WP: Edwards Faces Tough Road on Foreign Policy

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Sunday, February 22, 2004; Page A01

Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) remains a distinct underdog as he seeks to overtake Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) in the Democratic presidential race, and one of the biggest reasons may be because of national security, an area in which he has limited experience and an issue he has largely avoided on the stump during the primaries and caucuses this winter.

Edwards feels conflicting pressures as he seeks to slow Kerry's march to the nomination. Having become the main challenger to Kerry against heavy odds, he and his advisers are reluctant to tamper with a stump speech and campaign style that have served the freshman senator well. But Democratic and Republican strategists argue that unless he broadens his candidacy and shows more contrast to his message, he will remain at a significant disadvantage against his more experienced rival.

Edwards has demonstrated his skills as a campaigner in debates and as a candidate who connects with voters on the trail. His "feel-your-pain" rhetoric resonates in a way that Kerry's does not, and it has helped Edwards pick up late-deciding voters, particularly in Wisconsin last week.

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"In the 2000 campaign, we did not have a debate about foreign policy, partly because Gore didn't push it and Bush didn't have the depth of experience to press it, either," said John Weaver, a Democratic consultant who was a top strategist to Arizona Sen. John McCain's GOP presidential campaign against Bush four years ago.

"I don't think the voters will allow that to happen again," he added. "Even if they rate the economy as top issue, they want to know in the back of their minds: Can this man lead us in a time of war, in time of choppy waters in foreign policy? You ignore that at your own peril."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60876-2004Feb21.html