Edwards camp: Still in the hunt
Posted: Monday, January 14, 2008 2:41 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Tricia Miller
PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC -- The Edwards campaign doesn't believe this race is over just yet.
Edwards' campaign manager, former Michigan Rep. David Bonior (D), senior advisers Joe Trippi and Jonathan Prince, and communication director Chris Kofinis emphasized that the race for the Democratic nomination still involves three candidates. They followed up with a poll from the Reno Gazette-Journal that shows Edwards polling competitively in Nevada, trailing Obama by five points and Clinton by just three. Bonior said that Edwards has 75 new staffers on the ground in Nevada brought in from the earlier caucus state of Iowa.
"What I know is that we're very well-organized," Edwards told reporters covering his town hall here in South Carolina. "We've got people there who know what they're doing. They moved there from Iowa, and I think most importantly my message of standing up for the middle class against entrenched moneyed interests and fighting for the middle class is one that'll work. It'll work in Nevada, and I think a lot of Nevada caucus-goers haven't quite heard it yet, and I think when they hear it -- and they will tomorrow night -- we stand a good chance."
Also on the call, Bonior announced Edwards' America Rising Coast-to-Coast tour with stops later this week in four major Feb. 5 primary states: California, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Missouri.
Meanwhile, the candidate himself is finishing up a tour of his home state of South Carolina. Edwards came directly to South Carolina after Tuesday's New Hampshire primary and will be in Nevada tomorrow, where he has a town hall at noon in Las Vegas and will participate in MSNBC's debate that evening.