Power Through Delegates May Be Edwards Strategy

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Power Through Delegates May Be Edwards Strategy
By JULIE BOSMAN
Published: January 29, 2008

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — ....After finishing third in three of the four primary contests so far — except in Iowa, where he beat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for second place by less than one percentage point — Mr. Edwards has shown no sign of quitting, and his advisers have insisted that he still hopes to capture the nomination. But they have also floated other rationales for a continued Edwards candidacy, suggesting that his delegates could be used to promote his platform or to help him act as a power broker at the Democratic convention.

Mr. Edwards has accumulated some delegates, giving him a seat at the table — or at least in debates — with Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. He has often steered the conversation on policy, and was the first candidate to outline a universal health care plan and an economic stimulus proposal.

Yet his chance to win the nomination appears slim. After months of exposure — and in his second bid for the nomination — national polls still have him around 14 percent. He did not even win in South Carolina, where he was born. And Mr. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, has received no endorsements from major newspapers or senators. In 2004, Mr. Edwards dropped out of the presidential race after losing every state on a multiprimary day to Senator John Kerry — and that year he had won South Carolina.

But this year, the crowded field and the splintered results have given Mr. Edwards the chance to influence the race. As he did in South Carolina, Mr. Edwards may divide the white vote with Mrs. Clinton in states like Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, boosting Mr. Obama’s chances. Elsewhere, Mr. Edwards could attract some of the so-called change voters, hurting Mr. Obama....

There could be a significant payoff for his staying in the race. He could pledge his delegates at any point, including at a brokered Democratic convention in August if neither Mrs. Clinton nor Mr. Obama captured 50 percent, or 2,025, of the delegates, the number needed to take the nomination. “It’s obvious what he has in mind — if you can’t be the king, then be the king or queen maker,” said Larry J. Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. “He’s thinking perhaps Obama and Clinton will have a close split of delegates once the primaries are over, and his 300 or 400 delegates will make the difference. This is his one chance to have a real influence.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/us/politics/29edwards.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1201626039-HZjAp/uaS2vA1Kr5d+FqDQ