No More Mr. Nice Guy

John Edwards announced the end of his presidential campaign Wednesday and pledged his support for the man who knocked him out of the race, the presumptive Democratic nominee, John Kerry.

Edwards vowed to "do everything in my power" to help Kerry win the White House, and he asked his supporters to do the same.

The North Carolina senator already has announced plans not to seek re-election to Congress when his term expires at the end of the year. But already, there is speculation that Kerry might tap him for a running mate in the fall campaign.

That would have met with approval from supporters gathered in a crowded high school gymnasium where Edwards formally ended his quest for the presidency. "Kerry/Edwards" read a scattering of signs held aloft in the crowd, not just two names but also a suggested ticket for the fall campaign.

Edwards, who until recently had been depicting Kerry as a Washington insider unable to bring about needed change, praised his Senate colleague unstintingly.

He said the Massachusetts senator had battled for "more jobs, better health care, cleaner air, cleaner water, a safer world" and more.

"They are the causes of our party. They are the causes of America and they are the reason we will prevail," Edwards said.

He said Kerry was showing the same strength, resilience and courage that he showed when he was fighting for his country in Vietnam.

Advisers to Edwards have made it clear he wouldn't reject an invitation to be Kerry's running mate.

Edwards decided to throw in the towel after failing to earn a single win in the ten Super Tuesday contests. Kerry won nine of those races while Howard Dean, who had already withdrawn from the campaign, gained his first win of the primary season in his home state of Vermont.

While Kerry won the nomination and Dean was briefly the front-runner in the race, Edwards had staying power with an optimistic message and a style that avoided criticism of his rivals.

Over and over, he pledged to end what he called a society of "two Americas," one for the rich, the other for the rest of the country.

Edwards came home Wednesday to announce formally his departure from the race at the Raleigh high school that two of his children once attended, including his son Wade, who died in 1996 at age 16 in a car accident.

Voters consistently gave Edwards high marks for his positive message, and his approval ratings topped the field. His "two Americas" campaign theme — that there are two Americas, one for the rich and powerful and the other for everybody else — struck a chord with many voters.

Edwards' upbringing was a central theme to his populist message, and he scarcely missed an opportunity to talk about his upbringing as the son of a textile mill worker who lost his job when the factory closed. Yet his sunny side and common-man approach didn't give Democrats enough reason to choose him over Kerry.

Edwards' appealing campaign style and high positives should serve him well in the future, Democratic strategists suggest. If President Bush were re-elected in November, Edwards could run again in 2008.

Edwards, 50, became a millionaire as a plaintiff's trial lawyer, making most of his money in medical malpractice cases. His 1998 election to the Senate was his first attempt at public office.

Kerry has said he will "try to find the best person" as his running mate. While remaining noncommittal on whom that might be, Kerry said, "There is no doubt John Edwards brings a compelling voice to our party."

Edwards, who stepped up his criticism of Kerry only in the last week, called his four-term Senate colleague "my friend" and said, "He's run a strong, powerful campaign."

Not everyone is enthusiastic about the notion of a Kerry-Edwards ticket.

The American Tort Reform Association asserted on Wednesday that choosing Edwards would be a liability to Kerry's race for the White House.

"Senator Edwards' campaign has been funded by personal injury lawyers who would drive a pro-litigation, anti-civil justice reform agenda," association President Sherman Joyce said. "Kerry should be wary of aligning himself with someone who is beholden to these Learjet lawyers."

Although he is only 10 years younger than Kerry, Edwards looks boyish and is relatively inexperienced in both government and international relations, liabilities in the eyes of some Democrats.

At the beginning of the year, Dean was viewed as the front-runner, while both Kerry and Edwards were far back in the pack. Edwards rose dramatically after an unexpectedly strong second-place finish in Iowa. He won only a single state — South Carolina, where he was born — despite a string of strong second-place finishes.

He had been poised to withdraw on at least three previous election nights, beginning with South Carolina's primary a month ago, spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said. But each week he found something in the returns encouraging enough to continue — until Kerry won so many delegates Tuesday night.

"There was too big a gap," Palmieri said.