News & Observer | newsobserver.com | John Edwards

Published: Dec 28, 2006 12:00 AM
Modified: Dec 28, 2006 04:31 AM

Edwards faces a new set of hurdles

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THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL FIELD

Who has announced

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio

Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa

Possible candidates

Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina (to announce today)

Sen. Joe Biden, Delaware

Sen. Hillary Clinton, New York

Sen. Chris Dodd, Connecticut

Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts

Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois

Former Vice President Al Gore

Gov. Bill Richardson, New Mexico

retired NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark

Television coverage today

When: 9 a.m.; Where: WRAL will carry the CNN feed on its Web site, www.wral.com. l News 14 will carry the news conference live.

THE 2008 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FIELD

Who has announced

No one

Who has formed exploratory committees

Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas

Former Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York

Sen. John McCain of Arizona

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin

Other possible candidates

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia.

Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California

Gov. George Pataki of New York

Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts

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The campaign experienced its first glitch on Wednesday, a day before it formally came into existence.

Edwards' campaign accidentally went live Wednesday with his election Web site, The Associated Press reported.

The slip-up gave an unintended double meaning to his campaign slogan on the John Edwards '08 Web site: "Tomorrow begins today." Aides quickly shut down the errant Web site.

Several questions remain as Edwards begin his White House quest:

HAS EDWARDS' MOMENT PASSED? Edwards was the new face in 2004, and some voters liked his sunny persona. But some may view Edwards as a bit shopworn. He failed to help carry the Kerry-Edwards ticket anywhere in the South, including his home state of North Carolina.

"A lot of folks are going to view his candidacy and strategy in the context of the Kerry-Edwards campaign," said Dick Hartpootlian, a former South Carolina Democratic chairman. "Many people, including myself, thought it was a strategic disaster. They wrote off huge parts of the country, including South Carolina. ... It's going to be very difficult for Southerners to forget that snub."

The good news for Edwards is that polling suggests that Democrats tend to blame Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, not Edwards, for losing to Bush.

"The most encouraging thing for Edwards is he came out of '04 with a good bit of residual good will, particularly in Iowa, and Kerry had none" said Cook. "He came out of it as well or better than anybody had any right to hope for."

DOES EDWARDS HAVE THE PROPER SEASONING? One of the knocks on Edwards in 2004 was that he lacked the experience to be president. Edwards has served only one six-year term in the Senate and has never held an executive post. But Edwards has been globe-hopping during the past two years, meeting with foreign leaders in an effort to broaden his resume.

CAN EDWARDS WIN THE ANTI-WAR VOTE? Edwards was booed when he appeared before California Democrats during the last election because of his vote for a resolution authorizing the war in Iraq. Edwards has since said his vote was a mistake, and he has courted the anti-war bloggers who backed Howard Dean in 2004.

WILL ORGANIZED LABOR HELP EDWARDS? Edwards had little labor support when he ran in 2004. But since then, Edwards has been heavily courting labor -- walking the picket lines and participating in a campaign to pressure Wal-Mart to treat its workers better. He is expected to name former Michigan congressman David Bonior, a key labor ally, as his campaign manager. Labor could play an important role in the Iowa and Nevada caucuses.

But labor no longer has the clout that it once had.

"The last time labor got their candidate was Walter Mondale," said Todd, the Political Hotline editor, referring to the Democratic nominee in 1984.


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Staff writer Rob Christensen can be reached at 829-4532 or robc@newsobserver.com.

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