Edwards' chances continue to diminish

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Confetti litters the floor of a hotel ballroom in Nashua, N.H., after Sen. John McCain’s victory party. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Sen. Hillary Clinton revels in her victory in the New Hampshire primary, greeting supporters at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. It was a big night for the family too, with daughter Chelsea and former President Bill Clinton at the rear of the stage. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, with her husband, former President Clinton, greet the audience at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester after being declared the winner of the New Hampshire Democratic primary. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton at Southern New Hampshire University react after the New York senator is declared Democratic winner of the state primary. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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John McCain’s win in the New Hampshire Republican primary caps a remarkable comeback as has climbed back into contention for the presidential nomination. The senator from Arizona is joined by his wife, Cindy, in celebrating Tuesday night. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Sen. Barack Obama hugs his wife, Michelle, after conceding the New Hampshire primary to Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday night. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman in the audience at Nashua High School South reacts to Senator Barack Obama’s loss in the New Hampshire primary to Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Mitt Romney, who placed second in the New Hampshire primary, gets a kiss from his wife, Ann, as he concedes to fellow Republican John McCain. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Mitt Romney supporters react as early primary results are displayed on TV before the start of Romney’s post-primary rally in Bedford. Their candidate would come in second place. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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His wife, Ann, stays by Mitt Romney’s side as he greets supporters after conceding to John McCain in the New Hampshire primary. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Sandra Hammel, in glasses, celebrates a closing in the gap between Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton as preliminary results come in at Nashua South High School. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, joined by his wife, Janet, speaks at his primary night rally at Derryfield Golf Course in Manchester. (Ann Johansson / For the Los Angeles Times)

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Republican candidate Mike Huckabee is surrounded by media and supporters after speaking at his primary night rally at Derryfield Golf Course in Manchester. (Ann Johansson / For the Los Angeles Times)

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Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards gestures as he takes the stage before his election night rally in Manchester. He would go on to concede to rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton makes the rounds with voters -- and maybe one future voter -- in Nashua. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, center, and daughter Chelsea, left, greet voters at the polling station at Parker-Varney School in Manchester. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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Republican presidential candidate John McCain greets voters at Broad Street Elementary in Nashua before they cast their ballots in the New Hampshire primary. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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John McCain and his wife, Cindy, sit with reporters on his campaign bus dubbed the Straight Talk Express. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Mitt Romney visits a polling station in Manchester at dawn. “The Republicans will vote for me. The independents will get behind me,” he said. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Republican candidate Mitt Romney braves the chill, and competitors’ campaign signs, to await voters outside Bedford High School in Bedford on Tuesday morning. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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News photographers cast a shadow on a U.S. flag as they try to capture the entrance of Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic hopeful prepares to speak to students at Dartmouth College on Tuesday morning. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Sen. Barack Obama faces reporters after speaking to students at Dartmouth College. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Republican presidential candidate and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani greets supporters at his New Hampshire campaign headquarters in Manchester. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

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Republican presidential hopefuls Mike Huckabee, left, and Rudolph W. Giuliani cross paths at a polling place in Manchester. That’s Huckabee’s wife, Janet, in the center. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

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The signs say “Hillary,” not “Huck,” but that doesn’t stop GOP candidate Mike Huckabee from pressing the flesh at a polling station in Dover. (Darren McCollester / Getty Images)

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Terry Muzzey walks out of Town Hall after having voted in the primary election in Canterbury. (Ann Johansson / For the Los Angeles Times)

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Voters queue up and join an election worker in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before the opening of a polling location at Town Hall in Chichester. (Ann Johansson / For the Los Angeles Times)

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Volunteers prepare the Parker Varney School polling location in Manchester for the day’s primary voting. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

By Seema Mehta and Scott Martelle

Jan. 9, 2008 12 AM PT

Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

While John Edwards sought to put a positive spin on his third-place finish in Tuesday’s New Hampshire Democratic primary, his failure to stay close to rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama raised doubts about whether his campaign could mount a credible challenge going into the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday caucuses and primaries.

“Two races down, 48 states left to go,” Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, told supporters after the polls closed. “I am in this race to the convention, and I intend to be the nominee of my party.”

But Edwards’ campaign has not been able to raise the kind of money that his top rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, have pulled in. With every failure to win a primary, he diminishes his chances of overtaking his opponents, said political analyst Bruce Cain, director of UC Berkeley’s Washington Center.

“My view is that normally this would be the end, but I think it comes down to what labor wants,” said Cain, referring to the organized labor movement. “If they think it’s good having his voice, bringing up the issues that force the other candidates to respond, they may see it as worth their while to keep him in it until Feb. 5. It really depends on whether the money is there.”

Both Iowa and New Hampshire are states that can be won the old-fashioned way: with door-knocking, handshaking and a grueling pace of public appearances. Edwards has a disadvantage in large states like California, New York and Illinois. Those states are usually won by gaining attention in the news media, which often focus on which candidate has momentum and has captured the voters’ interest, and by airing expensive television ads.

“It’s clear that the race is coming down to two candidates,” and Edwards isn’t one of them, Cain said.

But Tuesday night, Edwards’ advisors insisted that the campaign would not be derailed by their candidate’s lackluster showing in New Hampshire, where Edwards received less than half the support of the two top finishers. Spokesman Eric Schultz said that showing met the campaign’s expectations.

“We need a strong third-place finish,” he said at the Edwards celebration in an old mill along the banks of the Merrimack River. “We are in this for the long haul. . . . For us, it’s not a win-lose for each state, and thankfully the delegates aren’t awarded that way, either.”

Supporters were less optimistic. Marjorie Vai, 60, of Manhattan, came to the Granite State 10 days ago to volunteer for Edwards and estimated that she had called nearly 1,000 people, trying to drum up support.

“I thought we were doing great,” Vai said, looking nervous as she watched early returns on television. “I don’t like the numbers.”

seema.mehta@latimes.com

scott.martelle@latimes.com