Democrats Punch Their Ticket

Sen. John Kerry on Tuesday announced that Sen. John Edwards will be his vice presidential nominee and his partner in fighting "to build one America."

Kerry told a morning rally in Pittsburgh that Edwards was "a man who understands and defends the values of America" and "a man whose life has prepared him for leadership and whose character brings him to exercise it."

After he announced Edwards' name, which had leaked to the media about an hour earlier, the crowd roared and Van Halen's "Right Now" blasted over loudspeakers. Cameras panned to show a huge sign behind Kerry reading "Kerry/Edwards: A Stronger America."

"I am so proud that now John Edwards and I are going to fight together to build one America for all Americans," Kerry said.

"In the next 120 days and in the administration that follows, John Edwards and I will be fighting for the America we love," Kerry said in an e-mail to supporters obtained by The Associated Press. "We'll be fighting to give the middle class a voice by providing good paying jobs and affordable health care. We'll be fighting to make America energy independent. We'll be fighting to build a strong military and lead strong alliances, so young Americans are never put in harm's way because we insisted on going it alone."

By selecting Edwards, Kerry went with the smooth-talking Southern populist over more seasoned politicians in hopes of injecting vigor and small-town appeal to the Democratic presidential ticket. Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, calculated that he didn't need to add foreign policy heft to the ticket. Called aloof by his critics, reserved by his supporters, Kerry hopes Edwards adds blue-collar pizazz to the Democratic team.

Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Sen. Bob Graham of Florida emerged as Edwards' toughest rivals in a search that began four months ago with a list of about 25 candidate and a mandate to find a political soulmate who would be "ready at any minute" to assume the presidency.

President Bush's re-election campaign wasted no time to criticize the choice. His political team planned to air a

The ad alludes to what Republicans hope will be a problem for Edwards — his lack of foreign policy experience and political seasoning. It is not a new argument for Kerry: During the Democratic nomination fight, Kerry groused to associates that Edwards had no right seeking the presidency after less than one term in the Senate.

But aides said the Massachusetts senator steadily warmed to Edwards, first in the primary campaign, where he stood against Kerry until the end without going negative. After pulling out of the race, Edwards campaigned aggressively on Kerry's behalf and urged his contributors, mostly trial lawyers, to donate to his former rival's campaign.

Edwards' advisers, meanwhile, waged a quiet campaign on the North Carolina senator's behalf. Both Edwards and Gephardt had top aides who joined the Kerry campaign in recent weeks.

Obsessed with secrecy, Kerry kept his decision to himself until the last possible minute, giving Edwards no time to get to Pittsburgh in time.

CBS News has learned that Kerry told some of his closest advisers his choice late Monday night. He called Edwards at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and the men spoke for 15 to 20 minutes. Then Kerry called some of the other Democrats who were considered for the post.

The newly minted ticket will meet up late Tuesday in Pittsburgh, where the candidates and their families will have dinner together at Kerry's estate.

They fly to Ohio on Wednesday for their first joint appearance, beginning a multi-state tour.

They will be nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, which begins July 26.

In the primary campaign, Edwards and Kerry had few major policy disagreements — both supported the decision to go to war in Iraq, for example, and both voted against the $87 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan.

One division was over the North American Free Trade Agreement: Kerry voted for it, but Edwards campaigned against NAFTA, which the Senate approved before he was elected. Edwards made trade, jobs and the economy the centerpiece of his campaign, questioning Kerry's vote on NAFTA but not pledging to seek its repeal.

They also differed in some ways on how to approach some issues. Both called for rolling back the Bush tax cuts, but Kerry proposed eliminating the tax cuts for those who make more than $200,000 a year while Edwards set the ceiling at $240,000.

Kerry voted against the ban on so-called "partial birth" abortion passed by Congress, but Edwards did not vote. A more clear-cut difference was Kerry's opposition to the death penalty and Edwards' support of it.

Edwards, 51, was born in Seneca, S.C., and grew up in Robbins, N.C. His father was a mill worker, and he announced his presidential campaign from the factory, then closed, where his father had worked and where he had swept floors to earn money for college. He earned a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University in 1974 and a law degree from the University of North Carolina in 1977.

A Methodist, Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children: Cate, Emma Claire and Jack. Their son Wade died in a traffic accident at age 16 in 1996.

Edwards worked in private practice in Nashville and Raleigh, N.C., for nearly two decades, earning a fortune from medical malpractice and product liability judgments. Although Edwards portrayed himself as a champion of ordinary people hurt by large corporations, the American Tort Reform Association described him as "a wealthy personal injury lawyer masquerading as a man of the regular people."