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Edwards, Now Seasoned, Elbows His Way Into the Field
Edwards also refuses to let his domestic ambitions be held hostage to the words "fiscal discipline." Though he acknowledges that the deficit has become a problem under Bush, he said the bigger priority is investing in health care, alternative energy sources, and programs designed to strengthen the middle class and attack poverty.
His ultimate goal may be to hold the deficit roughly where it is or slightly lower, rather than seeking a substantial reduction. "If we do energy, health care, serious middle-class poverty proposals, then I think we're talking about just trying to keep the deficit in check," he said.
  John Edwards, stumping in New Hampshire, could be seen as more liberal than Hillary Rodham Clinton and more proven than Barack Obama. (By Darren Mccollester -- Getty Images) |
Although he staged a scaled-down declaration of candidacy in New Orleans on Thursday, he drew large crowds at stops in Iowa and New Hampshire. Well over 1,000 people turned out Thursday night in Des Moines, and a crowd of that size or slightly larger showed up for his town hall meeting Friday in Portsmouth, where several hundred were turned away because there was no room.
Edwards rarely drew crowds that large in New Hampshire in 2004, except during the final few days of the primary campaign, and only after finishing a surprising second in Iowa. The reception he received on his announcement tour provided a reminder that Obama is not the only Democrat capable of attracting attention.
As he began his second campaign, Edwards did not mention his roots as the son of a mill worker, a staple of his message the first time around. Also gone was his campaign anthem from 2004, John Mellencamp's "Small Town." Even Edwards got sick of it.
Plenty of issues confront Edwards this time out. His people skills long have raised questions about whether there are heft and substance to complement his natural talents as a campaigner. His new emphasis on asking citizens to take action now, rather than waiting on government, leads one to ask exactly what he wants people to do to combat global warming, eradicate poverty and repair the damage along the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Edwards said he no longer believes, as he once did, that presidential campaigns turn on issues and policy positions. Instead they are forums for demonstrating the capacity to inspire and lead. "I think presidential elections are a very different breed of cat," he said in June. "I think they're much more about character and leadership and integrity than they are about a particular issue."
Having been through an earlier campaign, Edwards now feels confident that he knows what to concentrate on. "I spent most of my time last time learning how to be a presidential candidate," he said this fall. "I didn't know how to do it. I woke up every day worrying about how to be a better candidate than I was yesterday. Now that's not what I think about. I wake up today thinking about what should the president be doing about these things. It's just totally different."
Edwards hopes that knowledge will help produce a different outcome this time around.
