Edwards, back in the South, warmed by sun and crowds

John Edwards returned to South Carolina today from a distant third-place finish among the chilled, leafless trees of New Hampshire. It was a lot warmer as he stepped off the charter plane into the balminess of Liberty, S.C.

His staff -- not to mention The Times' Seema Mehta -- seemed rejuvenated in the warm weather as they headed off on a lighter campaign schedule than the typically jammed one he'd been following in recent weeks with half a dozen events crammed in morning till night, not to mention the 36-hour bus tours.

His first couple of days back in the South would be more relaxed. Today, the former North Carolina senator, who was born in South Carolina and handily won the 2004 primaries there, had two “homecoming rallies” on Wednesday. The first came at ....

noon at Clemson University, which Edwards attended for one year and where he was a walk-on on the football team. Then, he had an evening event at a high school in Columbia.

The noon rally had 1,000 people attending in a brick plaza on the university’s sprawling campus under robin’s-egg-blue skies. Everyone who traveled from New Hampshire was in a jovial mood, meandering around the university’s gentle lawns. But the evening rally was insane, truly a homecoming. An amazing drum line from Dreher High School warmed up the overflow crowd of more than 500 ardent supporters.

The Bon Jovi song “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” was playing as Edwards bounded onto an elevated stage in the school’s cafeteria.

“Man, it’s good to be back in South Carolina,” he told the roaring crowd.

This was the most intense, excited Edwards event Mehta has seen with him on the trail. His 17-minute speech, highlights of his routine stump remarks, came to a halt at least a dozen times, stopped by cheering supporters who made his remarks inaudible. And this is a man who speaks so loudly into a microphone, you rarely have to worry about your tape recorder not catching his remarks.

“One thing I learned growing up in mill towns and mill villages in the south," Edwards said, "including right here in South Carolina, is something all of you learned, which is … you’ve got to be willing to fight for your survival. That’s what this is about.

“You need a president who takes this cause personally, not someone who reads it in book. What’s happening here in South Carolina, not someone who has somebody explain to them what’s happening with mills closing, jobs leaving; what’s happening with the school system in South Carolina. You need somebody who understands personally and who takes this battle and this fight personally. I want you to know I was taught from the time I was this big that you never start a fight, but you never walk away from a fight. And we have a fight in front of us!”

South Carolina native Arletta Wilson had never attended a political event before, and was moved to tears by Edwards’ speech, particularly the references to American jobs being moved overseas and the 47 million people in the U.S. who don’t have health insurance.

The 46-year-old Eastover resident belonged to a union, but was laid off and now works at Wal-Mart with her husband Larry, 45. Larry was raised by his grandmother who toiled in a mill, and identified with Edwards’ invoking his father's and grandparents’ work in mills.

“Everything he said is the truth,” Larry Wilson said. “Everybody else is more worried about getting elected than what actually matters. He cares about what matters.”

So it was a good day back in the South for the former senator.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Note: An earlier version of this post referred to "another distant third-place finish" for Edwards. The former senator placed third in New Hampshire and second in Iowa.

Comments

[Edward Morris]

---" Edwards returned to South Carolina today from another distant third-place finish"

Let's see, John Edwards finished second in Iowa (ahead of Clinton) and third in New Hampshire.

Please enlighten me as to the other third place finish that makes "another" a valid expression.

Oops...Just another example of corporate media trying to demean the only real Democrat left in the race.

[Michael M.]

That Edwards is the most appropriate candidate for Southerners to vote for seems to belabor to obvious: He's grown up in the South, experienced massive economic decline there, and watched a shifting economy leave much of the rural South behind. For the good of the country, I hope that his message resonates even further, though.

[Michael Bellefeuille]

As a New Hampshire Democrat who voted for John Edwards and attended his rally on primary night, I want to urge South Carolinians help him do what we in New Hampshire failed to: boost him and his progressive policies (which are much more progressive and issues-based than those of Obama or Clinton) with a primary win. Please vote for John Edwards on January 26 to change America.

[Shawn]

Hey Genius - Edwards did not finish a distant third in Iowa. He placed a respectable second.

If you are going to go through the trouble of writing stuff for a blog, much less one on the LA Times, please get your facts straight.

This is the kind of crappy reporting that has happened in this campaign to date; including Hillary's political obituaries before NH. The LA Times should CHANGE the Sub-Headline on the story on the LAT main site instead of just noting that it is wrong. The media bias in favor of Hillary and Obama (i.e. first woman or Black president) is astounding. This is a process to pick a President not a sociology experiment. Elections have consequences.

Also - IA and NH are very small states, and while I am sure that fine people live there, these states are not representative of the nation as whole. I cannot wait until this process is changed. There is no reason that the process should be held hostage by these two states.

[Vermonstrous]

ANOTHER distant third place finish? Bias, much?

[Seyour]

You said that he returned to South Carolina from "another distant third place finish". He finished second in Iowa, so he has had only one third place finish. Although the media wrote off Edwards long before the primary season started, you could at least get the basic facts right!

(It doesn't say "another" distant third place finish, it says distant third place finish. You're looking too hard.)

[Denise H.]

"another distant third place finish" ? He placed 2nd in Iowa.

(You're correct. He was second in Iowa. It now doesn't say "another" distant third place it says a distant third place finish. Thanks for pointing that out.)

[Dave]

Thanks for this story and for avoiding the drum-beat of "Edwards is irrelevant." If he ends up with no more than a block of committed delegates at the convention (providing leverage for a stridently pro-middle class party platform, and perhaps a 'kingmaking' role), it will be a win for the American people. Here's to never giving up the fight, no matter the odds! In the wake of New Hampshire, I'm boycotting the punditocracy.

[David Hopcroft]

So far John Edwards has told the same two stories over and over again whenever he has been on television. I truly hope his performance will improve in South Caroline.

It will also be interesting to see how he fares on his own. Last time around in the November election he was linked to a loser in Kerry. Now he can truly say he has got rid of this baggage and campaign the way he wanted to four years ago.

I do wonder about Kerry endorsing anyone. It must be about as welcome as an endorsement from George Bush for a Republican candidate. Kerry gave a truly meaningless and dismal performance last time. Hard to see how he can help Senator Obama. So this is Edwards chance to stand up and tell why he, not Obama, is the man to bring change.

[Cherubim]

John Kerry just provided the answer to
William Shakespeare's question:
"Et tu, Brute?"
Well, I live in one of the other 98 states of the United States of America, California,
and I'm voting for Senator John Edwards.

[A.]

Kerry can help Obama with money, fundraisers, and his list of past voters.
Other than that I don't think Obama needs his help. His is a very greedy and big spending campaign. According an article on Newsmax.com, Kerry has
become the anti-sHillary endorser, since he has it in for her, for not supporting him in his campaign in 2004, true, who knows, but go there and read.