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<p>February 18, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - Democratic front-runner John Kerry narrowly won last night's Wisconsin primary - but underdog John Edwards was right behind in a strong second-place showing that shook up the race. Edwards rode a late surge to the surprise finish that turned the contest into a John vs. John battle - which means the March 2 Super Tuesday votes in New York, California and eight other states loom as the deciding moment.</p>

February 18, 2004 Close Finish by Edwards Jolts News Networks' CoverageBy JIM RUTENBERG enator John Edwards's unexpectedly strong second-place showing in Wisconsin threw political pundits off balance once again last night. The results transformed questions about when Mr. Edwards would drop out of the race earlier in the day into questions about whether he had an outside shot at the Democratic presidential nomination. The quick change underscored again how unpredictable the Democratic nomination competition has been — and just how wrong conventional wisdom has been in predicting voter behavior. Viewers who watched the cable news networks throughout the day were...

By RON FOURNIER (AP) Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., rests his arm on the shoulder of Ray... Full Image John Kerry battled hard-charging John Edwards in the Wisconsin primary Tuesday, a surprisingly close contest that established the North Carolina senator as Kerry's sole rival as the Democratic presidential race thunders toward a 10-state showdown March 2. The senators - Kerry from Massachusetts, the first-term Edwards - were running even, according to early results. Fallen front-runner Howard Dean trailed far behind, his candidacy doomed. Close race or not, Kerry said, "A win is a win." Edwards, his dream...

WASHINGTON — F.D.R.'s secretary of the Navy, Claude Swanson, gave us this political adage: "When the water reaches the upper deck, follow the rats." This lugubrious saying is called to mind by the way the chairman of the Dean campaign stabbed his candidate in the back on the eve of his do-or-die Wisconsin primary. Steven Grossman, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, knew that his last-minute defection would dominate the final-day news and crush Dean's hopes of a stronger-than-expected showing. What drives an old pro to such political disloyalty? Was Grossman trying to win his way back into John...

LATE AFTERNOON EXIT POLLS SHOW JOHN EDWARDS PULLING A STRONG SHOWING AGAINST JOHN KERRY, TOP MEDIA AND CAMPAIGN SOURCES TELL DRUDGE... KERRY 42%, EDWARDS 31%, DEAN 15%... DEVELOPING...

By the time he reaches the end of his now-famous "Two Americas" stump speech, Sen. John Edwards has told crowds about an America in which a small group of rich people enjoy lives of untold luxury while everybody else can't get health care, can't pay the rent, can't buy a house, and in many cases, can't get enough to eat. It's an ugly picture. But Edwards, who left his $3.8 million Georgetown home to chase the Democratic nomination for president, offers people hope. And the hope is this: "I can't change this country alone, but I know that you and...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a national TV audience Feb. 13 that states such as Massachusetts should be allowed to legalize same-sex "marriage" without federal government interference. "I think we ought to let states do what they think is right," Edwards said on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "... If California chooses to recognize same-sex marriage, that's fine. If Massachusetts chooses to recognize it, then the federal government ought to honor that." Edwards reiterated his opposition to the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment that would protect the traditional definition of marriage. It has been introduced in Congress...

Straying from speech to endorse abortion rights, he's met with cheersMadison - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards defended abortion rights Saturday before a Madison audience that included backers of Howard Dean rethinking their first choice in the presidential primary. Buoyed by Saturday endorsements from Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and the Capital Times newspaper, and aware that his audience included University of Wisconsin-Madison activists, Edwards interrupted his standard stump speech to point to a sign supporting the abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood. After asking for the sign to be lifted higher, Edwards said, "We have to have a president of the United...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Kerry's campaign is putting out word that it is time for Sen. John Edwards to leave the presidential race. The Massachusetts lawmaker's one-sided primary wins Tuesday in Virginia and Tennessee undermined the North Carolinian's claims to be the South's candidate. Edwards is still first choice for vice president among key Kerry advisers, but they say he will needlessly hurt his chances if he keeps running for president. Kerry does not want to expend more time and money in those states after the nomination really has been wrapped up. A footnote: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, whose...

IMHO he's not coming off that great. Posture is strange, smile is overdone, and the amazingly scary overlaugh. Reminds me of the laugh in that identity fraud commercial, ya know, the one where the old lady is cleaning the pool and talking but a male redneck crook's voice is talking being "wanted in 4 states, but its all good now' and scamming a new truck with the naked ladies on the mudflaps.

The vice presidential talk surrounding John Edwards is the buzz that won't go away. Everywhere you turn, from the cable TV talking heads to the so-called prediction trading market, people are speculating about whether front-runner John Kerry will make Edwards his running mate. On Thursday, David Broder, the dean of the nation's political columnists, played up Edwards' prospects, saying that the North Carolina senator had "probably" campaigned himself on to the ticket. But Kerry's hometown paper, The Boston Globe, reported that his advisers say Kerry questions Edwards' foreign policy credentials and appeal to voters. Edwards insists that he hasn't given...

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards wants to be president and says he won't settle for anything less - not even the No. 2 slot. But when it comes to disowning interest in running for vice president, saying "no" can mean "check with me later." Edwards' strong performance as runner-up so far has raised his prospects as a running mate. And politics has a rich history of people who think being on the ticket is a chump job, then chomp at the bit for it. Nelson Rockefeller once called the vice presidency "standby equipment," then climbed on board. Al Gore called...

<p>Early last year, Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards reportedly engaged in a heated competition to corral Bob Shrum, one of the toughest consultants in the Democratic Party. In a Feb. 26 article by its chief political correspondent — "In the First Mile of a Marathon, Kerry Emerges as a Front-Runner" — the New York Times reported that Mr. Kerry had won what political aficionados had been calling "the Shrum primary."</p>

ELECTION 2004 Report: Scandal rocks Kerry campaign Media probing alleged recent infidelity, rivals predict ruin for front-runner Posted: February 12, 2004 11:55 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Democratic front-runner Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign is in peril amid allegations of infidelity, according to the Drudge Report. "A frantic behind-the-scenes drama is unfolding around Sen. John Kerry and his quest to lock up the Democratic nomination for president," Drudge says. Sen. John Kerry (Photo: Boston Globe) Earlier this week, according to Drudge, Gen. Wesley Clark told a dozen reporters in an off-the-record conversation, "Kerry will implode over an intern issue ?...

By the time he reaches the end of his now-famous “Two Americas” stump speech, Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) has told crowds about an America in which a small group of rich people enjoys lives of untold luxury while everybody else can’t get healthcare, can’t pay the rent, can’t buy a house and in many cases, can’t get enough to eat. It’s an ugly picture. But Edwards offers hope. And the hope is this: “I can’t change this country alone, but I know that you and I can change this country together. The reason I know that you and I can...

For veteran observers of the Today Show's Katie Couric, it's not hard to discern when she's speaking from the script, and when it's coming from the heart. When a question reflects her own strongly held views, her voice becomes urgent and rises in pitch. Judging from her just-completed interview with John Edwards, Katie clearly believes the Senator from NC is toast. She began by observing: "You've only won a single primary, and you came in a distant second in VA and TN. You really think you still have a chance to win the nomination?" A: "Yes, I think not only...

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's not surprising that John Edwards says he would be a tougher opponent for President Bush than Democratic front-runner John Kerry. It raises eyebrows when Howard Dean says the same thing. With the race's fourth major candidate, Wesley Clark, quitting the race, Edwards and Dean are ganging up on Kerry, winner of 12 of the 14 nominating contests so far. Dean told CBS News in an interview that will air Wednesday night that he believes Edwards would be the better candidate in the general election, even though Kerry has the advantage right now. "My fear is that...

(CNSNews.com) - A former North Carolina obstetrician-gynecologist who served as an expert witness and consultant to Sen. John Edwards during his days as a trial lawyer, now accuses the Democratic presidential candidate of increasing the cost of medicine and forcing doctors into retirement in the senator's home state. "What he has done with those lawsuits is increased the cost of medicine, and he has not changed the practice of medicine in a way that you can see that there are fewer cases of cerebral palsy," William Brannan said in an interview with CNSNews.com. As CNSNews.com first reported on Jan....

<p>John Edwards, the presidential candidate who funneled about $6 million of his own trial-lawyer fortune into his 1998 Senate race, has been waging a populist campaign for the Democratic nomination. Mr. Edwards, whose extraordinary personal investment in his own political career was a major reason for including the "millionaire's loophole" in the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform bill, portrays himself as the paragon of the good-government legislator. His vote can never be influenced by lobbyists and the nefarious special interests represented by notorious political action committees (PACs), he repeatedly tells his audiences, because he never accepts money from lobbyists or from PACs.</p>

If Democrats are going to continue to beat up President Bush over the WMD question, don't you think it's time for their leading contenders, Senator Kerry and Edwards, to give an accounting on this matter as well?President Bush has repeatedly asserted that Congress had access to the same intelligence information he did. As far as I know, neither Kerry nor Edwards have denied that. So, perhaps they should tell us why on earth they and other Democrats voted for that dastardly resolution authorizing war against Iraq.We need to know specifically how they analyzed this intelligence data. Did they think it...