John Edwards 2004 presidential campaign

Last updated
John Edwards for President 2004
John Edwards 2004 campaign logo.svg
Campaign 2004 United States presidential election (Democratic Party primaries)
Candidate John Edwards
U.S. Senator from North Carolina
(1999–2005)
Affiliation Democratic Party
EC formed January 2, 2003
AnnouncedSeptember 16, 2003
SuspendedMarch 2, 2004
Headquarters Chapel Hill, North Carolina
SloganLet's make one America
Website
John Edwards 2004
(archived - Feb. 27, 2004)

The 2004 presidential campaign of John Edwards, U.S. Senator from North Carolina, began on September 16, 2003.

Contents

Background and announcement

John-Edwards-Shakes-Hands.jpg

In 2000, Edwards unofficially began his presidential campaign when he began to seek speaking engagements in Iowa, the site of the nation's 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 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' campaign was chaired by North Carolina Democratic activist Ed Turlington.

Campaign timeline

Early campaign

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' fellow trial lawyers, their families, and employees. [1]

Edwards' "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. [2] [3]

First nominating contests

Edwards struggled to gain substantial support, but his poll numbers began to rise steadily weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Edwards 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, [4] 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. [5]

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.

Super Tuesday 2004

Edwards largely avoided attacking Kerry until a February 29, 2004 debate in New York, where he characterized him as a "Washington insider" and mocked Kerry's plan to form a committee to examine trade agreements.

In the Super Tuesday primaries on March 2, Kerry finished well ahead in nine of the ten states voting, and Edwards' campaign ended. In 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 Raleigh, North Carolina press conference on March 3. Edwards' withdrawal made major media outlets relatively early on the evening of Super Tuesday, at about 6:30 p.m. 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? ] Edwards did win the presidential straw poll conducted by the Independence Party of Minnesota.

Results

Key results: [6]

Nominating ContestPlace 1 Percentage
Iowa 2nd Place32%
New Hampshire 4th Place12%
Arizona 4th Place7%
Delaware 3rd Place11%
Missouri 2nd Place25%
New Mexico 4th Place11%
North Dakota 4th Place10%
Oklahoma 2nd Place30%
South Carolina WIN45%
Michigan 3rd Place13%
Washington 4th Place7%
Tennessee 2nd Place27%
Virginia 2nd Place27%
Nevada 3rd Place11%
Wisconsin 2nd Place34%
Hawaii 3rd Place13%
Utah 2nd Place30%
California 2nd Place20%
Connecticut 2nd Place24%
Georgia 2nd Place41%
Maryland 2nd Place26%
Massachusetts 2nd Place18%
Minnesota 2nd Place27%
New York 2nd Place20%
Ohio 2nd Place34%
Rhode Island 2nd Place19%
Vermont 3rd Place6%
North Carolina WIN51%
  Edwards won the nominating Contest (North Carolina and South Carolina)
 Edwards came in either 2nd or 3rd place in the nominating contest (Iowa, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Utah, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont)
  Edwards came in 4th Place or Below in the nominating contest (New Hampshire, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Washington)

Endorsements

After withdrawal

Surprise North Carolina win

After withdrawing from the race, he went on to win the April 17 Democratic caucuses in his home state of North Carolina, [7] making him the only Democratic candidate besides Kerry to win nominating contests in two states.

Vice-Presidential nomination

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' nomination, others criticized the selection for Edwards' perceived lack of experience. The nomination caused the Chamber of Commerce network to throw its support to George W. Bush due to Edwards' opposition to tort reform. [8] In the vice presidential debate, Dick Cheney incorrectly told Edwards they never met due to Edwards' frequent absences from the Senate. The media later found at least one videotape of Cheney and Edwards meeting.

The Democratic ticket ultimately lost the presidential election and Bush was re-elected. Subsequently, Kerry's campaign advisor Bob Shrum later stated in Time magazine that Kerry said he wished he'd never picked Edwards, and the two have since stopped speaking to each other. [9] Edwards stated in his concession speech that "You can be disappointed, but you cannot walk away. This fight has just begun."

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Edwards</span> American politician (born 1953)

Johnny Reid Edwards is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. He also was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

From January 14 to June 8, 2004, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 2004 United States presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses</span>

The 2004 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were an election held on January 19 as part of the United States presidential primary. They were the first major test of some of the leading contenders for the Democratic Party's nomination as its candidate for the 2004 United States presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Tuesday</span> Day of year for US presidential primary elections

Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating conventions can be won on Super Tuesday, more than on any other day. The results on Super Tuesday are therefore a strong indicator of the likely eventual nominee of each political party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mini-Tuesday</span>

Mini-Tuesday was the name given to the February 3, 2004 U.S. presidential primary where several states, which to that point had participated in "Super Tuesday," cast their votes for the Presidential nominees of the 2004 Presidential election. Mini-Tuesday was also called Super Tuesday I. With the large number of states moving their election dates up to Mini-Tuesday for the 2008 election cycle, pundits have largely shied away from using the term again, instead choosing to reappropriate the term "Super Tuesday" to better represent the primaries held on that approximate date. The date is also known as "Super Duper Tuesday," "Giga Tuesday," and "Tsunami Tuesday," among others, with the term "Mini Tuesday" falling to apparent disuse for the time being.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign</span> United States presidential campaign in 2004

The 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, the longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts, began when he formed an exploratory committee on December 1, 2002. On September 2, 2003, he formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. After beating John Edwards, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, and other candidates in the primaries, he became the Democratic nominee, challenging Republican incumbent George W. Bush in the general election. Kerry selected Edwards as his running mate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 United States presidential election</span> 55th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney were elected to a second term, defeating the Democratic ticket of John Kerry, a United States senator from Massachusetts and his running mate John Edwards, a United States senator from North Carolina. As of 2020, this is the only presidential election since 1988 in which the Republican nominee won the popular vote and the only presidential election since 1984 in which the incumbent Republican president won re-election. Due to the higher turnout, both major party nominees set records for the most popular votes received by a major party candidate for president; both men surpassed Reagan's record from 20 years earlier. At the time, Bush's 62,040,610 votes were the most received by any nominee for president, although this record would be broken four years later by Barack Obama. Bush also became the only incumbent president to win re-election after previously losing the popular vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was selected as the nominee, becoming the first African American to secure the presidential nomination of any major political party in the United States. However, due to a close race between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, the contest remained competitive for longer than expected; neither candidate received enough pledged delegates from state primaries and caucuses to achieve a majority, without endorsements from unpledged delegates (superdelegates).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Republican Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of Republican US presidential candidate

From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Republican Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator John McCain of Arizona was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 2008 Republican National Convention held from Monday, September 1, through Thursday, September 4, 2008, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. President George W. Bush was ineligible to be elected to a third term due to the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment.

The 2008 presidential campaign of John Edwards, former United States Senator from North Carolina and Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004 began on December 28, 2006 when he announced his entry into the 2008 presidential election in the city of New Orleans near sites devastated by Hurricane Katrina. On January 30, 2008, Edwards returned to New Orleans to announce that he was suspending his campaign for the Presidency. On May 14, 2008, he endorsed Barack Obama at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Richardson 2008 presidential campaign</span>

The 2008 presidential campaign of Bill Richardson, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced his candidacy on January 21, 2007, for President of the United States on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, by virtue of forming a presidential exploratory committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary</span> US presidential primary election

The 2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place on January 26, 2008. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won the primary's popular vote by a 28.9% margin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

From January 24 to June 6, 2000, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 2000 United States presidential election. Incumbent Vice President Al Gore was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 2000 Democratic National Convention held from August 14 to 17, 2000, in Los Angeles, California, but he went on to lose the Electoral College in the general election against Governor George W. Bush held on November 7 of that year, despite winning the popular vote by 0.5%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary</span>

The 2004 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary was held on January 27, 2004. Taking place eight days after the Iowa caucuses, it marked the second contest to take place during the Democratic party's 2004 primary season, as well as the first actual primary to take place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Dean 2004 presidential campaign</span> American political campaign

The 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean, 79th Governor of Vermont, began when he formed an exploratory committee to evaluate a presidential election campaign on May 31, 2002. Dean then formally announced his intention to compete in the 2004 Democratic primaries to seek the Democratic Party's nomination for President on June 23, 2003. Dean dropped out of the race in February 2004 after a poor showing in the Wisconsin primary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Gephardt 2004 presidential campaign</span> American political campaign

The 2004 presidential campaign of Dick Gephardt, former House Minority Leader and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri, began on January 5, 2003 with the filing of papers with the Federal Election Commission that established an exploratory committee. He formally announced his entry into the race for the Democratic nomination on February 19, 2003 in St. Louis, Missouri. The day after the Iowa caucuses, Gephardt dropped out of the race on January 20, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Kucinich 2004 presidential campaign</span> American political campaign

The 2004 presidential campaign of Dennis Kucinich, House Representative of Ohio and former mayor of Cleveland, began in February 2003, with a formal announcement made in June. Ralph Nader praised Dennis Kucinich as "a genuine progressive", and most Greens were friendly to Kucinich's campaign, some going so far as to indicate that they would not have run against him had he won the Democratic nomination. However, Kucinich was unable to carry any states in the 2004 Democratic Primaries, and John Kerry eventually won the Democratic nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 California Democratic presidential primary</span>

The 2004 California Democratic presidential primary was held on March 2, 2004, the same day as the Republican primary. Senator John Kerry overwhelmingly won the primary over rivals Senator John Edwards, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and Reverend Al Sharpton. The primary was open to both registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters. 440 delegates were at stake, with 370 tied to the March primary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina</span> Election in South Carolina

The 2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

References

  1. Hill News Archived 2007-02-14 at the Wayback Machine , May 7, 2003
  2. The Washington Post, July 6, 2004
  3. BBC News
  4. 2004 South Carolina primary results
  5. CNN
  6. Dave Leip. "US Election Atlas Results" . Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  7. 2004 North Carolina caucuses results
  8. PointofLaw.com | PointOfLaw Forum: Democrats' support for trial lawyers polarizes business community
  9. Shrum, Robert (May 30, 2007). "Kerry's Regrets About John Edwards". Time. Archived from the original on June 1, 2007. Retrieved May 6, 2010.