John Edwards

This article is about the American politician, former Senator, and 2004 Vice Presidential candidate. For other uses, see John Edwards (disambiguation).

2004 presidential campaign

Edwards unofficially began his presidential campaign as early as 2001, when he began to seek speaking engagements in Iowa, the site of the nation's first party caucuses. On September 15, 2003, Edwards unofficially announced his intention to seek the 2004 Democratic Presidential nomination, on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (a news and political satire show), thus fulfilling a promise he made as a guest during TDS' coverage of the 2002 Mid-Term Elections. The next morning, Edwards made the announcement official from his hometown, Robbins, North Carolina. He declined to run for re-election to the Senate in 2004. Edwards' campaign was chaired by North Carolina Democratic activist Ed Turlington.

Related Topics:
2001 - Iowa - September 15 - 2003 - 2004 Democratic Presidential nomination - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Ed Turlington

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As Edwards had been building support for a presidential bid essentially since his election to the Senate, he led the initial campaign fundraising, amassing over $7 million during the first quarter of 2003, more than half of which came from individuals associated with the legal profession, particularly Edwards' fellow trial lawyers, their families, and employees. The Federal Election Commission investigated donations from law firms where several bundled contributions of $2,000 each purportedly came from paralegals making less than $35,000 a year.http://www.hillnews.com/news/050703/edwards.aspx Several conservative commentators, such as Michael Medved, Walter Olson, and Rush Limbaugh, criticized Edwards for his links to the trial lawyers, including Frederick Baron.

Related Topics:
Federal Election Commission - Michael Medved - Walter Olson - Rush Limbaugh - Frederick Baron

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Edwards's campaign was often characterized by the American news media as populist. His stump speech spoke of "two Americas", one composed of the wealthy and privileged, and the other of the hard-working common man http://quote.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards#Two_Americas. His refusal to level direct negative attacks at his fellow Democratic contenders also attracted attention.

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After campaigning for most of 2003, Edwards' campaign struggled to gain large support in the Democratic Party. But in early 2004, weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Edwards began to catch fire and his support and poll numbers began to rise steadily. Edwards' late stage momentum, as well as his departure from the negative campaigning which characterized other leading candidates, carried him into a surprising second place finish in Iowa with the support of 32% of caucus delegates, behind only John Kerry's 39% and ahead of former front-runner Howard Dean at 18%. Edwards finished with 12% support in the New Hampshire primary one week later, essentially tied for third place position with retired general Wesley Clark. The following week, Edwards won the South Carolina primary and nearly beat Clark in Oklahoma.

Related Topics:
2004 - Negative campaigning - Iowa - John Kerry - Howard Dean - New Hampshire primary - Wesley Clark - Oklahoma

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After Howard Dean's withdrawal from the contest, Edwards became the only major challenger to Kerry for the Democratic nomination. Remarking on an unexpectedly strong finish in the Wisconsin primary on February 17, Edwards humorously cautioned Kerry: "Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear."

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Edwards maintained a positive campaign and largely avoided attacking Kerry until a February 29, 2004 debate in New York, where he attempted to put Kerry on the defensive by characterizing the front-runner as a "Washington insider" and by mocking Kerry's plan to form a committee to examine trade agreements.

Related Topics:
February 29 - 2004

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Edwards's campaign ended after a disappointing finish in the Super Tuesday primaries on March 2, when Kerry finished well ahead of Edwards in nine of the 10 states voting that day. (Dean, despite having withdrawn from the race two weeks earlier, won his home state of Vermont.) Edwards finished only slightly behind Kerry in Georgia, but, failing to win a single state, chose to withdraw from the presidential race. He announced his official withdrawal at a Raleigh, North Carolina press conference on March 3, 2004.

Related Topics:
Super Tuesday - March 2 - Raleigh, North Carolina - March 3 - 2004

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News of Edwards's withdrawal from the race made major media outlets relatively early on the evening of Super Tuesday, at about 6:30 PM CST, before polls had closed in California and before caucuses in Minnesota had even begun. This influenced many people in Minnesota to vote for other candidates, which may partially account for the strong showing of Dennis Kucinich in that state. Edwards did win the presidential straw poll conducted by the Independence Party of Minnesota. He also later won the Democratic caucuses in his home state of North Carolina, making him the only Democratic candidate besides John Kerry to win nominating contests in two states.

Related Topics:
California - Minnesota - Dennis Kucinich - Straw poll - Independence Party of Minnesota

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As the last major contender to withdraw from the race, many political pundits speculated that Edwards's presidential bid was not a "serious" campaign, but merely an attempt to raise his national profile, perhaps to earn a vice-presidential spot on the Democratic ticket.

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On July 6, 2004 John Kerry announced, first in an email to his supporters and later in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that Edwards would be his vice presidential running mate. Kerry's decision was widely hailed by Democratic voters in public opinion polls and by Democratic leaders in interviews. According to sources close to Kerry, other individuals said to have been under consideration for the vice presidential nomination by the Kerry campaign were Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, retired General Wesley Clark, and Congressman Richard Gephardt (the New York Post had incorrectly reported a day earlier that Kerry had decided on Gephardt for the running mate slot). Though Ralph Nader and many Democrats supported the nomination, others criticized Kerry because of Edwards' perceived lack of experience. In particular, the nomination caused the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce, to throw its support to Bush when it had been neutral in previous presidential elections, because of Edwards' opposition to tort reform.http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/000488.php

Related Topics:
July 6 - 2004 - Email - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Tom Vilsack - Dick Durbin - Wesley Clark - Richard Gephardt - New York Post - Ralph Nader - Chamber of Commerce - Tort reform

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After being named the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, Edwards worked for the ticket. On the topic of embryonic stem cell research, Edwards made many claims concerning stem cell research. Edwards stated at rally in Newton, Iowa on October 11, 2004 "If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again." Commentators have pointed out that the statement was mere Presidential election hyperbole because experts and researchers on all sides of the stem cell debate realize that those types of treatments are at least ten years or more away from productivity and that Edwards's statement was unfairly raising expectations of people stricken with many of the medical conditions that the medical profession is looking to cure. http://jewishworldreview.com/1004/krauthammer_edwards.php3

Related Topics:
Stem cell - Newton, Iowa - October 11 - Christopher Reeve

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The Kerry/Edwards ticket lost the 2004 election. Edwards' presence on the ticket failed to deliver even his home state of North Carolina for the Democrats; although since no Democratic presidential candidate had carried North Carolina since 1976, this was widely expected. Many pundits speculated that Edwards' presence on the ticket was designed to appeal to rural and middle-class voters in midwestern states, but Kerry ran behind Gore's 2000 results with these voters.

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In the Electoral College, Edwards received 252 votes to Vice President Dick Cheney's 286 votes. Edwards also received 1 Electoral Vote for President.

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