BY SCHUYLER KROPF
Of The Post and Courier Staff
North Carolina Sen. John Edwards' announcement that he'll stick to one term in the U.S. Senate and will run solely for the White House makes it more likely he'll become a campaign fixture in South Carolina, political observers say.
With a tight pack of northern Democrats fighting over Iowa and New Hampshire, Edwards has to finish near the top in South Carolina's Feb. 3 primary or face the prospects of packing it in, said Wofford College political scientist Robert Jeffrey.
Edwards told the North Carolina Democratic Party he would not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2004. Although his decision was not unexpected, it removes any doubt he might be distracted by running two races at once.
"It's a sign he's serious about being a presidential candidate," Jeffrey said.
Reports from Iowa and New Hampshire indicate Edwards is not drawing the interest some other candidates are getting, particularly former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. Because of that, following a strategy that concentrates on South Carolina might be a good one for Edwards to follow, Jeffrey said.
"The way it looks now, everybody is going to come out of Iowa and New Hampshire behind Dean, so it's who is going to be left," he said. "Edwards will be there because no one expects him to win up there anyway."
A poll of South Carolina voters released last week showed Edwards leading the Democrat contenders in the state, though almost half of the likely primary voters remain undecided, and the margin of error makes the race a statistical tie.
Edwards was at 10 percent; Dean was at 9 percent; Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry was at 8 percent; and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman was at 8 percent in the poll released by Zogby International.
About 46 percent of those surveyed said they were unsure about which candidate to back, a number unchanged from March. The poll of 501 likely primary voters had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
Charleston County Democratic Party Chairman Mullins McLeod said Edwards' good showing in the poll means he could play a key role in directing all the Democrats' messages when they stump here.
"Because most commentators agree that South Carolina is a must-win for Edwards, he will probably sharpen his message to appeal to South Carolina Democrats," McLeod said Monday. "I would anticipate the other candidates following suit in an effort to claim the 46 percent of undecided South Carolina voters."
Edwards will officially announce his candidacy next Tuesday in his hometown of Robbins, N.C., then head to Columbia for an afternoon announcement rally on the campus of the University of South Carolina.
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