John Edwards Stays Out Of The Spotlight

(Via CBS News.)

In the four years after his first White House bid, John Edwards stayed in the spotlight. In the four months since he abandoned his second bid, he’s all but disappeared.

A quick interview with Jay Leno. A couple of low-key speeches. A few North Carolina basketball games with his wife and children. That’s about it. If Edwards has made up his mind between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, not only is he keeping quiet about it, he’s not even putting himself in a position where he might be asked.

The silence from Chapel Hill hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“I’d like a signal. I’d like to know what he thinks,” said Gary Pearce, a Democratic consultant who advised Edwards during his successful run for Senate in 1998. “He was on stage with these two people, and he knows more about them than anyone in the world. Who is in a better position to say, ‘Let me tell you about these people?”‘

Edwards is even acting coy in private. Rep. Mel Watt, one of North Carolina’s superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention and the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, wanted to consult with Edwards before making a decision about his own endorsement. Watt said he called a few times to speak with Edwards, but never heard back.

Watt ended up passing along a message through Edwards’ wife Elizabeth after making up his mind to back Obama.

“I presume if he had a concern, he’d call,” Watt said.

Obama and Clinton have traveled to lobby Edwards, flying to North Carolina for visits at his Chapel Hill home that both candidates tried to keep secret. Neither has managed to win over the 2004 vice presidential nominee, and it’s not clear either will until the nomination has been settled.

“I don’t anticipate that he’ll make an endorsement,” said John Moylan, a close friend to Edwards and longtime adviser. “I think that he will support the Democratic nominee - that there is a need for party leaders who can act in a unifying position. And he’s one of the people who can do that.”

At this point, it’s possible Edwards’ endorsement wouldn’t have any bearing on the May 6 North Carolina primary. He was unable to win North Carolina for 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry, and polls showed Edwards lagging in North Carolina before he dropped out this year. Current surveys show Obama with a wide lead in the state, and he is expected to get a boost from the huge number of new registrations among black voters.

Before leaving the race, Edwards won a promise from both of the Democratic hopefuls to continue to press for policies that would alleviate poverty, and they both responded. Two weeks after Edwards exited, Obama gave a major speech on how he would address economic disparities. Earlier this month, Clinton said she would create a Cabinet-level position dedicated to poverty.

Full story here.