Sources say Edwards likely to run for president
The Associated Press
December 17, 2002 9:33 am
Posted on 12/17/2002 6:56:55 AM PST by Constitution Day
The Associated Press
Sources say Edwards likely to run for president
December 17, 2002 9:33 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Close friends and advisers say U.S. Sen. John Edwards will almost certainly run for president in 2004, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday.
Eight close associates said they expect Edwards, D-N.C., to join the race. He is expected to take the first formal step soon by announcing an exploratory committee, supporters said.
"My belief is that John will pursue the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party and pursue the presidency," said David Kirby, Edwards' best friend and former law partner.
Speculation about Edwards grew after former vice president and 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore announced Sunday he won't run. Gore explained his decision in Raleigh on Tuesday. Several former Gore supporters said his decision opens a door for Edwards.
"A lot of the folks I've gotten to know nationally through the Gore network will find John a really attractive candidate," said Tommy Hendrickson, a Raleigh businessman and former Gore fund-raiser. "There's a network of folks who are active in national campaigns who've been watching John as he's moved through his process, and I think they're anxious to see what he does."
Jeanette Hyde of Raleigh, a longtime Gore supporter who President Bill Clinton named ambassador to the eastern Caribbean, agreed.
"There's an opportunity for him," she said. "I think the Democratic Party needs a Southerner on the ticket. And we need a real moderate. And John Edwards is a real moderate. His record in the U.S. Senate has been perfect."
Edwards, 49, has publicly flirted with a presidential run for two years, almost since he made Gore's short list for a running mate. Edwards lost out to Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., another likely presidential contender.
Edwards, who had never run for public office before he was elected in 1998, has made multiple trips to New Hampshire and Iowa and courted prominent party donors. He has made policy speeches on education and the economy and Wednesday is scheduled to address national security issues in a speech in Washington.
Friends and advisers caution that Edwards has made no final decision and say he has struggled with whether to put himself and his family on a two-year-long treadmill.
"What's pushing him toward it is he wants to do it. He really wants to do it," one adviser said. "What pushes him away is he has the self-knowledge to ask, `Am I really ready to do this?'"
Spokesman Mike Briggs said: "He hasn't decided what he's going to do about running for president or Senate or whatever."
Edwards could run for the presidency and re-election to the Senate at the same time.
North Carolina Republicans have started attacking Edwards as a liberal out of step with most voters and as an ambitious politician more concerned about his political future than his constituents.
Edwards would be the first serious presidential candidate from North Carolina since Terry Sanford ran in 1972 and 1976.
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Please FRmail me if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.
Nor do many of us here in NC.
I voted for Jim Snyder in the primary but for her in the general election.
There was NO way I was going to vote for a former Klintonista (Irksome Bowels).
Yea right ... Get real ..
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