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Edwards Keeps Primary Hope Alive

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By JULIE BOSMAN, The New York Times

Published: January 5, 2008

NASHUA, N.H. - By edging out Hillary Rodham Clinton for second place in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, John Edwards has kept his second bid for the presidential nomination alive - for now.

He arrived in New Hampshire early Friday to make a rapid-fire case before Tuesday's primary, telling an audience in Nashua that he was up against two celebrity candidates, Barack Obama and Clinton, but that "glamour and glitz will not stop us."

At the event in Nashua and at one in Manchester earlier in the morning, Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, tried on a few new labels, calling himself "the people's candidate," "the underdog" and even "Seabiscuit" - a reference to the famous 1930s racehorse.

And throughout the day, he tried to remind voters of their history of choosing candidates who lack front-runner status.

"The people of New Hampshire have a bit of an independent streak, don't they?" he said in Nashua. "They like to shake things up a bit."

Edwards' aides said Friday that they think that with a respectable finish in the New Hampshire primary, he could rebound in the South Carolina contest, which he won in 2004.

Eric Schultz, a spokesman for the campaign, sent an e-mail message to reporters Friday afternoon arguing that Edwards is still competitive in New Hampshire, where he has 17 offices and 80 staff members. A Reuters poll released Friday said Edwards is still trailing here but has inched up to 20 percent. (In the poll, conducted before the Iowa caucuses, Clinton led Obama, 32 percent to 26 percent.)

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