Hitting the Right Notes

Despite such caveats, Edwards has reason to feel confident. Above all, his message resonates. While rivals may raise doubts about his gravitas on weighty foreign policy matters, exit polls in New Hampshire and South Carolina show that he's focusing on the issues that voters most care about: jobs, health care, and education. His opposition to NAFTA and emphasis on "fair trade" rather than "free trade" play well in states that employers have abandoned to relocate overseas. Those stances may also garner Edwards some crucial labor support. On Tuesday, he met for an hour with an alliance of 17 union leaders, who will decide on a possible endorsement after the Michigan primary. (The group was scheduled to meet with Kerry too this week.) Beyond the content of his message, Edwards is unmatched among his chief competitors when it comes to delivery. "He's got that touch," says Eric Davis, 47, who attended an Edwards town hall meeting in New Mexico. "He's real soothing, ... real folksy."

Edwards will aim to leverage those strengths as he carries his message to the next battlegrounds: Michigan, Virginia, and Tennessee. He'll continue to target rural and African-American voters, with campaign stops planned in such venues as Norfolk State University in Virginia, a historically black college. He'll hammer away at the themes that have served him well so far, like jobs and trade. And he may well continue to evoke that 10-year-old girl whose life is rife with hardship. People like her "are the reason I'm running for president of the United States," Edwards told his audience in Columbia. "Tonight we hear them." The question now is whether the voters will hear him.

© 2004