According to a
Fox News Poll on Election Day in 2004, had John Edwards run for re-election to the Senate, he'd have won (scroll down to the North Carolina section).
"In the senate race, the Republicans gained the seat formerly held by John Edwards. If Edwards had run for reelection against Republican Richard Burr, it appears Edwards would have held on to his seat by a 53 percent -- 47 percent margin. Seven percent of those voters that would have voted for Edwards voted for Burr." Erskine Bowles lost that Senate race because he was a corporate DLC Democrat instead of a populist Democrat like Edwards. When the parties agree on the economic issues in conservative states, the social issues are most important (and favor Republicans) so the Republicans win.
Well, I guess that whole thing about Edwards not being able to win re-election was just a bogus RNC talking point after all. Unfortunately, the criticism "Edwards couldn't carry his home state" or "Edwards couldn't win re-election" frequently is used on this site and other liberal blogs. Now first off, we know people vote for president, not vice president. If you remember, Lloyd Bentsen, who died just a short time ago, won re-election to the Senate the same year that his running mate lost the state of Texas.
So please, I don't ever again want to see the lines "Edwards couldn't carry his home state" or "Edwards couldn't win re-election." Fox News, of all places, shows that it is a load of BS. Now there are plenty of legitimate criticisms one could make of Edwards, but not being able to win his home state is not one of them.
Probably the most unfortunate thing for Edwards was his being up for re-election in 2004. He dropped his re-election bid around September 2003 (if memory serves) because people did not think he was serious about his presidential bid. Imagine if our presidential candidate was also seeking re-election...yeah, it wouldn't look too good. Also, to hold the seat, the North Carolina Democratic Party needed to know if he was seeking re-election because if he was not, they needed to recruit a candidate. Once he lost in the primaries to Kerry, it was too late for him to resume his re-election bid.