The End For Edwards

By David Paul Kuhn,
CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer

Shortly after, Edwards was on a plane for Raleigh, N.C., where on Wednesday he will officially resign his candidacy. Kerry, hoarse but invigorated, was as effusive as the reticent senator ever is in public. He thanked Edwards for being in the race, calling him "a compelling voice to our party" and emphasized the North Carolina senator's "eloquence in the cause of working men and women."

Because Edwards' candidacy remained viable, he kept the media spotlight on the Democratic nominees and their message. Moreover, while primaries are often debilitating to nominees, Edwards helped Kerry, by remaining largely positive and focusing his harshest criticism on President Bush.

"Edwards staying has prolonged media interest in the race longer than it would have been," said Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Government Studies at the University of California-Berkeley. "Tonight only confirmed what voters thought in subsequent states."

Kerry has so far won a whopping 27 of 30 contests. His Super Tuesday victory secured a nearly insurmountable delegate lead. He had the math, the momentum and now has the nomination. Super Tuesday's primaries and caucus totaled 1,151 of the 2,162 delegates needed to claim the nomination.

During Edwards' speech Tuesday night in Atlanta, he called his candidacy "the little engine that could." Smiling, waving his right arm cheerfully, but clearly tired, Edwards said Kerry "has been an extraordinary advocate for the causes that all of us believe in."

The Democratic Party moved the start of the primary campaign up one month, to mid-January, and continued the modern practice of condensing the primaries and caucuses, with the hope of having a united party behind one candidate by early March.

"The process worked because it was able to select a strong leader, someone who cannot just promote Democratic values and articulate a Democratic vision, but someone who is battle tested and can take on the duties as president from day one," said Donna Brazile, Al Gore's campaign manager in 2000.

"The most interesting thing about tonight was that John Edwards was still able to capture Independents and Republicans. He clearly has strength in terms of his ability to reach out beyond the party and that is something that John Kerry should look at in the future," Brazile said.

Almost immediately, television pundits began talking about the vice presidency. Should Kerry announce it soon and have a clear ticket competing with President Bush and Vice President Cheney? Alternatively, the Kerry campaign could wait until the Democratic convention in August, in order to get greater news coverage and a bump in momentum.

Implied in all the speculation: would Kerry give Edwards the nod?

"Edwards and Kerry get along very well, ignore the rumors," Brazile said. "For vice president, Edwards is the pick of the litter. But you also have some people like Dick Gephardt. He's been vetted before. He could help bring Missouri, which is a key battleground state.

"But you have a number of other people, including some women like Janet Napolitano, the governor of Arizona," Brazile continued. "Look, I wouldn't be surprised if Hillary wouldn't find her name on some short list."

By all estimations, Edwards has dramatically improved his standing in the Democratic Party due to his presidential run. Although he began to challenge Kerry more in the last week, Edwards refused to play hardball. He knew his persona was too dependent on the perception of him as the optimistic, clean-handed politician.

"John Edwards ran a very, very gentle campaign," said Professor Elaine Kamarck, a public policy lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "It's ironic because it has helped him and hurt him at the same time. It's helped him because lots of people like him and think kindly of him, and it's hurt him because lots of people think he is really not running for the first slot anyway, he is running to be vice president.

"Even though Edwards challenged him at the end, this is beanbags compared to what the Republicans will do to Kerry," Kamarck continued. "Edwards is a big star, he is probably the most talented politician since Clinton."

But it was not Edwards or any other candidate still in the race who prevented Kerry from earning a sweep Tuesday night, it was Howard Dean, who won Vermont, the state he once governed, despite the fact that he quit the race in mid-February.

Scuttling Edwards' campaign Tuesday was his failure to win Ohio, the state that lost the second highest number of jobs under the Bush presidency, and Georgia, the one Southern contest of the day.

Edwards won only one state, his birthplace of South Carolina. For the last month, he remained viable because of a near win in Oklahoma on Feb. 3 and a strong second in Wisconsin on Feb. 17. But in the last week, it was clear the populist candidate was not gaining the momentum necessary to upset Kerry.

"The party is energized and John Kerry has eight months now to broaden his campaign team and unify the party," Brazile said. "The Democratic Party has been without a leader now for three years, since Gore dropped out. It is long overdue."
By David Paul Kuhn