Democrats' campaign trails lead to Upstate this week

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North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a Seneca native, will hold town hall-style meetings in Charleston on Monday and in Columbia and Greenville on Tuesday.

The Greenville event will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Wyche Pavilion on the Peace Center complex.

Edwards will formally declare his candidacy in his adopted hometown of Robbins, N.C., then make a whirlwind tour of critical early primary states.

Candidates often announce they're running, launch a campaign, then later make formal declarations as a means of increasing media attention.

Joe Lieberman, a senator from Connecticut and Al Gore's 2000 running mate, will bring his "Joe's Jobs Tour" to Spartanburg on Wednesday.

Details of Lieberman's first campaign visit to that city will be released today, but will probably consist of a meet-and-greet reception and a plant gate appearance, his campaign said.

The cross-country tour is geared to bring Lieberman face-to-face with workers and their families.

They are among nine candidates seeking the 2004 Democratic president nomination.

With Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt favored to win the caucuses in neighboring Iowa, the first head-to-head test, and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry the favorites in New Hampshire, South Carolina is shaping up as a must-win for Lieberman and Edwards.

Lieberman has consistently held modest leads in publicly disclosed polls in South Carolina, although the surveys showed that approximately 50 percent of likely Democratic and Independent voters remain undecided.

Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.