For most of us, the fight for the Dem nomination was wrapped up a long time ago. John Kerry’s principle rivals left the race, endorsed the nominee, and the general election campaign began. (There are rumors that Kucinich is still technically a candidate, but only in a “tree falls in the forest” kind of way.)
But a series of primaries and caucuses were scheduled months in advance, unaware of what the race would be like at the time, and these contests continue to proceed, though the results are ignored and irrelevant.
Last month, for example, while Kerry was cruising to another round of primary victories and Howard Dean had already stopped campaigning, Dean supporters rallied in the former governor’s home state to hand their candidate his only 2004 victory. John Edwards’ supporters in North Carolina set out to do the same thing in their state’s caucuses, which were held Saturday.
It worked. Edwards won his home state easily with 51% support. Kerry was a distant second at 27%.
To be sure, these results will have zero practical effect. Turnout, if you can call it that, was less than 1% of the state’s registered Dems. But this was the result of a concerted plan to make Edwards a more appealing choice for Kerry.
The Hill reported last week that Edwards’ NC supporters, without any real encouragement from the senator, were working on a “behind-the-scenes plan to push North Carolina’s favorite son to victory Saturday.”
Party activists — at the state, county and precinct levels — say they hope to remind national Democrats, as well as the steering committee of presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), of Edwards’s political assets as a potential running mate.
The Edwards backers stress that they do not want to embarrass Kerry in any way and that come November they will work feverishly to defeat President Bush.
[…]
“I think it’s up to John Kerry and his steering committee. It’s up to them to make a decision, but we want to help them out a little,” said Tom Koley, party chairman in Guilford County.
Obviously, in light of the results, the efforts paid off. Kerry never even considered competing in the state’s caucuses — and really, at this point, why bother? — and Edwards loyalists came out for their guy.
But will Edwards victory — his second after winning South Carolina’s primary in February — have the desired effect? I don’t think so.
With only 17,000 people participating, Edwards’ victory doesn’t really prove anything, other than the fact that he has a few thousand loyal supporters. It certainly doesn’t prove that Edwards is positioned to help Kerry win NC in the general election.
Perhaps Edwards’ supporters had hoped that the caucus victory would generate some positive press coverage that would give Edwards a boost. But that didn’t work either. No one covered the uncontested caucuses. Indeed, I suspect few outside the state even knew they were happening.
Nice try, though. I’m sure Edwards, on a personal level, appreciated it.