Edwards still running — now for veep

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Sen. John Edwards bounded onto the stage, stretched out his arms to give a two-fisted thumbs up and launched into a rhetorical assault on the Bush administration.

More than 1,200 Ohio Democrats rewarded the North Carolina senator with seven standing ovations as he delivered a rousing keynote address to the state party's $150-a-plate annual fund-raising dinner Saturday night.

"Let me tell you what would be good for the American economy: Outsource this administration!" Edwards shouted, pumping up the crowd in a critical battleground state for the November election.

Though his presidential bid ended more than two months ago, when Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry trounced him in the Super Tuesday primaries, Edwards has never really stopped running.

Decorum prevents him from openly talking about the post he's seeking. But it's no secret that the Kerry campaign has been scouring Edwards' background, along with other candidates for the vice presidential slot. An announcement could come before the Democratic National Convention in July.

Though Kerry has been close-mouthed about a running mate, national opinion polls show Edwards as a clear favorite among likely voters. A Fox News poll taken late last month showed Edwards the choice of 18 percent, with the closest runner-up, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, in single digits.

The Ohio hotel ballroom he lit up Saturday night was abuzz with talk of a Kerry-Edwards ticket.

"He's got to be our vice president," said Sandra Reiser, 63, of Portsmouth, Ohio.

"I thought it was one of the best political speeches I've ever heard," added her husband, Tom, a member of the Scioto County Commission.

Edwards insists that he is only "trying to get John Kerry elected president" and won't talk about the vice presidency. But high- powered lobbyists are working on his behalf.

Among them is former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who had dinner with Edwards two weeks ago. Barnes said he has told Kerry he should choose Edwards for a dream ticket. Kerry responded that he was "very impressed" with Edwards but was noncommittal, Barnes said.

Lou D'Allesandro, a veteran New Hampshire state legislator who supported Edwards during the primaries, is talking up Edwards to John Sasso, Kerry's top aide at the Democratic National Committee. "He listens," said D'Allesandro. "He takes my calls and he calls me back."

Then there's the Internet, the medium of choice for 21st-century grass-roots movements. Jim Spencer, a Boston-based political consultant, said that via the draftkerryedwards.com Web site that he and a North Carolina colleague set up in February, more than 5,000 people from all 50 states have signed a petition urging convention delegates to endorse a Kerry-Edwards ticket.

Pam Avery Yielding, 53, of Pine Mountain, near Columbus in rural Harris County, bought several dozen bumper stickers through the Web site. Yielding, an author of children's books who worked as a volunteer in Edwards' Georgia primary campaign, is handing out the stickers to her friends.

"Democrats would fit into a phone booth in Harris County," she said. "But I was amazed (during the primary) with the number of people who said, 'I usually vote Republican, but I'll vote for Edwards.' "

A "John-John" ticket would have the same appeal in critical swing states, she suggested.

Edwards, in response to a reporter's questions at his Ohio appearance, said that any lobbying on his behalf is "not being done at my request." He said the Web site was news to him.

But there's no doubt that Edwards would sorely like to be on the national ticket -- a slot for which he was considered but passed over four years ago when former Vice President Al Gore chose Sen. Joe Lieberman as his running mate.

"If asked, I think he'll say yes," said Ed Turlington, a Raleigh lawyer who was chairman of Edwards' presidential campaign.

Edwards, 50, decided not to seek re-election to the Senate while running for president. Barring a spot on the Democratic ticket, his political career will come to a standstill when his term expires in January.

But the vice presidency "is not an office you can campaign for," said Democratic strategist Anita Dunn.

"It's seen as unseemly and demeaning. Who wants to be No. 2?" added Paul Light, a public policy professor at New York University and author of a book on the vice presidency.

Edwards is "doing exactly what he should be doing" by being the good soldier for Kerry, campaigning for other Democrats and focusing on the Senate, said Turlington.

Edwards has reworked his campaign speech from the primaries with deferential plugs of Kerry, saying that "with John Kerry in the White House," America will be put on the right track.

He's traveling the country, making appearances for other Democratic candidates. He campaigned Monday for Ken Salazar, the party's choice for governor of Colorado. Today, he'll be in Bloomington, Ill., for Senate hopeful Barack Obama. Last month, it was North Dakota, Washington state and South Carolina. Next month, it's on to Florida, Louisiana and Iowa.

Most of his appearances are at the Kerry campaign's request, Edwards said, including appearing with his former rival. He joined Kerry for a rally last month in Florida.

Edwards has relaunched his campaign organization as the One America Committee, with a staff of a half-dozen workers and offices near Washington's Dupont Circle, to handle his travel expenses.

If he doesn't get the nod from Kerry -- and Kerry goes on to lose - - the committee could keep Edwards in play for another presidential bid in 2008.

"My friends, he's just getting started," Ohio state Rep. Chris Redfern told fellow Democrats after Edwards wrapped up his speech Saturday to thunderous applause.

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