Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards victory in the South Carolina primary gives him something to crow about. He went from bus boy to sous chef as Howard Dean's campaign flagged. Tim Curry at MSNBC has been thinking about the candidates and how the new configuration will affect them.

North Carolina Sen. John Edwards came through with a rousing must-win victory in South Carolina and is clearly plausible as Kerry's rival if the race resolves itself to a two-man contest.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark appeared to squeak by to a narrow victory in Oklahoma, although it is worth noting that Clark fared poorly in South Carolina with about seven percent and in Missouri with five percent.

Crucial questions now arise for the Edwards campaign: Are there significant differences between Edwards and Kerry on the issues, differences that Edwards could use as the lever to pry Democratic voters away from Kerry?

Curry notes that similarities between Kerry and Edwards (pictured) abound. Both are millionaires. (Kerry is much richer, though.) Both are rated quite liberal by the non-partisan National Journal. Neither pleases the Christian Coalition. Both got a lowly score of 15 from it in a survey in 2000. He says distinction between the two will turn on whether Democrats want an up by his bootstraps rich man or one who came ready made. Another challenge for Edwards is whether he can prove he is a viable candidate outside of the South.

I would add an issue to those two. Curry is assuming Edwards can run well in the South. I'm not so sure about that. Yes, the blocs that keep the Democrats alive in the southern states still exist, i.e., Afriican-American voters and white liberal voters. But, Dean was somewhat right about what he said in his poorly received Confederate flag bumper stickers remark. The Democrats' share of white, working-class voters is continuing to erode. Edwards will have to appeal to those voters at least as much as two-term President Bill Cinton did, to prevail even in his native region.

The most recent Democratic presidents from the South, Clinton and Jimmy Carter, managed to avoid the fault lines in the electorate there. My understanding is that Carter did that by tap dancing well. He told conservative whites what they wanted to hear, or at least made them think that was what he was doing, without alienating blacks and white liberals. It appears Edwards will be more open about his opposition to some traditional Southern values. Right Wing talk radio host Les Kinsolving discovered Edwards will not balk at offending 'heritage' supporters recently.

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