of years and had paid $1,250 to fly him to Atlanta to give him a trim during the 2004 campaign.

More fodder for Leno, Letterman and Stewart.

And the Edwards campaign has just shaken up its leadership, bringing in some new talent. That is usually a sign that things are not going well.

The Edwards campaign has had a series of mishaps -- the publicity over his large house, the anti-Catholic rhetoric of his former bloggers, his involvement in a hedge fund.

Edwards' polling numbers have been in a slow decline. In April, national polls had him at about 17.8 percent support. Today, his support is down to 12.4 percent, suggesting he has lost as much as 30 percent of his backing, according to a compilation of polls collected by the Web site Real Clear Politics.

The question is whether this is a dip on the roller coaster or whether his campaign is in a slow-motion decline.

Even in Edwards' home state, North Carolina, Clinton and Obama have pulled even with him in polls. And Edwards is trailing in South Carolina, which he won in 2004.

Obama not only held a fund-raiser in Edwards' new hometown of Chapel Hill last month, but he also long ago took Edwards' place as chief challenger to Clinton.

But Edwards' supporters say the picture is not bleak.

While Republican Sen. John McCain's campaign has been laying off campaign workers, Edwards just increased his paid staff in New Hampshire from 29 to 40, with 10 campaign offices.

Although Clinton's and Obama's fundraising has left Edwards in the dust, the former senator still has raised twice as much as he did in the same period in 2004 and is on pace to reach his goal of $40 million for the year.

Edwards hopes to pick up major labor endorsements this fall. And his fundraising has engaged a lot of small donors.

"I think John is where he needs to be," said Ed Turlington, a Raleigh lawyer and Edwards campaign adviser. "He has raised twice as much as he did at this point last time. He is running very strongly in Iowa. In New Hampshire, he is running stronger than he did four years ago."

The Edwards argument is his electability. Democrats are desperate to regain the White House and end the war in Iraq, and Edwards consistently outpolls Clinton and Obama in head-to-head races with possible Republican nominees.

Edwards supporters say their man is forging ahead with his plan and will be in a position to pick up the pieces if the front-runners falter.

"One of the things I respect about John's approach to the campaign is he is swimming in his own lane," Turlington said.

But at this point, it's hard to tell whether Edwards is moving forward or sinking.