Edwards running on the Jerry Brown (1992) model?

[jackson_dem]

To a certain extent, Edwards is running on a Jerry Brown model to win the nomination. The former California governor gave Hillary's husband, Bill Clinton, a scare in 1992 before a gaffe forced Brown to bow out. Like Edwards, Brown was largely ignored by the media until his grassroots campaign and populist message caught on in late March. Edwards is a much stronger and more credible candidate than Brown, who ran as a quirky outsider, but there are a lot of similarities in their messages: Brown ran on a platform of campaign finance reform, pledging to end the "Stop-and Shop for the monied special interests"; Edwards has focused his campaign on fighting corporate greed and restoring the middle class. "I don't think we're going to have meaningful change in this country unless we have a President that's willing to fight the entrenched special interests," Edwards said.

That year, Brown won five primaries and forced former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas from the race before losing Michigan and New York to Clinton. But in many ways Brown had an advantage Edwards does not: an elongated schedule. Brown's candidacy surged in March, well after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. This cycle more than 20 states will hold primaries on February 5, picking 2,075 convention delegates — or 51% of those needed to win the nomination. "Once this thing gets down to two the press always spend more time on the alternative," said Joe Trippi, a senior advisor to Edwards. "Look at Jerry Brown and Bill Clinton. Once it got down to two, Jerry Brown started kicking Bill Clinton's ass."

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1701637,00.html