Posted on 04/07/2003 11:27:46 AM PDT by Constitution Day
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:55:51 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
RALEIGH, N.C. -- There's more to the presidential race than the men in front of the cameras.
There's the support of their wives, who one day could be called "first lady."
In a rare interview, Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of N.C. Sen. John Edwards, spoke with WRAL about what it means to be the wife of a presidential candidate.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Edwards' run leaves polls cold
Freshman U.S. Sen. John Edwards was not burning up the charts as he toyed with a presidential campaign. When polls last year put the little-known North Carolinian in the cellar, he joked about being surprised he did so well.
Three months after starting his bid, Edwards still does not seem to have gained huge momentum among voters.
Recent public opinion surveys conducted in key battleground states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina have pegged Edwards -- one of nine Democrats seeking the party's 2004 nomination -- in the single digits.
News from North Carolina so far has not been much better.
Last month, a poll for the News & Observer of Raleigh found only 43 percent of Edwards' constituents backed his campaign for president, and a majority would pick President Bush over him in a hypothetical matchup.
An Elon University survey conducted about the same time registered a 37 percent favorable rating among respondents for their first-term Democratic senator.
Ed Turlington, general chairman of Edwards' campaign, said most polls carry little weight now because few people are paying attention to the fledgling presidential race.
"John is still relatively unknown nationally," Turlington, a Raleigh attorney, said last week.
He said support among North Carolinians for Edwards may not appear unless he becomes the nominee.
Some Republicans were less charitable.
Bill Cobey, who heads the state GOP, argued that the weak showing at home could cause Democrats elsewhere to question Edwards' viability.
"It's really going to hurt his bid," Cobey said.
GOP strategist Jack Hawke speculated that the state's tendency to vote for Republican presidents could be suppressing Edwards' numbers in North Carolina.
But while "you always want to carry your home state," Edwards does not necessarily need to do so to win the presidency, he said.
Candidates usually dismiss poll results this early in a campaign as unimportant, saying the only survey that counts is at the ballot box.
In the coming months, though, Edwards will want his numbers to rise to show donors and voters that he should be taken seriously.
Edwards can find solace in this: None of his Democratic rivals brought an overwhelming name-recognition advantage to the race. Those with such status -- Al Gore, Tom Daschle and Hillary Clinton -- are not running.
Some candidates do possess greater visibility because they are veterans on the political stage. Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt ran for president in 1988, and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman was Gore's running mate in 2000.
Even candidates such as Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Bob Graham of Florida have been in elective office far longer than Edwards, whose first campaign was his successful 1998 Senate effort.
But candidates unknown to many voters and polling poorly in their home states have gotten themselves to the presidency. Consider the rise of a relatively obscure Arkansas governor named Bill Clinton, which the Edwards campaign has seized upon for comfort.
A May 1991 poll for a Little Rock, Ark., newspaper had Arkansans favoring the incumbent president, Republican George H.W. Bush, over Democrat Clinton by 25 percentage points. Only 39 percent wanted Clinton to seek the White House.
Clinton won the election. And he took Arkansas with 53 percent of the vote.
"We believe that if the Democratic Party selects John Edwards as the nominee, he will carry the state of North Carolina," said his spokeswoman, Jennifer Palmieri.
Edwards shows no sign that the uninspiring poll data trouble him. He often finds a way to put them in a positive light, such as when he says North Carolinians' distaste for his presidential bid means they would rather he keep his current job.
"I think they want me to be their senator," Edwards said Jan. 2 on NBC's "Today."
Stephen Hess, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington, said raising money was more important for candidates now than cloud-touching poll numbers.
Edwards' campaign revealed last week it had collected $7.4 million during the past three months -- a substantial sum that reignited buzz for the senator among the national media. The other major contenders all took in less money.
Hess said Edwards had plenty of time to gain ground in snapshot surveys. The first nominating caucuses and primaries come in January.
"It's not going to help him that he's mired in the polls," he said. "But it's not impossible for him to make the climb.
"The bottom line is, it's just too early."
I guess I missed that.
The graph posted by defeat_the_dem_igods is particularly illustrative.
Kerry is a creepy-looking moron who ain't going anywhere. Lieberman is too Jewish for this election, they won't risk it. Dean is way too left, he'll make noise, but the powers that be won't let him near the nomination. The rest are has-beens.
Wesley Clark is clearly gonna be the vice presidential choice to somehow give them a military/defense angle.
Edwards is the bland good-looking guy who fits the Hollywood Clinton-Kennedy template. Edwards/Clark '04, bank on it. And we'll swamp 'em.
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