Edwards reflects change in his political fortunes

During a campaign stop in Columbia, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Edwards spoke at a South Carolina Voter Education Project meeting. (AP Photo/Lou Krasky) e-mail this story

Approximately 300 people, mainly Democratic activists from the Midlands, turned out on short notice to greet Edwards at an event sponsored by the Voter Education Project.

The Seneca-born North Carolina senator saw his political stock soar sharply after finishing in Iowa Monday just behind Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. Their one-two punch relegated former front-runner Howard Dean to a third place finish and knocked Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt from the race.

"What a difference a week makes," said state Sen. Darrell Jackson of Columbia. Just a few weeks ago Jackson publicly questioned the viability of an Edwards campaign that was seemingly going nowhere.

"My concern was making sure our efforts were not in vain," Jackson said, explaining his now vanished worries. "I want to back a winner, someone who can win beyond South Carolina," he said. "We have that confidence now."

Edwards flew in from New Hampshire where polls show he is encroaching on the number three candidate there, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark. He later returned to New Hampshire where Democrats will vote on Tuesday, one week before South Carolina's primary.

The always laid-back Edwards was even looser and relaxed. At one point, sporting a broad grin, he said, "I hope you're having as much fun as I am."

He now calls his campaign "a cause, a movement."

Edwards broke no new ground with his familiar stump speech, except to say that as president, he would adequately fund the Help America Vote Act to assist states and local governments in upgrading their voting equipment.

He also gave his backing to computerized voting, but only after concerns about manipulation are eliminated.

Large crowds at Friday's mid-afternoon event and a Wednesday morning appearance in Greenville appeared to mark a turning point for Edwards. No longer does his campaign need to rely on a turnout of friends and family from Oconee County to boost attendance and provide enthusiasm.

"We don't have to work as hard to fill up a room" since Iowa, said John Moylan, Edwards' South Carolina chairman.

As with recent crowds as South Carolina's primary nears, undecided voters appear to be growing scarcer.

Geoffrey Mullen, 23, of Greenville said he first heard Edwards in Raleigh and was "impressed with his roots being such a big part of him and his message about lifting up the country." Mullen is a first-year law student at the University of South Carolina.

Thomas O'Sullivan, 24, a second-year law student from Greensboro, N.C., said he found in Edwards "the best chance of beating Bush. I know (some) say he's an ambulance chaser, but he's a hard worker who didn't ride his parents' coattails."

He finds comfort in Edwards, O'Sullivan said, because he's "more scared about the world and the future than I was as a little kid during the Cold War."

Joe Benton, 57, of Columbia, said he's searching for a candidate "who speaks to the issues I believe in, has different ideas on education and getting the economy jump-started."

What he likes about Edwards, a trial lawyer, is a willingness "to attack the real problems of this country between the haves and the have-nots, where the haves have been getting it all." Benton, a native of Seattle who has spent half his life in Columbia, is the chief juvenile probation officer for Richland County.

Cassandra Williams Rush, 53, wasn't 100 percent for Edwards when she arrived, but said after his speech, she was up to 99 percent.

Edwards' showing in Iowa helped push her his way, "but the biggest thing was coming here today to see him in person, see his demeanor, to try to evaluate his character and see what kind of positive feelings I could get. I got some really good ones."

Rush, an unemployed health educator with a Master's degree, said all of the candidates have positions on issues that concern her — the economy, early childhood education and discrimination — but she wants to pick the one who can defeat Bush.

Joining the Edwards campaign Friday was state Treasurer Grady Patterson. Initially Patterson had endorsed Gephardt.

Dean's campaign planned a rally today for college students from around South Carolina at the Statehouse in Columbia with U.S. Rep. Major Owens, D-N.Y., speaking on behalf of the former Vermont governor.

Edwards, Clark and other candidates are expected to return to South Carolina after the New Hampshire primary. All have committed to appear at a nationally televised debate in Greenville on Thursday.

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