Kerry chooses Edwards as his running mate

PITTSBURGH -- Sen. John F. Kerry chose fellow Sen. John Edwards as his vice presidential running mate Tuesday, hoping to infuse his campaign with the buoyancy and charisma Edwards brought to his own White House bid.

Kerry's selection of his former campaign rival, after months of unusually stringent secrecy, delighted many Democrats, who believe Edwards will broaden the ticket's appeal to his native South, as well as independents and voters sharing his small-town, blue-collar upbringing.

After a private family dinner Tuesday night in Pennsylvania, Kerry and Edwards planned to embark Wednesday morning on a four-day swing that starts in Ohio, perhaps the mostly hotly contested state in the presidential campaign, and continues with appearances in the battlegrounds of Florida, New Mexico and West Virginia.

In selecting the first-term senator from North Carolina, Kerry chose someone whose high-wattage smile, sunny rhetorical style and message of "two Americas" divided by class and race won him a fervent following among Democrats. Polls showed the 51-year-old Edwards to be the favorite vice presidential pick of the party rank-and-file, and many Democratic leaders believe his geography and geniality will complement the more dour senator from Massachusetts.

For their part, Republicans wasted no time Tuesday assailing Edwards' background as a personal injury lawyer and pointing out his relatively meager political resume.

Kerry announced his choice in an e-mail to supporters and then at an exuberant rally before hundreds of backers, who jammed into the red-brick Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh and waved freshly printed Kerry-Edwards placards.

"I have chosen a man who understands and defends the values of America, a man who has shown courage and conviction as a champion of middle-class Americans, and for those struggling to reach the middle class; a man who has shown guts and determination and political skill in his own race for the presidency of the United States; a man whose life has prepared him for leadership and whose character brings him to exercise it," Kerry told the crowd.

Edwards was absent from the announcement, in keeping with Kerry's desire to keep his choice under wraps until the last possible moment. Only a handful of his most senior aides were informed late Monday night.

After combing through a list of 25 prospective candidates, the finalists were Edwards, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, according to campaign insiders, although Kerry was considering others right up to the last minute.

Kerry called Edwards at his home in Washington, D.C., around 7:30 Tuesday morning and asked him to join his ticket. The two talked for about 20 minutes, according to Mary Beth Cahill, the manager of Kerry's campaign. Later, Edwards issued a statement saying he was "humbled by the offer and thrilled to accept it."

After his talk with Edwards, Kerry called several other people he had considered for the job, to inform them of his decision.

Within a few hours several erstwhile rivals issued statements praising the new ticket mates. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, once the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, called Edwards "a smart choice." Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who ran as Al Gore's vice presidential pick in 2000, said Kerry's selection was "a home run."

At the White House, President Bush welcomed Edwards' return to the race, telling reporters at an Oval Office photo session that he looked forward "to a good, spirited contest." Vice President Dick Cheney telephoned Edwards to congratulate his new counterpart. But GOP strategists and their political allies skipped the niceties.

The Republican National Committee issued a statement calling Edwards "disingenuous, inexperienced and unaccomplished." Anti-abortion activists and social conservative groups later joined in, denouncing Edwards as a liberal extremist.

Among Democrats, Edwards' selection won support across the party spectrum, from environmentalists, labor leaders, Jewish and Latino groups, centrist "New Democrats" and liberals such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. On Tuesday night, a freshly produced Kerry campaign ad began airing on airing on cable stations around the country, touting "a new team for a new America."

In South Carolina, former Democratic Party chief Dick Harpootlian said Edwards' selection would not only make the Democratic ticket more competitive in the South but also boost the party's candidates in down-ballot races, such as hotly contested U.S. Senate races in North and South Carolina.

"They complement each other so much, that's going to make a tremendous difference in the synergy of the campaign," said Harpootlian, who has criticized the national Democratic Party when he felt it drifted too far left.

"If you look at John Kerry and John Edwards standing together next to George Bush and Dick Cheney, if you want the country to head in a different direction ... that's what they represent, physically and politically.

In picking Edwards, Kerry apparently overcame the irritation he felt when the two competed for the Democratic nomination, and doubts about whether their distinct personalities could mesh. At various points Kerry suggested that Edwards was not qualified to be president and questioned whether, as the party's nominee, he could even carry his home state of North Carolina.

If he wasn't a candidate himself, Kerry once said, he would back Gephardt for president. Privately, aides said Kerry suggested Edwards was presumptuous for even running after failing to complete a single term in the Senate.

Edwards jabbed back by citing the nearly 20 years Kerry has spent in the Senate, suggesting that he was an outsider who could bring true change to Washington. He contrasted his working-class background with Kerry's more privileged upbringing.

More substantively, the two differed over trade and the death penalty, with Edwards criticizing several international agreements that Kerry supported and advocating a more vigorous application of capital punishment. Kerry, a longtime death penalty foe, endorsed capital punishment for terrorists after the Sept. 11 attack.

But on Tuesday a Democratic strategist who knows both men well said Kerry was able to set aside any hard feelings once the nomination was secured.

"Kerry's a great competitor, and when the primary race with Edwards was over the primary race was over," said the strategist, who asked not to be identified, to respect Kerry's wish to keep his deliberations secret.

He said there was no single moment when Edwards won Kerry over, but rather a series of conversations that went "very, very well."

Another Democrat familiar with the process described the pick as "a combination of heart and head and politics that all came together."

Edwards grew up in modest circumstances in tiny Robbins, N.C. His father was a millworker and his mother worked at the Post Office. He became the first member of his family to graduate from college and used his personable nature and gift for oratory to make millions of dollars as a personal injury lawyer. Those same skills proved readily transferable to politics, first in a successful run for the U.S. Senate, and more, recently, in his surprisingly strong bid for the White House.

He ran a mostly positive campaign, finishing an unexpected second behind Kerry in the Iowa caucuses, the first contest of the nominating fight and, ultimately, the most important. Edwards garnered a strong following with his message of one America for the privileged and another "for everybody else." His ability to captivate a crowd drew comparisons to Presidents Kennedy and Clinton.

But Edwards never overcame the momentum that Kerry built by winning Iowa, and exited the race after a succession of disappointing second-place finishes. While some observers thought Edwards entered the race with an eye on the No. 2 slot all along, he insisted he was interested only in the presidency.

One of the big questions surrounding his candidacy as Kerry's running mate is whether voters will balk at his relative lack of political experience, especially at a time when defense and national security are major concerns. Another line of attack will likely focus on Edwards' record as a trial lawyer and the millions he made suing corporations, doctors and hospitals. Critics call it ambulance chasing; Edwards has countered that he was standing up for the little guy against powerful interests.

Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta, suggested that Edwards could help Kerry in the South, even if Bush remains the overwhelming regional favorite.

"It will probably force the Bush campaign to put more resources, spend more time and money, in a few Southern states" such as North Carolina and Virginia, Abramowitz said.

Beyond that, he said, "Edwards probably helps in some of the swing states outside the South, particularly among blue-collar voters in states like Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where his emphasis on two Americas and economic injustice could have strong appeal."

Like Kerry, Edwards voted for the war in Iraq but against the $87 billion package to maintain occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. He opposes gay marriage on personal grounds, but has said it should not be a federal issue and opposes a constitutional amendment banning it. And while he campaigned against what he sees as the encroachment of civil liberties contained in the USA Patriot Act, he voted for it in the Senate.

On a historical note, Kerry's selection of Edwards marked the first time a Democratic candidate has turned to a vanquished rival since 1960, when John F. Kennedy selected Lyndon Johnson as his running mate. By coincidence, 1960 was also the last time a presidential ticket featured two sitting U.S. senators.

Barabak reported from San Francisco and Gold reported from Pittsburgh. Times staff writers Ronald Brownstein and Scott Martelle contributed to this report.