Editing John Edwards (section)

==Political campaigns==

===Electoral history===
'''North Carolina United States Senate election, 1998 (Democratic primary)'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=39748 |title=Our Campaigns – NC US Senate – D Primary Race – May 18, 1998 |publisher=Ourcampaigns.com |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>
* '''John Edwards''' – '''277,468''' '''(51.39%)'''
* [[D.G. Martin]] – 149,049 (27.59%)
* Ella Butler Scarborough – 55,486 (10.28%)

'''[[1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina|North Carolina United States Senate election, 1998]]'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=146 |title=Our Campaigns – NC US Senate Race – Nov 03, 1998 |publisher=Ourcampaigns.com |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>
* '''John Edwards''' '''(D)''' – '''1,029,237''' '''(51.15%)'''
* [[Lauch Faircloth]] (R) (inc.) – 945,943 (47.01%)
* [[Barbara Howe]] (Lib.) – 36,963 (1.84%)

'''[[2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2004 Democratic presidential primaries]]'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=1689 |title=Our Campaigns – US President – D Primaries Race – Jan 13, 2004 |publisher=Ourcampaigns.com |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>
* '''[[John Kerry]]''' – '''9,930,497''' '''(60.98%)'''
* John Edwards – 3,162,337 (19.42%)
* [[Howard Dean]] – 903,460 (5.55%)
* [[Dennis Kucinich]] – 620,242 (3.81%)
* [[Wesley Clark]] – 547,369 (3.36%)
* [[Al Sharpton]] – 380,865 (2.34%)
* [[Joe Lieberman]] – 280,940 (1.73%)

'''[[2004 United States presidential election]]'''
* '''[[George W. Bush]]/[[Dick Cheney]]''' '''(R)''' '''(inc.)''' – 62,040,610 (50.7%) and 286 electoral votes (31 states carried)
* [[John Kerry]]/John Edwards (D) – 59,028,111 (48.3%) and 251 electoral votes (19 states and D.C. carried)
<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: The following name SHOULD BE "John Ewards." The point is that the elector spelled his name wrong. -->
* John Ewards {{sic}} (D) – 1 electoral vote ([[faithless elector]])<ref name=Ewards>{{cite news |last1=Brodarick |first1=Taylor |title=It's Time To Abolish The Electoral College |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/taylorbrodarick/2012/11/04/its-time-to-abolish-the-electoral-college |access-date=29 June 2015 |work=[[Forbes]] |date=11 November 2012 |quote="No, you did not read a typo. Not only did a Minnesota elector vote for Democratic Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards for both President and Vice President, but he or she could not spell his ordinary last name correctly."}}</ref>

'''[[2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2008 Democratic presidential primaries]]'''
* '''[[Barack Obama]]''' – '''17,869,542''' '''(48.2%)'''
* [[Hillary Clinton]] – 17,717,698 (47.8%)
* John Edwards – 1,006,289 (2.65%)

===2004 presidential campaign===
{{main|2004 United States presidential election|John Edwards 2004 presidential campaign}}

In 2000, Edwards unofficially began his presidential campaign when he began to seek speaking engagements in [[Iowa]], the site of the nation's [[Iowa caucuses|first party caucuses]]. On January 2, 2003, Edwards began [[fundraising]] without officially campaigning by forming an exploratory committee. On September 15, 2003, Edwards fulfilled a promise he made a year earlier as a guest on ''[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'' to unofficially announce his intention to seek the [[Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2004|2004 Democratic presidential nomination]]. The next morning, Edwards made the announcement officially from his hometown. He declined to run for reelection to the Senate in order to focus on his presidential run. Edwards's campaign was chaired by North Carolina Democratic activist [[Ed Turlington]].

As Edwards had been building support essentially since his election to the Senate, he led the initial campaign fundraising, amassing over $7 million during the first quarter of 2003 – more than half of which came from individuals associated with the legal profession, particularly Edwards's fellow trial lawyers, their families, and employees.<ref>[http://www.hillnews.com/news/050703/edwards.aspx ''Hill News''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214164525/http://www.hillnews.com/news/050703/edwards.aspx |date=February 14, 2007}}, May 7, 2003</ref> Edwards's [[Stump speech (politics)|stump speech]] spoke of "[[Two Americas]]", with one composed of the wealthy and privileged, and the other of the hard-working common man, causing the media to often characterize Edwards as a [[populist]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30354-2004Jul6.html |title=Kerry picks Edwards as running mate: Mass. senator calls ex-rival a man of middle-class values |author=Jim VandeHei and Dan Balz |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 6, 2004 |access-date=April 1, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3872003.stm |title=Kerry and Edwards start campaign |publisher=BBC News |date=July 7, 2004 |access-date=April 1, 2008}}</ref>

Edwards struggled to gain substantial support, but his poll numbers began to rise steadily weeks before the Iowa caucuses. In these he had a surprising second-place finish with the support of 32% of delegates, behind only [[John Kerry]]'s 39% and ahead of former front-runner [[Howard Dean]] at 18%. One week later in the [[New Hampshire primary]], Edwards finished in fourth place behind Kerry, Dean and [[Wesley Clark]], with 12%. During the February 3 primaries, Edwards won the South Carolina primary,<ref>[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/SC-D.phtml#0203 South Carolina Democratic Delegation 2004] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205903/http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/SC-D.phtml#0203 |date=March 3, 2016}}. Thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref> lost to Clark in [[Oklahoma]], and lost to Kerry in the other states. Edwards garnered the second-largest number of second-place finishes, again falling behind Clark.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/dates/02/03/index.html |title=Primary results: February 3 |work=CNN|access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>

[[Image:John-Edwards-Shakes-Hands.jpg|left|thumb|Edwards on the campaign trail in 2004]]
Dean withdrew from the contest, leaving Edwards the only major challenger to Kerry. In the [[Wisconsin]] primary on February 17, Edwards finished second to Kerry with 34% of the vote. He largely avoided attacking Kerry until a February 29, 2004, debate in New York, in which he characterized him as a "Washington insider" and mocked Kerry's plan to form a committee to examine [[trade agreement]]s.

In the [[Super Tuesday]] primaries on March 2, Kerry finished well ahead in nine of the ten states voting, and Edwards's campaign ended. In [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], Edwards finished only slightly behind Kerry but, failing to win a single state, chose to withdraw from the race. He announced his official withdrawal at a press conference in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]], on March 3. Edwards's withdrawal made major media outlets relatively early on the evening of Super Tuesday, at about 6:30&nbsp;pm CST, before polls had closed in California and before caucuses in [[Minnesota]] had even begun. It is thought that the withdrawal influenced many people in Minnesota to vote for other candidates, which may partially account for the strong Minnesota finish of [[Dennis Kucinich]].{{original research inline|date=September 2007}} Edwards did win the presidential [[straw poll]] conducted by the [[Independence Party of Minnesota]].

After withdrawing from the race, he went on to win the April 17 Democratic caucuses in his home state of<!--home state of North Carolina on April 17 is correct; birth state of South Carolina was on February 3 and is shown above. Please don't change this as it is correct--> North Carolina,<ref>[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/NC-D.phtml North Carolina Democratic Delegation 2004] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200412/http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/NC-D.phtml |date=March 3, 2016}}. Thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref> making him the only Democratic candidate besides Kerry to win nominating contests in two states in 2004.

===2004 vice presidential nomination===
{{main|John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign}}
On July 6, 2004, Kerry announced that Edwards would be his running mate; the decision was widely hailed in public opinion polls and by Democratic leaders. Though many Democrats supported Edwards's nomination, others criticized the selection for Edwards's perceived lack of experience. In the vice presidential debate, [[Dick Cheney]] told Edwards they had never met because of Edwards's frequent absences from the Senate, but that was later proven to be incorrect. Videotape later surfaced of Cheney and Edwards shaking hands off-camera during a taping of ''[[Meet the Press]]'' on April 8, 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/debates/articles/2004/10/07/photos_undermine_cheneys_assertion_he_never_met_edwards/ |title=Photos undermine Cheney's assertion he never met Edwards - The Boston Globe |website=archive.boston.com |access-date=2019-11-03}}</ref> On February 1, 2001, Cheney thanked Edwards by name and sat with him during a Senate prayer breakfast. George W. Bush's campaign spokesman [[Steve Schmidt]] described the event as an "inconsequential meeting".<ref>{{cite news |author=Peter Wallsten |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-oct-06-na-meet6-story.html |title=Cheney and Edwards Have Met Before |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 6, 2004 |access-date=November 2, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Dan Froomkin |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11612-2004Oct6.html |title=When Cheney Met Edwards |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 6, 2004 |access-date=November 2, 2012}}</ref> On January 8, 2003, they met when John Edwards accompanied then-Senator [[Elizabeth Dole]] to her swearing-in while Cheney was [[Vice President of the United States|President of the Senate]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Richard Sisk and Helen Kennedy |url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-10-06/news/18279261_1_edwards-and-kerry-dick-cheney-john-edwards |title=THEY GO FOR THE JUGULAR Cheney, Edwards trade nasty barbs in debate |publisher=The New York Daily News |date=6 October 2004 |access-date=2 November 2012 |archive-url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jugular-cheney-edwards-trade-nasty-barbs-debate-article-1.632767 |archive-date=1 January 2015}}</ref>

Kerry's campaign advisor [[Bob Shrum]] later reported in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine that Kerry said he wished he had never picked Edwards, and the two have since stopped speaking to each other.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1626498-2,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |title=Kerry's Regrets About John Edwards |date=May 30, 2007 |access-date=May 6, 2010 |first=Robert |last=Shrum}}</ref> Edwards said in his concession speech, "You can be disappointed, but you cannot walk away. This fight has just begun."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/transcript-of-john-edwardss-speech-on-wednesday.html |title=Transcript of John Edwards's Speech on Wednesday |date=2004-11-03 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2019-11-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===2008 presidential campaign===
{{main|John Edwards 2008 presidential campaign}}
[[Image:John Edwards Pittsburgh 2007.jpg|thumb|right|John Edwards campaigning in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] on Labor Day in 2007]]
On December 28, 2006, John Edwards officially announced his candidacy for President in the 2008 election from the yard of a home in [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], that was being rebuilt after [[Hurricane Katrina]] destroyed it.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2521766,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100603225215/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2521766,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 3, 2010 |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |title=John Edwards joins race for White House |first1=Sam |last1=Knight |date=December 28, 2006 |access-date=May 6, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/27/AR2006122701452.html |title=John Edwards Joins Presidential Race |newspaper=The Washington Post |author=Nedra Pickler |date=December 28, 2006 |access-date=December 28, 2006}}</ref> Edwards stated that his main goals were eliminating poverty, fighting [[global warming]], providing [[universal health care]], and withdrawing troops from Iraq.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-12-28-edwards-2008_x.htm |title=Edwards takes another shot at run for White House |work=[[USA Today]] |date=December 29, 2006 |access-date=July 6, 2007 |first=Jill |last=Lawrence}}</ref>

National polls had Edwards placing third among the Democratic field beginning in January 2007, behind Senator [[Hillary Clinton]] and Senator [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Clinton, Obama in Virtual Tie Among Democrats |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2008/2008_presidential_election/clinton_obama_in_virtual_tie_among_democrats |publisher=Rasmussen Reports |date=January 17, 2007 |access-date=June 1, 2007}}</ref> By July 2007, the Edwards campaign had raised $23 million from nearly 100,000 donors, placing him behind Obama and Clinton in fundraising.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3874969.html |title=Edwards Raises More Than $9 Million |author=Jim Kuhnhenn |work=Forbes |date=July 1, 2007 |access-date=July 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703233837/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3874969.html |archive-date=July 3, 2007}}</ref>

Edwards was first to boycott a [[Fox News]]-sponsored presidential debate in March 2007.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fox-news-boss-hits-edwards-boycott/ Fox News Boss Hits Edwards' Boycott]  CBS News, March 9, 2007</ref> Hillary Clinton, [[Bill Richardson]], and Barack Obama followed suit.

[[Image:Edwardsraittbrownecoyote.JPG|thumb|John Edwards with [[Bonnie Raitt]], [[Jackson Browne]], and [[Peter Coyote]] at a campaign event in [[Manchester, New Hampshire]]]]

On January 3, 2008, in the [[2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses|Iowa caucuses]], the first contest of the nomination process, Edwards placed second with 29.75% of the vote to Obama (37.58%), with Clinton coming in third with 29.47% of the vote.<ref>[http://www.iowacaucusresults.com/ Online Casino Strategies] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415000251/http://www.iowacaucusresults.com/ |date=April 15, 2016}}. Iowacaucusresults.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref> On January 8, Edwards placed a distant third in the [[2008 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary|New Hampshire Democratic primary]] with just under 17% (48,818 votes). On January 26, Edwards again placed third in the [[2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary|primary in South Carolina]] – his birth state – which he had carried in 2004, and he placed third in the non-binding January 29 vote in Florida.

[[Image:John Edwards in New Orleans 2008.jpg|left|thumb|At the [[Musicians' Village]] in New Orleans, Edwards announced the suspension of his campaign.]]
On January 30, 2008, following his primary and caucus losses, Edwards announced that he was suspending his campaign for the presidency.<ref name="CBSend">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/edwards-exits-presidential-race/ |title=Edwards exits presidential race |work=CBS News |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2964765820080131/ |title=Giuliani, Edwards quit White House Race |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2008 |publisher=[[Reuters]] |first=Steve |last=Holland}}</ref><ref name=SuspendVideo>{{cite web |title=Edwards Withdrawal Announcement |url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?203861-1/edwards-withdrawal-announcement |website=C-SPAN |access-date=11 April 2015 |format=Video |date=30 January 2008 |quote=At a New Orleans event Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards announced that he is suspending his campaign}}</ref> He did not initially endorse either Clinton or Obama, saying they both had pledged to carry forward his central campaign theme of ending poverty in America.<ref name="Globeend">{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/01/edwards_drops_o.html |title=Edwards drops out of race |author=Foon Rhee |work=The Boston Globe |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2008}}</ref> In April 2008, he stated that he would not accept the 2008 vice presidential slot if asked.<ref>{{cite news |title=John Edwards says would not accept VP nomination |author=Sinead Carew |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0336718220080403 |publisher=Reuters |date=April 3, 2008 |access-date=May 14, 2008}}</ref> On May 14, 2008, Edwards officially endorsed Senator Obama at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/14/edwards.obama/ |work=CNN|title=Edwards endorses Obama, praises Clinton |date=May 15, 2008 |access-date=May 6, 2010}}</ref>

On June 15, 2008, Edwards stepped back from his initial outright denial of interest in the position of Vice President, saying, "I'd take anything he asks me to think about seriously, but obviously this is something that I've done and it's not a job I'm seeking."<ref>{{cite news |title=Edwards not ruling out new VP bid under Obama |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080615/pl_afp/usvotevp |agency=AFP |date=June 15, 2008 |access-date=June 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618185440/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080615/pl_afp/usvotevp |archive-date=June 18, 2008}}</ref> On June 20, 2008, the [[Associated Press]] reported that according to a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the names of Edwards and [[Sam Nunn]] were on Obama's vice presidential shortlist.<ref>{{cite news |title=AP: Edwards makes Obama's VP List |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/20/ap-edwards-makes-obamas-vp-list/ |agency=Associated Press |date=June 20, 2008 |access-date=June 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627163027/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/20/ap-edwards-makes-obamas-vp-list/ |archive-date=June 27, 2008}}</ref> Ultimately, then-Senator [[Joe Biden]] of Delaware was tapped to become Obama's running mate.