Edwards snags his first win

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candidacy alive while Kerry continues

his roll. The centrist candidate is out.

Seneca native John Edwards scored his first Democratic presidential primary victory with Tuesday's success in South Carolina. The U.S. senator from North Carolina had not tried to hide the fact that he had to win here to keep his campaign for the White House alive.

But the Democratic races Tuesday in seven states brought even more good news to front-runner John Kerry. He added victories in five states to the earlier wins in Iowa and New Hampshire. Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's star faded even more, although in fairness to him he didn't put much effort into the seven Feb. 3 races. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark earned a narrow victory in Oklahoma, but Edwards was hot on his trail there.

The Democratic field was cut in more than one way Tuesday. Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman officially ended his candidacy, reducing the field by one and removing the only centrist candidate from the Democratic race. Lieberman ran as what he is: strong on national defense and security issues and moderate on fiscal matters. He stood by his vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq, while fellow Sens. Kerry and Edwards have run from that vote and several others that are unpopular with the more liberal parts of the Democratic Party.

The race to secure the Democratic presidential nomination now tightens in a healthy way, however, by allowing a smaller field of candidates to draw sharper distinctions — if they exist — among those who continue in this race.

Another winner in Tuesday's primary in South Carolina was the state Democratic Party. The party, which took quite a beating in November 2002, pulled off a nationally televised debate and the first-in-the-South primary in spectacular fashion. Party chairman Joe Erwin, a Greenville advertising executive, gets much of the credit. Thousands of volunteers deserve their share of praise, too.

The state party recovered from the only noticeable stumble when state Democrats announced Monday they would not make primary voters sign loyalty oaths in order to cast a primary ballot. South Carolina does not require registration by political party. The misguided attempt to require people to "swear" they were Democrats in order to vote Tuesday was an affront to independent state voters. It's to the state party's credit that the seriousness of this offense was recognized and the loyalty oath was scrapped.

South Carolina Democrats can take pride in the role they played in helping choose their party's nominee for president in 2004. They energized their base, created excitement among countless independents, conducted a much-praised national debate and helped keep alive the candidacy of Sen. John Edwards. And in doing so, they have ensured that the South is not forgotten in the national politics of their party and that South Carolina will continue to benefit from a strong two-party system.