Edwards Returns to South Carolina, Looking for a Boost

Wed, January 09, 2008 - 2:20 PM

After a second place finish in Iowa and a distant third place finish in New Hampshire, John Edwards brought his populist message to what he hopes is friendlier territory on Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking on the campus of Clemson University – about 8 miles from Seneca, South Carolina, the mill town where he grew up – Edwards made clear to about 300 supporters that he had no plans of dropping his bid for the Democratic nomination, despite his failure to win either of the first two contests.

“So far, there have been two contests, Iowa where I finished second, and New Hampshire where I finished third, and your voice here in South Carolina is going to be heard,” Edwards said, in a Southern-tweaked version of the concession speech he gave in New Hampshire Tuesday night.

“We’ve got a little time before the South Carolina primary (scheduled for Jan. 26). I won the primary in 2004,” Edwards said, prompting a member of the audience to yell, “Do it again.”

“But we have to make certain that every primary voter in South Carolina knows that I was born here, I know what your lives are like” he said.



Though Edwards won the state in 2004, the high-wattage campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were not a factor then.
Recent polls here show him running third behind both candidates, and political experts in the state said Wednesday that it is highly unlikely he will overtake either candidate, despite his home-state appeal.

Approximately half of the voters in the South Carolina democratic primary are likely to be African-Americans, and political watchers say that group’s vote – especially African-American women – could turn the election here.

Their support helped propel Edwards to victory last time. But this time around, Edwards is not the first choice of many African-American voters, polls show.
The crowd gathered outside an academic building at Clemson to watch Edwards underscored the challenge he faces.

I counted exactly three African-Americans in the largely white crowd.



One of them, Dorothy Jones of Clemson, voted for Edwards in 2004, but this time, she’s keeping her options open, and said she was leaning more towards Hillary Clinton than Edwards.
“She seems to have the most experience, and that’s important to me,” she said.

Speaking to reporters after his speech, Edwards faced a barrage of questions about how long he would stay in the race. “All the way to the White House,” he said, adding that he the outcome here in South Carolina would be key to his candidacy.

--Sean Mussenden