John Edwards can win among rural voters.

[Cuban_Liberal]

As Iowa and now SC have clearly shown, John Edwards can win among rural voters. We NEED to win rural voters--- not just Southern rural voters, but rural voters in Ohio, and Wisconsin, and Tennessee and arkanses, etc. We did not win the rural vote in '00, and if we need to do so in '04, if we are to rid this country that is the horror of George Bush.

Edwards in '04!

:)

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. kick

[EllieDem]

3. John Edwards being a trial lawyer

will eventually begin to hurt him. He takes HUGE amounts of money from the Trial Lawyers Association. Trial lawyers are up there with the media in terms of "most distrusted" in this country. Bush will play this up for all its worth. And unfortunately I think it will be worth a lot.

[spooky3]

9. For the zillionth time--they tried that in 1998 and it failed miserably.

He has an incredible record as an attorney, and all he had to do was bring out some of the families whose injured children he represented, some of whom volunteered in his Senate campaign. When people heard what these people had to say, they voted for Edwards.

[mlawson]

10. This again???? It hasn't hurt him in SC or Iowa.

So why would it other places?? How many voters do not know he is an attorney now, but will find out before November?

[Southsideirish]

2. But can he win in the traditional Dem strongholds - the cities?

Agreed, Bush ("The horror"!) must go but I don't think Edwards is going to go over big in say, Chicago.

[dolstein]

4. Does the Pope sh*t in the woods?

Of COURSE Edwards will do well in urban areas. Just as Al Gore and Bill Clinton did well in urban areas. There isn't a trade off with Edwards.

[spooky3]

13. wait till he gets there. Then let's judge.

[Taeger]

5. Remember

Remember that South Carolina is Edwards HOME state. It doens't necessarily mean that he can win amongst rural voters.

But wow, Sharpton pulled 9% in South Carolina. That's impressive.

[Cuban_Liberal]

6. Iowa wasn't his home state.

And he won 32% there. :)

[SangamonTaylor]

7. why weren't people saying the same about Kerry in NH?

I mean, they write SC off as a regional win for Edwards, but when Kerry wins NH nobody mentions the regional advantage. Mix that with the strong 32 percent of the vote that Edwards received in Iowa and it starts to look like a really close 2 person race between Edwards and Kerry.

The results for tonight will show what winning NH does. However, casting Edwards as a 'regional' candidate is just wrong.

[Cuban_Liberal]

8. He's also tied for 1st in OK.

And he may well win VA and TN next week.

Edwards IS the alternative to a Kerry coronation. :)

[spooky3]

12. Exactly!

[spooky3]

11. he was born there but has spent more of his life in NORTH Carolina.

It's analogous to Kerry winning in his neighboring New England state of New Hampshire.

[mlawson]

14. Rural voters could be KEY.

Remember the map that was plotted after 2000?? Gore's areas were almost all urban; bush's almost all rural.

One caveat: don't assume that all of SC is rural. Much of it is, but there are some medium sized cities, too. No large ones, however -- sorry, Charleston! ;-)