Most Democratic Party activists in Maryland are catching their breath and relishing last month?s victories, but supporters of John Edwards are getting their act together for another run at the presidency.
On Thursday in New Orleans, Edwards, the former North Carolina senator and vice presidential nominee in 2004, became the third Democrat to officially announce he?s running for president ? and the other two are not Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the senators from New York and Illinois (Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich were the first two).
“I hope he doesn?t get too outshined by the Barack and Hillary craze that has taken over the nation,” said Brian Bailey, the new vice chair of the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee and an early Edwards supporter.
Bailey, 21, and about to graduate from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, said Edwards is a different candidate than he was in 2004 and is running to the left of Clinton, who has been “trying to moderate herself,” working with Republicans and supporting defense spending.
“He?s willing to be a true Democrat,” Bailey said.
Michelle Lane was coordinator of the Maryland Draft Edwards Campaign, formed last month.
“He?s the only candidate who can win both the primary election and the presidential election,” Lane said. “We need somebody back in the White House that cares about people.”
Despite Edwards? record as a one-term senator, Lane said he has continued to work on poverty issues and traveled the globe meeting with world leaders.
Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lierman, re-elected to the post this month, said there won?t be much movement to the big-name candidates until February or later.
“Everybody is sitting on their hands waiting,” Lierman said. “The activists are taking a much more cautious, wait-and-see attitude.”
With Democrats taking back control of Congress, “I think there are a lot of people that are frankly savoring the many victories and are waiting to enjoy it longer,” Lierman said. “[But] I think Edwards is a terrific candidate, and he?s got a very important message about economic disparity in America.”
Many Democrats, including Lierman and retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes, think the presidential campaigns have grown way too long. “These campaigns have gotten earlier and earlier,” Sarbanes told The Examiner. He recalled that John F. Kennedy “announced in January 1960,” only 10 months before his election.
