Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry selected former rival John Edwards as his running mate Tuesday, saying his sunny optimism and connection to America’s working class would present a sharp contrast with Republicans in the fall campaign.
The North Carolina senator, who displayed a graceful poise and abundant energy that often eluded Kerry during the primary season, had long been the preferred choice of many Democrats. But Kerry considered four other contenders seriously enough to print campaign signs bearing their names before he disclosed his decision to Edwards in a telephone call 90 minutes before making the announcement at a downtown rally here.
“I have chosen a man who understands and defends the values of America. A man who has shown courage and conviction as a champion for middle-class Americans and for those struggling to reach the middle class,” Kerry said. “A man who has shown guts and determination and political skill in his own race for the presidency of the United States, a man whose life has prepared him for leadership and whose character brings him to exercise it.”
The decision by Kerry was so closely held that Edwards was not invited to attend the biggest moment of his political career, which started only six years ago with a long-shot bid for the U.S. Senate. Edwards and his family arrived here Tuesday evening in time to have dinner with Kerry and his wife before the candidates set off on a joint five-day tour through Ohio, Florida and other battleground states.
“I was humbled by his offer,” Edwards said in a statement, “and thrilled to accept it.”
From the Oval Office, President Bush welcomed Edwards to the race, saying: “I look forward to a good, spirited contest.” At the same time, though, the Republican National Committee signaled the intense fight ahead by branding Edwards a “disingenuous, unaccomplished liberal and friend to personal injury trial lawyers.”
For four months, Kerry had gone to great lengths to keep his running mate selection private, sharing his thoughts with only a handful of senior advisers and his wife. Interviews were held surreptitiously, with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, for instance, having a nearly two-hour session with Kerry in the unlikely location of San Jose, Calif.
Before reaching his verdict, Kerry combed through a list of at least 25 serious candidates, Democrats and Republicans alike. He scoured briefing booklets, reviewed financial records and even watched videotapes of the contenders. In the final days, aides said, Kerry, 60, concluded that Edwards, 51, would complete the ticket and increase his chances of beating Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Still, Kerry ordered red, white and blue placards, T-shirts and other campaign trinkets for five candidates, including Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, retired Gen. Wesley Clark and Vilsack. All four received calls from Kerry as the news was sent in an e-mail alert to supporters who had signed up on his campaign Web site, a move designed to build excitement and drive fundraising.
While Kerry didn’t reveal his choice to Edwards until early Tuesday morning, he disclosed his decision the night before to three top advisers over a light dinner of tomato-based fish soup and salads at Teresa Heinz Kerry’s estate outside Pittsburgh.
“It was clear to him that Sen. Edwards would be a good partner to win the presidency in November,” said campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill. “The political calculation is definitely part of this, but mostly it is being secure in the knowledge that this person would be in a position to succeed him.”
During the late-night dinner, Kerry pulled from his briefcase notes for a possible Edwards introduction speech, which he had written during a weekend campaign bus tour through Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Though Edwards emerged in polls as the leading choice, advisers insisted his selection had not been preordained.
“He was very much on everyone’s mind. But there never was a presumption that he was the candidate to beat,” said Jim Johnson, a Kerry friend who led the search committee. “We looked at a lot of people and a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life. We looked at some Republicans. We looked at some businessmen. We did a very broad range, and that’s how John Kerry wanted it.”
Rewind to primary
It wasn’t so long ago, however, that Kerry openly questioned whether Edwards was ready to serve in the Oval Office. As the primaries dragged on and Edwards had not dropped out, an exasperated Kerry complained on more than one occasion to aides about Edwards’ hubris, noting that he would never have considered running for president during his first term in the Senate.
“Edwards says he’s the only one who can win states in the South,” Kerry huffed during a bitter moment of the primary season. “He can’t win his own state.”
Aides to Kerry explained away those remarks Tuesday as comments made in the heat of the political moment. The campaign hastily assembled a television commercial with pictures of the two men and distributed to reporters a CD-ROM featuring even more friendly images of the two senators.
“John Edwards is ready for this job. He is ready for this job,” Kerry said during the morning rally in Market Square. Later he added: “I can’t tell you how proud I am to have John Edwards on my team or how eager I am for the day this fall when he stands up for our vision and goes toe-to-toe with Dick Cheney.”
Edwards has shown an ability to campaign tirelessly for Kerry and to raise money from trial lawyers and other contributors. He has keynoted seven fundraisers for Kerry and the Democratic National Committee in recent months, raising more than $2 million. On Monday night in Boston, he raised $400,000, said Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan.
But as Kerry and Edwards reveled in their new bond, Republicans attacked the selection as a cosmetic choice based more on appearance than experience. Even before Kerry had formally made his announcement, Republicans created a Web site to criticize Edwards’ record in great detail. It included an unflattering picture of Edwards, prominently showing the mole on his upper left lip.
Republicans also sought to use some of the pointed words each candidate had used against the other during the primary campaign to remind voters of a lack of unity only months ago.
One resurrected quotation from Kerry came shortly before the Iowa caucuses, when Kerry was trying to beat back a late surge from Edwards. He cited Edwards’ lack of international and military experience, before adding, “When I came back from Vietnam in 1969, I don’t know if John Edwards was out of diapers then.”
Unlike Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, Edwards did not serve in the military.
The Bush campaign, meanwhile, confirmed that it intended to launch a TV commercial in which Sen. John McCain of Arizona praises the president. The ad, titled “Second Choice,” highlights the speculation that Kerry chose Edwards only after being unable to entice McCain to join the ticket.
“The result is the most liberal ticket the Democratic Party has ever produced,” said Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman. “The most liberal member of the United States Senate has teamed up with the fourth most liberal member of the United States Senate.”
1st elected in 1998
In the Senate, Edwards’ record is thin because he was elected for the first time in 1998.
But when he got to Capitol Hill in 1999, Edwards was viewed as a star in his party, and he quickly ingratiated himself with Democratic leaders. He served on the three-person team deposing White House intern Monica Lewinsky and others in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Behind closed doors, Edwards impressed his colleagues with his oratory as he made the case against removing the president from office.
He also took the lead in advocating a patients’ bill of rights, to allow people to sue their health insurance companies, working closely with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and McCain. As the three senators briefed reporters each day on the measure’s progress, Kennedy and McCain frequently relied on Edwards to explain the nuances of the complex bill.
With less than four months remaining until Election Day, Kerry’s selection of Edwards may also help the Democratic ticket in rural counties, where Bush generally beat Al Gore in 2000. Edwards is well-known in several key battleground states, including Wisconsin, where he finished slightly behind Kerry in the February primary.
Here in Pittsburgh, the excitement about the selection of Edwards was obvious. That the announcement was held here in western Pennsylvania, a critical part of this battleground state, was no accident.
“It feels hopeful again. Everything feels hopeful,” said Judy Mattei, a Pittsburgh artist who attended the rally. “It’s a nice complement to John Kerry. It’s a good marriage.”
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Kerry’s choice
A glance at John Kerry’s selection of a running mate as he encamped in Pittsburgh to make his decision:
(All times are Eastern)
MONDAY
4-5 p.m. Kerry tells local television interviewers that he has made no decision.
6 p.m. Kerry personally calls a decal artist, instructing him to add Edwards’ name to the side of his plane.
10 p.m. Over a dinner of fish soup and salad, Kerry informs campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill, search committee chairman Jim Johnson and chief speechwriter Terry Edmonds of his decision to select Edwards.
Midnight Select staff members begin preparing the rally site. A lone campaign aide stands sentry in an airport hangar, ensuring that no one sees the plane’s new decals.
TUESDAY
7:30 a.m. Kerry calls Edwards at his Washington home and in a 15-minute conversation asks him to join the Democratic ticket. At the same time, NBC News first reports that Edwards is Kerry’s pick.
7:50 a.m. Kerry begins to make five-minute telephone calls to finalists who were not chosen.
8 a.m. The Kerry campaign sends e-mail messages to supporters who signed up on his Web site, announcing the decision.
9 a.m. Kerry steps onto a stage in the downtown Market Square. As a giant Kerry-Edwards sign is unveiled, he tells the cheering crowd: “I trust that met with your approval!”
–Jeff Zeleny
