Edwards Relishes Win in South Carolina

From the beginning, Sen. John Edwards planned for a presidential nomination war of attrition -- a drawn-out struggle among a wide field of Democratic candidates that would leave him standing as other candidates dropped out, one by one.

On Tuesday, another challenger fell, and Edwards’ longshot strategy remained very much alive.

The boyish-looking senator from North Carolina won easily in the state where he was born, South Carolina, and finished a close second in Oklahoma to Gen. Wesley K. Clark -- results that helped knock Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut out of the race. Edwards thereby increased his chances of achieving what he has hoped for -- a two-candidate race for the Democratic nomination.

“Clearly he’s emerging as the alternative to [Sen. John F.] Kerry,” said analyst Charles Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report. “It’s uphill for him, but he clearly did what he needed to do today.”

Edwards agreed. His voice was shot, his dark suit could have used a cleaning and the famously youthful face was beginning to show a few hints of age. But Edwards bounded onto the stage here at Jillian’s nightclub here about 8 p.m. Tuesday with the light step of a winner.

His native South Carolina hadn’t let him down.

“It’s a long way from that little house in Seneca, S.C., to here tonight,” Edwards said, drawing raucous applause from the packed crowd. “Tonight, you said the politics of picking people up beats the politics of tearing people down.”

Edwards’ showing Tuesday might have been even stronger. In the days ahead, some analysts were sure to question his preoccupation with his home turf, when a little more time or advertising in Oklahoma might have allowed him to finish first there. As it was, Edwards finished less than 1,300 votes behind Clark.

Those strong showings should give him some bounce through the next primaries, particularly votes next Tuesday in Virginia and Tennessee.

But with Kerry winning five of seven contests Tuesday to solidify his frontrunner status, Edwards can take nothing for granted, even in his native South, analysts said.

“I don’t think Edwards’ carrying South Carolina itself is going to have a huge impact on Virginia,” said James W. Ceaser, a political analyst at the University of Virginia. “But it looks like the only one who could be an alternative to Kerry is Edwards.”

In Tennessee, few voters are even paying attention, said Edwin Hargrove, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University.

“What it’s going to come down to now is time, money and organization,” Hargrove said. “Edwards might have to come in here and barnstorm, and I don’t know if he has time, money and organization to do that.”

Edwards on Monday had predicted he would win delegates in each of Tuesday’s races, but in four states -- Arizona, Delaware, New Mexico and North Dakota -- he fell short of the 15% vote threshold needed to do so.

Edwards entered the race more than a year ago a virtual unknown nationally. All along, he hoped to win South Carolina to keep his hopes alive.

So far, the plan has been working. Edwards remains in the race while Lieberman pulled out Tuesday, following the earlier withdrawals of Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois.

Even before the results came in Tuesday, Edwards was looking ahead.

After going for a run in the afternoon, he met with the Alliance for Economic Justice, a coalition of 18 unions that had backed Gephardt, Edwards spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said.

The union leaders planned to meet with Kerry, though it remained unclear whether they would visit with Dean.

Before the polls closed, Edwards described South Carolina as “a critical bellwether for how a candidate can do across the country because it shows whether you can win in the South, whether you can win in rural areas, and whether you can be an attractive candidate for African American voters.”

He also made another prediction.

“If I win here,” Edwards told reporters, “I absolutely believe I will be the nominee.”

As the polls closed and Edwards was declared the winner, the crowd at Jillian’s erupted in sustained cheers, which continued every time the vote count flashed on the screen.

“This is a good night,” said Chris Shuping, 38, a volunteer who drove from Chapel Hill, N.C., over the weekend to knock on doors. “There are people with three candidates who now are going to have to decide between Kerry and Edwards.”

Edwards, flanked by his wife, Elizabeth, their daughter, Catharine, and his parents, spoke for less than seven minutes, and was constantly interrupted by exultant supporters.

He stayed true to his campaign themes, and hushed the house when he reduced his call for social change to the personal level.

“Tonight, somewhere in America, a 10-year-old little girl will go to bed hungry, hoping and praying that tomorrow will not be as cold as today, because she doesn’t have the coat to keep her warm,” Edwards said, going on to describe a mythical family suffering under the weight of economic need, ignored by the rest of the nation.

“Tonight we see her, we hear her, we embrace her,” Edwards said. “She is part of our family and we will lift her up.”

As he spoke, supporter Laura Edwards’ eyes brimmed with tears. The image, she said, struck deeply.

“He really touches me,” said Edwards, no relation, who also traveled from North Carolina. “It affects every American, and every American affects me.”