Edwards Runs Tough Race Against Wynn

She points out that Wynn broke ranks with the party to vote in favor of the Bush administration's energy bill in 2003, which authorized tax breaks for energy producers. Wynn also supported the repeal of the estate tax, which would benefit the wealthiest Americans.

These votes, Edwards says, betray the constituents in the solidly Democratic district that runs from Clarksburg in Montgomery to Fort Washington in Prince George's.

Wynn says Edwards, who worked in his law office when she first got out of law school, has mischaracterized his record.

His campaign literature touts the backing of about 40 left-leaning groups, including the AFL-CIO and Planned Parenthood, as evidence that he remains a true Democrat, despite Edwards's attempts to cast him otherwise.

"I consistently vote with pro-choice, I consistently vote with labor unions," Wynn said during a recent interview. "This is a bunch of rubbish of the worst sort."

He makes no apologies for his vote on the Republican-sponsored energy bill. "I'm happy to stand behind the energy bill," he said, noting that the legislation included a $3 billion increase in energy assistance for low-income residents. "I'm more concerned about getting money for low-income residents. She's more concerned about having a partisan fight."

Wynn said he supports repealing the estate tax because business owners in his district and wealthy first-generation African Americans across the country requested it and because he believes people should be taxed when they are alive.

But he is not used to having to explain his position. In the past, he has faced opponents such as Republican John Kimble, who once said he was running because "the salary seems good." Kimble perhaps was best known for offering to pose nude in Playgirl magazine in a stunt to raise campaign money, and he recruited Wynn's ex-wife to do a radio ad six years ago.

Wynn described the contest with Edwards, who has support from Barbra Streisand, Danny Glover and Gloria Steinem, as "the liberal elite versus the pragmatic Democrat."

Although many political observers applaud Edwards's aggressive campaign, they say she has little chance of defeating the seven-term incumbent.

"She's put together a very energetic campaign," said Matthew A. Crenson, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "But he's firmly entrenched."

Edwards said that when she became disillusioned with Wynn's record, she began asking elected officials about running against him. "No one would do it," said Edwards, who has not campaigned for office since high school. "They said, 'He can't be beaten, he has a machine.' "

Wynn continues to wave signs on busy intersections in Prince George's and Montgomery, and Edwards continues to try to penetrate Wynn's popularity, holding meet-the-candidate events in living rooms and basements across the district.

Nakia Nicholson, a teacher and Wynn supporter who recently attended one of Edwards's events, left impressed.

"I think she's a very knowledgeable, very capable candidate," Nicholson said.

But was she swayed?

"I'm in the middle right now," she said.