news-record.com

John Edwards' campaign found itself betwixt and between as it rolled into New Hampshire for a five-day campaign blitz that will culminate in Tuesday's primary.

The former North Carolina senator took second place in the Iowa caucuses, edging out the better-funded Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has been able to raise millions of dollars and far outpolls the likes of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson with a populist message that appeals to the party faithful, especially those hurt by a sagging economy.

Yet in New Hampshire and in other early primary states, supporters acknowledge he's having a hard time being heard above the fray. Pundits don't expect him to last until Feb. 5, when 22 states will hold Democratic primaries or caucuses.

"I can't understand why more people aren't behind him," said Peter Smith, a college professor and photojournalist from Bedford, N.H. He and his wife are scheduled to host a house party for the Edwards campaign Monday. "It looks like he's got a lot of ground to catch up even to come in second here."

Edwards invested a lot of time and money in Iowa. Had he won, experts say, it would have been possible to ride a wave of momentum into the other primary states.

But Edwards is cash-poor compared to Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, and he is subject to spending restrictions because he took help from federal matching funds. A poll by Zogby International showed him running third in New Hampshire on Friday, and the news has not been better in South Carolina and Nevada, the other key January states for Democrats.

Smith said he likes that Edwards takes on "corporate greed," describing him as "a unique candidate. He's completely behind the middle class in a way the others are not."

But that may be part of Edwards' problem in New Hampshire, said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire.

"He's got a very populist, us-against-the-big-corporations message, and the Democrats here are different than in Iowa," Scala said. "A lot of them work for big corporations, they're professional people, and they don't necessarily buy into the angry us-vs.-them rhetoric."

Edwards and Obama's campaigns touch on some of the same themes, including the need for change in the way Washington operates. To decide between the two, he said, New Hampshire voters will start thinking about who is more likely to win come November.

"The difference now is that newest and best evidence of electability comes from Iowa," Scala said.

His second-place showing in Iowa also hurt Edwards in Nevada, said Jon Ralston, a political analyst.

"He's running on fumes right now, so if he doesn't do well in New Hampshire, most people here are going to write him off," Ralston said.

Currently, he said, Clinton leads in the Nevada polls but those numbers could be misleading.

Nevada will hold a caucus much like Iowa's, and polling those who will actually show up is an inexact science, especially in a state that has never voted this early in the presidential cycle.

A much more telling indicator of how Edwards might fare will come from the state's culinary union, an influential group that Edwards has courted. Losing their endorsement, he said, would be "devastating" to Edwards' chances here.

In South Carolina, where voters will participate in a traditional primary, Edwards remains solidly in third place according to several polls.

Democrats there and around the country know that Edwards focused a lot of time and a large share of his spending on Iowa, said Bruce Ransom, a professor of political science at Clemson University.

"Second place is respectable, but he's still eight points back. That's not going to give him the momentum he needs to move up" in the polls, Ransom said.

Edwards has to hope a good showing in New Hampshire can "bail him out" and launch him to success elsewhere.

Edwards' struggle to get on track in the Palmetto State are perplexing given that he won the primary there handily in 2004, in part by playing on the fact his early childhood was spent in Seneca, S.C.

"In many respects, he was viewed as a native son in 2004," Ransom said. "But this time around, for reasons I can't put my finger on, that's not the general thinking. That has just not worked for him at all."

Edwards has not had a lot of money to push advertising or staff into the state, Ransom said, and his message has not caught the imagination of primary voters, particularly African Americans who are expected to make up half of all Democrats voting this month.

"Clinton and Obama have been the show," he said. "They've defined the terms on which this campaign has been waged."

For his part, Edwards does not seem ready to concede anything. In a statement published on his campaign Web site, Edwards dinged his chief rivals for raising a combined

$200 million.

"I am not the candidate of money, I am not the candidate of glitz, I am not the candidate of glamour, nor do I claim to be," Edwards said. "But what I am, I am a candidate for president of the United States — that is the people's candidate.

"There is not going to be an auction in New Hampshire, there's going to be an election."

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com