Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., speaks to a crowd of supporters at a campaign rally at a farmers market Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008, in Dublin, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Standing next to a patch of collard greens in Dublin, Ga., John Edwards told a crowd of voters Sunday that he is the presidential candidate who best understands them.
A day after his third place finish in the Democratic primary in his home state of South Carolina, the former senator from North Carolina stressed he would continue to run a campaign focused on progress not politics, pointing a finger at his feuding Democratic rivals, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
"I'm about doing the things that need to be done to improve your lives," Edwards said. "I've been watching a lot of time being spent tearing each other down. I'm about building you up."Edwards also drew applause as he touted his rural and Southern roots, including his two-year stint in small town Georgia.
"I know everything that's happening in your community," he said. "This is where I come from. I understand it and I take it very, very personally. I don't treat Georgia as a place you fly over."Edwards told the crowd they could continue the legacies of their working class parents by casting a vote for him in the state's Feb. 5 primary. "You can help ignite a wave of change that spreads across this country that is absolutely unstoppable," he said.
Cecil Lowther said Edwards' small town background appealed to him and will be a factor if he decides who will get his vote. "He's got a good feel for what middle and low income people are going through right now," Lowther said.
Ossie O'Neal said he likes Edwards but that Saturday's showing in the South Carolina primary was disappointing. "It kind of put a little doubt there," O'Neal said. "You kind of wonder whether he has the potential to win if he lost in his home state."
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(The Associated Press)
