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Edwards, the junior senator from North Carolina, is the hot new Democrat in Washington. A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Edwards also is a cosponsor of the McCain-Edwards-Kennedy Patients' Bill of Rights. As John Kennedy was nearly the vice presidential nominee in 1956, so Edwards was on Al Gore's short list in 2000. Like JFK, Edwards has used his near-miss as a launch vehicle toward the big prize.

The key reason why Sen. Edwards has a decent chance to play Bill Clinton against this President Bush is his access to money. North Carolina is a medium-sized state, but Edwards has a national organization of trial lawyers to draw on for financial and campaign support. This is critical for success in the new system where candidates without great personal wealth or a rich-state base have difficulty staying in the race. Just ask John McCain.

"Edwards' days in the courtroom are behind him, but he is relying heavily on colleagues from around the country as he preps for a 2004 presidential bid. More than $4 of every $5 raised by Edwards' political action committee, New American Optimists, has come from lawyers or their family members." (John Wagner, "Lawyers Fill Edwards' Pockets," The [Raleigh] News & Observer, May 1, 2002)

"Of the $461,000 raised in the April 24, 2002 statement, $426,000 of it, over 90% was contributions from trial lawyer friends of Edwards." (Internal Revenue Service Website, www.irs.gov)

"Edwards has been on a fundraising frenzy over the last three months, raising nearly $2 million in 'soft money' -- the type of donation soon to be banned, with three-quarters of it coming from trial lawyers." (Jim VandeHei, "Trial Lawyers Fund Edwards," The Washington Post, September 3, 2002)

"Steve Bing, a Hollywood producer and top Democratic donor, sent Edwards a $250,000 check. But nearly every other dollar donated to Edwards' soft-money account since early 2001 came from trial lawyers -- $1,859,000 to be precise, according to the Public Citizen analysis." (Jim VandeHei, "Trial Lawyers Fund Edwards," The Washington Post, September 3, 2002)

Since The 1998 Election Cycle, Edwards' Senatorial Committee Has Raised At Least $3.9 Million From Lawyers And Lobbyists.

1998 Cycle: At least $ 900,280 (50% of all contributions)

2000 Cycle: At least $ 1.3 million (50% of all contributions)

2002 Cycle: At least $ 1.7 million (50% of all contributions)

(The Center For Responsive Politics Website, www.opensecrets.org, Accessed July 20, 2002)

"Edwards' advisers get almost giddy when talking about the potential for turning ATLA [American Trial Lawyers Association] contributors into presidential donors next year, when White House fund raising gets under way in earnest." (John Wagner, "Edwards Looks To Lawyers," The [Raleigh] News & Observer, June 28, 2002)

Personal Injury Trial Lawyer Fred Baron Donated $100,000 To Edwards' New American Optimists PAC During The Second Quarter Of 2002. (New American Optimists PAC, 8872 2nd Quarter Filing, July 18, 2002)

Senator John Edwards Has Been Actively Courting Baron To Play A Lead Role In His Upcoming Presidential Political Fundraising. "In a related development, the Edwards camp has been courting Dallas lawyer Fred Baron to play a lead role in fund raising. Baron, a former president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, previously helped both President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore in their respective White House bids. Baron said he's been impressed by Edwards but is also friendly with House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri and U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, both of whom are also considering presidential runs." (Joseph Neff and John Wagner, "Edwards Coming Home," The [Raleigh] News And Observer, September 19, 2002)

Baron Has Described Senator Edwards As "The Whole Package" And Has Praised His Ability To Articulate The Democrat Message. "Baron said he was willing to help Edwards because he has great skill in talking about issues that Democrats should be promoting. 'I feel like John articulates the message as well as anyone,' Baron said at a gathering in Atlanta of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, a group he once led. 'John's the whole package. He's a great messenger, and he gets the message.'" (John Wagner, "Big Donors Fuel Edwards' Fund-Raising Machine," The [Raleigh]News And Observer, August 15, 2002)

Baron Calls For Jihad. "Fred Baron has 10,000 asbestos clients - probably more than any other lawyer in the US - and he has a simple message for those lobbying Washington's lawmakers to make it harder to bring his cases to court. 'There will be a jihad,' he says. 'We will fight them with everything we've got.'" ("Special Report The Asbestos Crisis - Growing Chorus Demands Change In Law," Financial Times, September 9, 2002)

Baron's Law Firm Is The Subject Of A Racketeering Suit. "Several major players in the asbestos plaintiffs' bar, including Dallas' Baron & Budd, have been sued for allegedly threatening to sabotage pending settlements with a company that pressed for federal legislation aimed at capping recoveries and fees." The racketeering complaint, filed on Jan. 10, 2001, in the Southern District of New York, alleges that principals of Baron & Budd and others threatened a "nuclear response" if the target of their asbestos claims persisted in supporting the now-stalled Fairness in Asbestos Compensation Act. Fred Baron denied the allegations and calls them "garbage." The heart of the claim, however, is a memorandum issued by Baron's firm that allegedly instructs clients falsely to claim equal exposure to all products and directs that clients should deny that they ever saw warnings or had any knowledge concerning the harmful effects of asbestos. "Baron says the memo, which first surfaced in 1997 after a Baron & Budd lawyer mistakenly turned it over to defense counsel during discovery, is 'old news.'" (Mark Hamblett, "Baron & Budd Lawyers Named In Civil RICO Suit," Texas Lawyer, January 22, 2001)

Baron's Law Firm's "Witness Coaching" Memorandum Is Smoking Gun In RICO Case. "After asbestos claims forced the parent company of GAF Materials Corp., the largest U.S. roofing materials company, into bankruptcy this year, it sued three law firms. The complaint reads like a Sopranos episode, alleging that the trial lawyers threatened to crush any company pushing for asbestos tort reform under an avalanche of new claims. It also alleges that doctors reading X-rays for one law firm received sexual favors from female paralegals and secretaries. . . .But the real smoking gun is a memo that GAF alleges law firm Baron & Budd used to prepare witnesses. The memo details facts that all clients, regardless of their actual experience, should testify to and comments all should avoid. . . . Partner Fred Baron says few people were shown the document: 'A paralegal did a memo she should not have done.'" (Pamela Sherrid, "Looking For Some Million Dollar Lungs," U.S. News & World Report, December 17, 2001)

Baron Calls Controversial Practice Of Capturing Clients Through Mass Screenings "Wonderful." Since asymptomatic cases had become valuable, plaintiffs' lawyers began seeking them out. Since the mid-1980s, they have been organizing mass screenings of potential clients, often with the cooperation of labor unions. After being offered a free chest X-ray, a. worker would typically be asked to sign a retainer agreement, promising to be represented by a certain law firm if the X-ray came back positive for asbestos-related disease. "There was nothing illegal or unethical in itself about staging mass screenings, and plaintiffs lawyers straight-facedly claimed that they provided a benefit to society. 'I think it's a wonderful thing,' says Fred Baron . . . head of Dallas-based Baron & Budd, which now handles about 12,000 asbestos cases." (Roger Parloff and Ellen Florian, "The $200 Billion Miscarriage Of Justice," Fortune Magazine, March 4, 2002)