Senator's Plan Likely Part of 2004 Platform

The sizes of the platforms vary from election year to election year, but it's not unusual for a candidate to speak to the public about only one certain issue throughout the course of a campaign, said David Nice, political science professor at Washington State University.

"It's hard to tell what issues they will emphasize because the public has such a short attention span," he said.

But Sen. Edwards, D-N.C., who is rumored to have 2004 presidential aspirations, already has begun to build a platform on key political issues, including national security, the economy and, most recently, education.

Political pundits have mixed reviews about Edwards' stance, including his College for Everyone initiative, which would give students who work part-time their first year of college for free.

Ferrel Guillory, director of UNC's Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life, said Edwards' speeches are the foundations of a platform. "Of course this is part of his presidential campaign. It's critical for candidates like Edwards to articulate where they stand on important issues. We've already seen (Al) Gore step out front and critique Bush's economic and international policies."

Early polls show 2000 Democratic candidate Gore as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, but all of the candidates are going to be looked at seriously by party leaders and by people participating in the primaries.

But Bruce Cain, political science professor at the University of California-Berkeley, said education initiatives like Edwards' plan are scapegoats because few U.S. citizens oppose improving education.

"Any federal candidate that picks education as their leading issue might as well put a sign in their forehead that says, 'I play it safe,'" he said.

The federal government provides only 3 percent of the funds spent on K-12 education and only makes direct contributions to higher education through financial aid such as Pell Grants.

"(Edwards) is a very cautious, centrist Southern candidate. He's definitely playing it safe, which is what Bush did -- he's going down a well-trodden path. He's saying, 'I have no courage.'"

But, Cain said, Edwards will appeal to the people who believe the party cannot win without some Southern states.

"Some people will look at that," he said. "Others will look at him and see that there is nothing there for them. He doesn't speak for most Democrats."

Nice cautioned that splitting a party's votes can be detrimental to a candidate and that contenders must pick issues that do not divide their supporters.

Instead, he said, they should use polls to identify issues they can address in order to split their opponent's supporters. "It's partly art, partly science. If the candidates can afford to, they're going to do quite a bit of polling."

Candidates generally have a good sense of how to appeal to party leaders and interest groups, Cain said, but most of them already vote in elections.

It is more difficult to mobilize average voters, especially younger ones. "Mobilizing people is riskier," Nice said. "If someone can figure out how to do it, you're looking at a huge political bloc there."

But Nice added that platforms, such as Edwards' stance on higher education, are not chosen simply on their ability to mobilize the electorate. "Actually, campaigns are good predictors as to what an administration will focus on."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.