Edwards in do-or-die 48-hour blitz statewide

Wearing Panthers colors, Sen. John Edwards chats with Art Alexakis, lead singer of the band Everclear, at a bar in Charleston during the Super Bowl. (Steven Senne/AP) e-mail this story

The first-term North Carolina senator was the only one of seven remaining candidates besides the Rev. Al Sharpton who campaigned in South Carolina two days before Tuesday's first-in-the-South Democratic presidential preference primary.

At Columbia's giant Bible Way Church, a tired, raspy-voiced Edwards stood on a dining hall chair and told a tightly packed crowd, "We have work to do, don't we, brothers and sisters."

Edwards said other candidates don't talk about the 35 million Americans living below the poverty line — although five of his opponents addressed it Friday in Columbia — "and I know why: They don't vote."

He said, "You and I have a moral responsibility to lift people out of poverty. Say no to kids going to bed hungry, no to kids not having clothes to keep them warm, and, no, forever, to any American working full time and living in poverty."

Edwards, a Seneca native who faces the possible end of his candidacy if he doesn't win in South Carolina, is locked in a close struggle with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the national front-runner. Kerry leads in five of the other six states that vote Tuesday and in those with primaries Saturday and Feb. 10.

Sharpton said in Aiken that one of the things he would do as president is rescind the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he said is "inherently set up to export labor" and responsible for high unemployment in the state, the Associated Press reported.

He called for a New Deal-style five-year, $250 billion infrastructure improvement program to put people back to work, and also said the minimum wage should be increased.

Sunday's Zogby Research poll showed Edwards at 24 percent, Kerry at 23, a statistical dead heat, within the margin of error.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was third with 9 percent. Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark had 8 percent; Sharpton 7 percent, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman 4 percent and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio 1 percent.

An American Research Group poll gave Edwards a 30-23 edge over Kerry. Clark was third at 12, Sharpton 10, Dean 9, Lieberman 3 and Kucinich 1.

Zogby showed 23 percent undecided, ARG, 12.

John Moylan, Edwards' state campaign chairman, said the campaign that gets its supporters to the polls will have an edge, "but as we go through these final days, I think the people of South Carolina will rally around the guy they're comfortable with, and that's John Edwards."

Referring to polls showing from 12 to 23 percent of likely voters still undecided, Moylan said, "That's why he's still out here, continuing to work so hard. A lot of people are still making up their minds."

Edwards began the day at the sprawling Bible Way, a black church with a 7,000-member congregation pastored by state Sen. Darrell Jackson. Edwards spoke to campaign volunteers in Florence, held a town hall meeting at Bethel AME Church in Beaufort and visited Super Bowl parties at two historic district bars in Charleston.

Today, he will begin at the College of Charleston, then speak at two historically black institutions, Voorhees College in Denmark and Allen University in Columbia, before heading to an evening "Welcome Home" celebration in Seneca.

Sunday, Jackson told his congregation that as its pastor, he couldn't recommend any candidate to them, but as a private citizen he could.

"It's important that the next president lives what he talks about. Every four years (candidates) develop a social conscience and tell you what they're going to do, but it's important we have somebody who's lived the experience."

Jackson said Edwards, among all the candidates, "is the only one who has had a consistent message on poverty. He identifies with us and has all his life."

Edwards sat in a front row. He stood and waved when he was introduced but did not speak in the sanctuary. His remarks came later, in a tightly packed dining hall.

Once the service began, Sharpton volunteers placed laminated "Don't take your vote for granted" placards under the windshields of the hundreds of cars in the church's parking lots.

While Edwards encountered a receptive audience, a number of those interviewed by reporters said they had yet to decide on a candidate.

Terry Thomas, 47, a retired Army sergeant first class and now a supply manager for the state Department of Corrections, said he's torn between the two candidates with military backgrounds: Clark and Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran.

"I like Clark because of his proven leadership in the military, and leadership is what our country has lacked for four years. Kerry because he has sound ideas and is a leader."

For Jennifer Sargent, 32, who works in finance, "It's kind of hard to decide. I want something better than we've had."

Nikki Drye, 30, is leaning toward Edwards in her search for "anybody who'll do something about the inequality and poverty we have in America rather than terrorism and war."

There was no question about Jacquelyn Cephas-Abrams' choice.

The disabled Army veteran drove down Interstate 95 from Fayetteville, N.C., to Florence to show her support for Edwards, who she said was "great for America, the closest thing to the vision of Martin Luther King."