When the state's Democrats vote in Saturday's primary, estimates are that only about 17 percent of the voters will be white men, and polls suggest that the candidate who needs them the most -- native son John Edwards, himself white -- may not get enough to make a strong showing.

The former North Carolina senator was a distant third among all state voters in one new poll released Wednesday, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama the leader and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton trailing.

Edwards has been behind among whites as well as blacks, trailing Clinton. But DuPre will side with Edwards; like a lot of the white men in this state, he thinks that the Seneca native has an innate understanding of people like him.

But there's no easy way to predict how others like DuPre will vote, said Jack Bass, a professor of humanities and social sciences at the College of Charleston, because there's no easy way to categorize the white male electorate.

Their decision, he said, could be based partly on economics, and partly on who can win in November. "Edwards' problem is that he's not seen as being that viable," said Joseph Stewart, a professor of political science at Clemson University.

In Townville, Charles Hamby, 76, is going with Edwards. Hamby has been a railroad contractor, a bluegrass music-show organizer and a used-car dealer. He sees Democrats as more friendly to small businesses and Edwards as understanding those needs. "Democrats just care more about the poor and the old," Hamby said.

They also care about picking a winner; that's one reason that Ervin Sowell, 64, from Bishopville, came to an Obama rally Wednesday in Sumter.

"I'm not voting for Barack because he's black, but because he's the best man. He did a pretty good job in the debate," Sowell said.