Edwards sells
the South in N.H.

By Ryan Teague Beckwith
The News & Observer, Oct. 22, 2007

HAMPTON, N.H. — Politicians in New England rarely quote guys named Mudcat.

But here was John Edwards at a backyard party in suburban New Hampshire, quoting political consultant Dave "Mudcat" Saunders to argue that the No Child Left Behind Act hasn't made students any smarter.

"Children don't learn anything filling out a bubble on a cheap standardized test," Edwards said. "As one of my friends down South likes to say, you don't make a hog fatter by weighing it."

There was a pause. Then, Edwards pulled out the real punchline.

"I'm never sure whether to use that line in New Hampshire," he said. "In North Carolina, they get it immediately."

At that, the crowd of about 130 broke into a hearty laugh.

As he toured the Granite State on Oct. 13 and 14, the former North Carolina senator wore his Southernness on his sleeve, making references to his childhood in Robbins, his views on segregation in Southern schools and his win against the "Jesse Helms machine" in 1998.

It's part of a strategy to stress his potential strength in the South in a general election, following in the footsteps of Democratic presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. To get that chance, Edwards first will have to win over a state that doesn't consider "Yankee" a derogatory term -- a place where Bill Clinton from Arkansas came in second in 1992, reviving his political fortunes, and Al Gore from Tennessee won only narrowly in 2000.

Saunders, the Virginia-based political consultant, said Edwards is running as a candidate who understands rural culture.

"It's not a Southern thing," he said. "It's a rural thing."

In 2004, New Hampshire might have cost Edwards his shot at the Democratic nomination.

After a surprisingly strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, Edwards came into New Hampshire without a vigorous network of volunteers and supporters. His fourth-place finish cost him crucial momentum.

Edwards doesn't intend to make the same mistake again.

His campaign has improved its ground game in New Hampshire. Edwards has 65 field organizers in the state — four times as many as he had on Election Day 2004. He and his wife, Elizabeth, also have traveled the state extensively.

At each event, Edwards takes questions from mid-sized crowds, giving his thoughts on subjects as varied as the war in Iraq, the rising number of foreclosures and the nation's high rate of obesity.

Dean Lacy, a government professor at Dartmouth College, said that Edwards' accessibility plays well in New Hampshire.

"We have more of the personal style of campaigning that you see in Southern and more rural states that don't have huge media markets," Lacy said. "Edwards has done that better than the other Democratic candidates."

So far, though, it hasn't helped him much.

Polls consistently show him in third place in New Hampshire, behind Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. A Marist College poll of likely voters from earlier this month showed Clinton with 43 percent, followed by Obama at 21 percent and Edwards at 12 percent.

Edwards also is lagging in fundraising from New Hampshire residents. Through October, Obama's campaign had raised nearly $249,000 in the Granite State, followed by Clinton at about $100,000 and Edwards with just $53,000, according to federal campaign finance reports.

Among the eight Democrats running, Edwards is the only from a former Confederate state, and he subtly points that out on the stump.

At a rally in Keene, N.H., Edwards mentioned North Carolina when talking about his family, a college scholarship program he sponsors there and the state's Smart Start early childhood education program, which he would like to expand nationwide.

As senior adviser Joe Trippi notes, Edwards doesn't have to try hard to show that he's a Southerner.

"To some extent, that happens every time he opens his mouth," he said.

New Hampshire state Rep. Sharon Nordgren, who endorsed Edwards in 2004 and still supports him, said she doesn't care where a candidate comes from. But she said Edwards' Southern origins could play well in New England.

"I think it helps him as far as people worrying about electability," she said. "He appeals to a broader mass of people across the country. I don't think someone from New Hampshire could do that."

Not everyone is convinced.

Nell Wiener, a 23-year-old music teacher who lives in Keene, stopped by an Edwards rally even though she's already decided she'll vote for either Clinton or Obama. She said Edwards' talk about free trade and economic disparity didn't ring true to her.

"I think he plays cheap politics," she said.

Edwards said he is running the same kind of campaign in New Hampshire that he is in Iowa and South Carolina, the site of two other early contests.

"The one thing you learn from running in a national campaign is that you can't modify your approach," he said. "You have to do the same thing everywhere."

© The News & Observer, 2007. Used with permission.

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