Edwards still plans ‘intense campaign in Nevada’

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Monday he's still serious about competing in Nevada, despite recent staff reductions, and will make his 12th campaign trip to the state Wednesday to prove it.

"I have been in Nevada as much or more than any other candidate and I will continue to run an intense campaign in Nevada," Edwards said in a telephone interview from his home outside Chapel Hill, N.C.

"I think Nevada's become hugely important. You'll see me put a lot of time and resources into Nevada," said Edwards, whose campaign recently moved some staff out of Nevada, mainly to Iowa.

On Wednesday morning, Edwards will come to Las Vegas to tour a solar energy facility at UNLV, according to his campaign.

Edwards said Monday he would spend the visit talking about the "green-collar jobs" he believes would be created with an increased focus on alternative energy sources such as solar and wind. Nevada, he said, "is a place that's going to be hugely important in the new energy economy."

Edwards applauded Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's opposition to new coal-fired power plants, a controversial recent move by the Nevada Democrat whose state has four such facilities on the drawing board.

"In today's world, he's exactly right," Edwards said.

Last week, Edwards' campaign acknowledged it was pulling "a handful" of staffers from Nevada to beef up operations in other early states, leading to speculation the former North Carolina senator and former vice presidential nominee might be forfeiting the new early caucuses in the Silver State.

Edwards said Monday that was a wrong impression.

"Throughout the course of any campaign, staff and resources get moved around," he said. "We may at some point move staff and resources back into Nevada. These are just judgments you make at a particular point in time."

Edwards denied that his campaign was short on cash -- at last count, he had raised less than half as much money as Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., or Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. -- or that he was worried about polls that put him behind.

He pointed out his campaign has already, as of mid-2007, raised more than he raised through his entire 2004 presidential campaign. Edwards dropped out of the 2004 presidential race in March before being picked as the running mate of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

"We're just making decisions about where best to spend the money," he said. "I will run an aggressive campaign in Nevada. You can hold me to that."

As for the poll numbers that show him unable to break out of the teens among Democratic voters nationally, and losing a lead he had held in Iowa, Edwards again referenced 2004, when former Vermont governor Howard Dean was considered the overwhelming front-runner until he started losing early-state contests, beginning with Iowa.

"Polls in states at this early stage often turn out to be dead wrong," he said.

Measured by trips to Nevada, Edwards does have the most of any candidate with 11 so far, beginning with a stop in Reno on his campaign announcement tour in late December.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is banking on a good showing in Nevada, has made eight trips to Nevada and has not been to the state in more than a month. However, some of Richardson's trips to Nevada have been multi-day tours, whereas most of Edwards' have been in and out.

In terms of days spent in Nevada, Richardson and Edwards each have 12 so far. With Edwards visiting Wednesday and Richardson scheduled to spend most of Wednesday and Thursday in the state, Richardson will pull ahead, 14-13.

In a Democratic debate on Sunday in Iowa, Edwards got good marks but was generally overshadowed by the Clinton-vs.-Obama theme. Edwards said Monday he was happy with his debate performance, which he said focused on "a substantive way to bring change to the country."

Asked whether Obama, whose campaign focuses on bringing new blood to the nation's capital, hadn't already garnered the "change candidate" tag, Edwards said, "Both of us are change candidates, in fairness. But there are differences between us.

"My belief is that to bring about change, Washington desperately needs someone with a record of fighting the insurance companies, the big drug companies, the big oil companies, not giving them a seat at the table," he added. "I've been doing that my whole life."

A former personal-injury lawyer, Edwards has tried to outflank Obama on the issue of lobbyist contributions. Obama stopped taking donations from federal lobbyists in this campaign, but previously accepted them; Edwards says he has never taken money from lobbyists or political action committees throughout his career.

Still, Edwards continues to be hurt by the impression that his lifestyle doesn't gibe with his working-man rhetoric, most recently with the revelation that a fund he worked for and invested in was involved in the subprime lending that Edwards has criticized as predatory.

In 2004, Edwards beat expectations with an unexpectedly good showing in Iowa. This time around, he faces the opposite situation: high expectations in Iowa, said University of Nevada, Las Vegas, political scientist David Damore.

Edwards may campaign in Nevada, and may or may not have the resources he needs in Nevada, but Iowa is where he must be focused, Damore said. "He has to do well in Iowa to stay viable."