N.C. may now be battleground
heraldsun.com
BY JOSEPH MONTES : The Herald-Sun
def@heraldsun.com
Jul 6, 2004 : 11:47 pm ET
DURHAM -- With U.S. Sen. John Edwards being selected Tuesday as the running mate for presumed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, North Carolina may become the state that swings both ways.
Edwards, who earned a bachelor's degree in 1974 from N.C. State University and a law degree in 1977 from UNC, has been painted in the news media as having a small-town appeal because he worked hard to earn a degree and make his fortune.
"He [Edwards] has that Southern, good boy charm," said Carrie Black, a UNC junior majoring in political science. "If you can pull a strong Democrat out of the South, maybe he can sway North Carolina."
Kerry Haynie, a Duke University political science professor, agreed with Black. Adding Edwards to the ticket could influence North Carolinians, especially those in more liberal areas like Durham, to vote Democrat, Haynie said.
"Historically, Durham has been a strong Democratic center. John Edwards would help Kerry speak to the relatively large racial and ethnic minority populations in Durham and the people who are struggling," Haynie said.
What Edwards has done is show people "you can move from the working class to the middle class," he said. "That it is possible to move your kids through college and not go broke doing it."
U.S. Rep. David Price, D-4th District, said Edwards' appointment to the Democratic ticket was important for North Carolina.
"I think it's a tremendous help to the state," he said. "It builds in a sensitivity to our needs. I just think it will be a tremendous asset for us.
"I think [Kerry] can carry the state [now]," Price added.
Kerry and Edwards will be campaigning this weekend in North Carolina, although a schedule of their stops has not yet been released.
Republican critics have panned Edwards, 51, as being too young and inexperienced to be the vice president.
"He's only served one term in the United States Senate. There's no other public office experience," stated a written news release from the N.C. Republican Party. Officials with the party refused to comment.
MY COMMENT: Edwards has more National and International experience than George W. Bush in 2000. This GOP DOG don't hunt!
However, Haynie said the most interesting aspect of the presidential race so far has been that it's a dead heat.
A USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll taken June 21-23 put President Bush 1 percentage point ahead of Kerry -- 49 percent to 48 percent -- in a poll that asked whom voters would be more likely to vote for. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
"With the advantages of [Bush being in] office, it is troubling at this stage for Republicans," Haynie said. "The Democrats can be disappointed Kerry hasn't pulled away."
Still, some see the race another way.
S.C. resident Angie Dewart, who was in Durham for a basketball camp at Duke University, said Edwards, who was born in Seneca, S.C., is a "good man." Edwards' family later moved to Robbins, N.C., where he grew up.
Dewart, a Republican and the principal at Fairforest Middle School in Spartanburg, S.C., said she had seen Edwards speak and had read enough about him to feel she could trust him.
"I trust him more than I do Kerry," she said,
Dewart said she plans to vote with her party in the Nov. 2 general election, but she feels that choosing Bush is the "lesser of two evils."
"I think everyone is going to vote against someone, not for someone, this year," she said.
MY COMMENT: This is the Bush plan ... make people think they are choosing Bush as the "lesser of two evils". That is an absurd strategy. Obviously Bush is terrible, so why not take a chance on the other guy? Are people that pessimistic? |
