It seems John Edwards supporters in Oklahoma and Tennessee don’t watch the news. Edwards, who
dropped out of the race
suspended his candidacy
last week, is still pulling in double-digit support in Oklahoma and a relatively strong number in Tennesee. Despite getting out of the way, John Edwards is still getting in the way.
His muted presence doesn’t make him a kingmaker—Clinton would have won regardless. But thus far, with 71 percent of precincts reporting in Oklahoma, Edwards is pulling in 11 percent of the vote. With 42 percent reporting in Tennessee, he has 7 percent of the vote. We’ve always heard Edwards fans are rabid supporters, but this seems a bit much for a Han Solo-like figure whose candidacy is suspended in carbonite. If they’re trying to will him back into the race, this is a nice gesture but probably nothing more.
Perhaps we should have seen this support coming. Edwards essentially tied Wesley Clark in Oklahoma in 2004 and finished second to John Kerry in Tennessee last time around. It appears Edwards had a four-year echo working for him.
Edwards fans will suggest that this means their man should have never dropped out. Perhaps. Before Edwards dropped out of the race he was polling in the teens and low twenties in the two states, so he may have been able to make some movement if he ran a regional primary similar to Huckabee’s successful effort in the South. But two wins don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. The media still would have said Edwards had been embarrassed on Super Tuesday. Now we know his Oklahoma and Tennessee supporters probably wouldn’t have been watching.
