Lagging in the polls, Edwards criticizes foes and news media

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards greeted supporters yesterday at a rally outside his Las Vegas campaign headquarters. Nevada polls indicate he is in third place. (Ryan Anson/AFP/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS - John Edwards, struggling to be heard in a race increasingly dominated by his two chief opponents, lashed out yesterday at his rivals for the Democratic nomination and blamed the news media for his inability to gain momentum in the battle for the White House.

He scolded Senator Hillary Clinton of New York for taking campaign cash from the oil industry, which he said made her susceptible to energy lobbyists. But Edwards also portrayed her as a victim of "malicious" attacks by supporters of Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, who are running a Spanish-language ad in Nevada calling Clinton "shameless."

In a litany of allegations about his two main rivals - including accusing Obama of tolerating his supporters' negative attacks on an opponent - Edwards painted himself as the underappreciated candidate being unfairly upstaged by celebrity.

"I'm not the $100 million campaign. That's the other two guys. I'm the underdog," Edwards told a couple hundred supporters at his Las Vegas campaign headquarters.

"We live in the real world. We understand that just shoveling a few papers and administering something, or just giving a speech, will not change anything. The only way we're going to have some real change in this country is to have somebody with the guts and determination to fight," the former North Carolina senator said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Edwards is frustrated, and he made no effort to disguise it as he made his final public appeal to Nevadans before today's caucuses. With his strong prounion message, he had hoped to be the natural choice of Nevada's labor unions.

Instead, the Culinary Workers Union - the biggest in the state, representing most of the unionized casino workers - went with Obama, as did the Nevada chapter of the Service Employees International Union. Clinton has snagged key endorsements from Democratic political officials and polls suggest that she does well among Latinos, an important Nevada voter group.

The recent national political dialogue on the Democratic side has also focused on Obama and Clinton, with the two campaigns sparring over racial politics and whether the casino workers should be allowed to go to special caucus locations on the Las Vegas Strip.

That leaves Edwards fighting to get traction in Nevada. He has some loyal support from union members: TV actor James Denton said Edwards was the only candidate to walk the picket line with him to help the Hollywood writers, and Edwards won the backing in Nevada of the steelworkers' and carpenters' unions.

But still, Edwards feels left out of the limelight. And for that, he blames the media.

"That kind of depends on you guys," Edwards told reporters, when asked how he could get his message through to voters. "The mainstream media has been telling America for a year now that they only have two choices in this race."

"This is the problem with the media telling people what they're supposed to do. If you guys cover me and I'm heard, we'll be successful," Edwards said.

Edwards is lagging in two recent Nevada polls, but the surveys may not indicate the final results tomorrow because caucus turnout - historically very low - is extremely difficult to predict.

Edwards once had a strong campaign effort in Nevada, but then backed away to focus on Iowa and New Hampshire. He didn't come back to the Silver State until Tuesday's debate, forcing him to scramble to compete against better-financed opponents.

While both Clinton and Obama traversed the state yesterday, clamoring for last-minute votes, Edwards left for Oklahoma City and St. Louis. On caucus day, Edwards will be three time zones away, in Georgia and South Carolina.

Some analysts in Nevada say Edwards's message is a tough sell in the state. David Damore, an associate political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said Edwards's primary message - helping the downtrodden and excoriating corporate America - "doesn't really resonate here."

"This is a libertarian state. To be blunt, we don't care about poor people, and we don't give anything to social services," Damore said.

Edwards has railed against Obama for saying Ronald Reagan brought "change" to the country, and he has alleged that Obama's healthcare plan would not cover all Americans.

Edwards's crowds are smaller than those for Clinton and Obama, but they are passionate believers in his message.

"He's never taken one hot dime from lobbyists, and the other ones have," said Sarah Bashan, a 31-year-old substitute teacher. Bashan, who does not have health insurance, she said she is also impressed with Edwards's universal healthcare plan.

Edwards dismisses suggestions that he has to rack up a win soon to stay viable. "What I have to do is to continue to acquire delegates," he said. "I'm in this for the long haul."