Edwards weighs states to target

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Edwards weighs states to target

Looks for votes where jobs are scarce

TIM FUNK

Observer Washington Bureau


WASHINGTON - When Sen. John Edwards and his strategists sit down with a map to chart out his campaign schedule over the next two weeks, a few questions will be uppermost in their minds.

Which of the 10 Super Tuesday states -- and which areas of those states -- have lost the most jobs in recent years?

Which of these March 2 states let independents -- and even Republicans -- vote in their Democratic primaries and caucuses?

And which of the states did President Bush carry -- or almost carry -- in 2000?

In other words: Edwards will be looking for more Wisconsins, where his anti-NAFTA message resonated, where his appeal to independents and moderate Republicans brought him votes, and where he proved that he could catch fire in the kind of swing states that will decide the 2004 election. (Vice President Al Gore carried the state by a whisker over Bush in 2000.)

On Tuesday, Edwards surged to a strong second in Wisconsin, rattled Kerry's cage, and set the stage for what he's wanted all along: A two-man race.

Given two weeks to campaign instead of just one, Edwards is betting that this time he'll win, not show, in Super Tuesday states such as Ohio and Georgia, which went for Bush in 2000 but have been hemorrhaging jobs -- particularly manufacturing jobs -- over the last three years.

Ohio has lost 4.7 percent of its jobs since 2001 -- third highest in the nation.

And in both Ohio and Georgia, independents and Republicans will be able to vote March 2.

Where else will Edwards go before Super Tuesday?

New York, but more specifically, Upstate New York.

More

WWW.Charlotte.com section A.

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1. Link to Edwards & Target

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/7986836.htm