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Edwards Touts Southern Roots
"Too often, the problems of rural America are forgotten by politicians living and working in far-off capital cities," Edwards' plan began. "As a native of a small rural town, John Edwards knows that America cannot turn its back on rural areas."
Edwards won the early South Carolina primary four years ago, in part by highlighting his roots in the state. Although he was born in Seneca, he was raised in Robbins, N.C., and served North Carolina in the Senate before becoming John Kerry's running mate in the 2004 election.
  Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards speaks at the 30th annual Labor Awards Dinner in New York on Wednesday, April 11, 2007. The awards dinner, thrown by the Labor Research Association, honors those that have made contributions in support of the labor movement. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig - AP) 
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Kerry sent Edwards to campaign across the South in 2004, but President Bush swept the region.
Earl Black, co-author of a new book called "Divided America" that examines regional voting differences, said the South has shifted from a Democratic to a Republican majority as people have moved out of poor rural areas and into suburbia.
"They have conservative social views, but they also have conservative economic views," Black said. "So the Republicans are giving them what they want on both dimensions."
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