Edwards Dominates Money Race in South

[BrklynLiberal]

I looked to see if this was a dupe..could not find it posted anywhere.

Edwards Dominates Money Race in South
May 1 03:14 PM US/Eastern
By BEN EVANS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - North Carolina's John Edwards says he's the only Democratic presidential candidate with any chance of winning the coveted South.

If early fundraising is any indication, he might be right.

Edwards placed a distant third behind Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in first quarter fundraising, tallying $14 million compared to Clinton's $26 million and Obama's $25 million.

But in money raised in the South, Edwards was the leader. From Louisiana to the Carolinas, Edwards easily beat his Democratic rivals and—perhaps more importantly—raised more money than the top three Republican candidates combined.

The two New Yorkers considered front-runners in the 2008 race—Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani—fared particularly poorly in the region.

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Dominated by Republicans in recent elections, the South is considered a critical region for GOP presidential candidates. When the party holds the South, as President Bush did in his two victories, Democrats must win about 70 percent of the electoral vote outside the South to compensate, said Emory University political scientist Merle Black, author of "Divided America," a book on regional politics.

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But experts said the money does provide early clues to the candidates' traction among the South's opinion shapers and political establishments, while also pointing out potential weaknesses.

<snip>

Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican, said the lackluster fundraising by the Republican candidates underscores what he's heard from party activists at home: that Southerners are on the fence about the GOP field.

<snip>


"They see Edwards as the true Southerner and the one who can win," said Dent, who worked on former Georgia Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor's losing campaign for governor last year.

A problem Edwards faces is that voter turnout in Democratic primaries in the deep South is 60 percent female and 50 percent black, and his chief rivals are a woman and a black, Dent said.

"If he doesn't do well with those two groups," Dent said, all else "doesn't matter."



http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2007-05-01_D8ORP3QG1&show_article=1&cat=breaking

[William769]

1. The article fails to mention that as in the Democratic primary

Thats not where the money is. Grasping at straws if you ask me.