A failed Super Tuesday for North Carolina Sen. John Edwards ended his presidential campaign, as Edwards is expected to step down from his bid today.
Dozens of Edwards supporters gathered at the Elks Lodge in Cambridge hoping for an upset win by the 50-year-old senator over Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. But before anyone could begin celebrating, the campaign announced that Edwards would formally drop out of the race at 4 p.m. today.
“I’m shocked,” said Boston College sophomore and Edwards volunteer Shane Stryzinski. “I really don’t understand why he did it when the night had yet to be determined.”
With Kerry projected to win eight of the nine state primaries and the Minnesota caucuses, as of early this morning, Edwards’ chances for winning the Democratic presidential nomination slimmed considerably. Edwards won only the South Carolina primary in February, but supporters said Edwards ran an impressive campaign.
“We’ve run a great campaign,” said Massachusetts Volunteer Coordinator Tom Glaisyer. “We were down to the last two [candidates].”
Glaisyer and Jordan Solomon, a student at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, oversee Massachusetts for Edwards, a volunteer organization that, according to Glaisyer, sprung from 15 to 150 volunteers in 10 days.
Solomon said Edwards’ campaign will help unify the Democratic Party as it rallies around Kerry.
“From John Kerry’s speech tonight, it’s evident John Edwards made an impact on the campaign,” Solomon said. “It’s a determinate from my perspective that we’ve actually aided John Kerry.”
Kerry, in his victory speech from Washington, D.C., applauded Edwards and said his contributions are beneficial to Kerry’s bid for the presidency.
“[Edwards] is a valiant champion for the values [for] which our party stands,” Kerry said.
Solomon said while Edwards supporters will press forward to aide Kerry in his campaign against President George W. Bush, they will “make clear the message Edwards is sending.”
Many Edwards supporters, including Boston University students, said they will support Kerry because he presents an outlook that can unify the Democratic Party and defeat Bush.
“It’s what he needs to be saying,” said College of Arts and Sciences junior Jason Terk. “He’s taking all of the viewpoints of the Democratic Party, and if he can hold true to that I’ll be supporting him.”
“If he doesn’t, it’s going to be an anti-George Bush vote and not a pro-John Kerry vote,” he added.
Students launched BU for Edwards two weeks ago, Terk said, and in that time, fifty students have joined. The group has promoted Edwards in Kenmore Square over the past few days by displaying signs to cars. The strategy has not been without troubles, said College of Communication senior Andrew Parker.
“We got a lot of language from construction workers at Kenmore Square,” Parker said. “I was told to ‘go back to the South'” and to “get out of Massachusetts.”
Joining BU students at the Edwards reception were Stryzinski and Luke Schulman, a representative from Tufts University who has been campaigning with Edwards since October and interned with the campaign in December and January.
“For me, [Edwards] articulated the hope that I wanted to see for this country,” Schulman said. “I identified with that hope and now my hope is getting Edwards’ name out there.”
Schulman said the Edwards campaign was a challenge from the beginning, but the results were rewarding.
“In August and September Edwards was an asterisk,” Schulman said. “But slowly we built every single vote in that state, and we are proud of every single vote.”
While Schulman had been campaigning for Edwards for months, both Terk and Parker joined the Edwards campaign after former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean dropped out of the presidential race in February. Despite being part of the Edwards campaign for only two weeks, the BU students played an integral part in getting Edwards’ message out, Solomon said.
“Singling them out, the BU folks were sensational,” Solomon said. “They gave up a ton of time, and it’s been an uphill climb for them.”
Solomon and other supporters said Edwards would be the perfect vice president for Kerry.
“I’d love Edwards to be on the ticket anyway,” Glaisyer said. “He brings an authenticity and integrity to any campaign.”
“We will all get behind the Democratic nominee,” he added. “We are in Kerry country and every vote to Edwards is a bonus.”
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