Edwards On His Third-Choice Status: "Lord, No; I <i>Am</i> One Of The Frontrunners"

COLUMBIA, South Carolina - There is no question that John Edwards is even more relaxed on the presidential campaign trail this time around; in an interview before a campaign rally here yesterday, he took off his shoe to get in a good long foot scratch. (Nose to Senator: Argh.)

He has also grown as a performer on the public stage, and exhibits what sure seems like authentic umbrage at the suggestion that his best shot is as Plan B, in case Hillary and/or Obama falls apart: "Lord, no; are you serious? I am one of the frontrunners."

Yes, the other two are getting more attention presently, "but the glitz will fade away," he predicts, "and we'll get to the serious question of who is prepared to be president."

Seriousness is a theme here, obviously. And this time, Edwards is running against his "Breck Girl" cartoon image, repositioning himself as the guy with the gravitas: "Substance and ideas matter. Seasoning matters." Asked how he has changed as a candidate, he takes a swig of Diet Sunkist and says, "There's more meat on the bones."

Of his two principle competitors for the Democratic presidential nomination, he is maybe even a tad dismissive: "It's easy to date in the early stages. But when it's time to get married, people get serious."

Asked if Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who is running for president early in his career, just as Edwards did, ever reminds him of himself, he says, "Some of it; he'll learn a lot."

And talk aside, there is some evidence of a few of the lessons Edwards has absorbed since his first run in 2004.

In a well-attended speech here on the campus of historically black Benedict College, his emphasis on equality is not new, and that does show. He talked about race in every setting in nearly all-white Iowa and New Hampshire in 2004, so that when he broaches income inequality and diversity here, it does not come across like the theme of the day.

He seems to have learned, too, that audiences both do and do not like to be pandered to: Yes, the kids here cheer at the line about helping every young person who wants to attend college. But he really wins the room on the last question during the Q and A, after a young woman in the back row challenges him.

"I'm impressed by your intentions," she says, "but intentions have been going on for years. What makes you any different from the rest of them that told us the same thing?"

When he starts to commend her for the great question, she snaps, "Don't pacify me." So he doesn't: "Hear me out, don't shake your head. When I'm president of the United States, I'll do everything I can to make it happen, but I can't do it alone. What's happened in this country is people sit back and listen to the radio and the TV and think somebody else is going to make it happen. You want change in America and I want change in America; let's do it together."

After the rally, the only doubts I heard expressed focused on fundraising. "I voted for him last time," and will again, said Gloria Boutte, a professor of education. "I think he's excellent. But I don't think he'll make it, because Hillary has more money."

"He seems like an honest, likable dude," said Jorge Valencia, a senior from College Park, Maryland. "I don't think the country is ready" for either a black guy or a woman, "so John Edwards is in a good position."

In the campus coffee shop, the reviews were also positive. "He's got my vote," said Ellis Crafton, of Newark, New Jersey. "Hillary Clinton is my girl, but for somebody being sincere, he gave more valid points."

A student at a nearby table heard what Crafton said and seconded that: "He seems like he's really concerned," called out the young woman, Princess Mays, who grew up here in Columbia, "and the others seem like they're rehearsing, and saying what you want to hear."