WASHINGTON — For many Democrats, the 2008 presidential campaign is a celebration of those who once only dreamed of gaining power, with "you go, girl" cheers for Hillary Rodham Clinton and black pride in Barack Obama.
But as the top two candidates tap the excitement among Democrats over the prospects of a female or black president, a difficult question is confronting the field's No. 3 contender, John Edwards: What is a white man to do?
Edwards' status as a Southern white male -- characteristics that helped propel Democrats Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to the White House -- has this year offered some limitations, to the frustration of his campaign.
"We can't make John black. We can't make him a woman," Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, told an interviewer in one moment of discontent this summer. "Those things get you a lot of press."
Now, as Edwards lays out the closing argument of his primary election campaign -- that he is the most electable candidate and the most able to help fellow Democrats in conservative states -- race and gender are forcing him to tread lightly.
Edwards' claims are sensitive, given that he is asserting that he has more appeal to voters nationwide than do the front-runners, a white woman and a black man.
"He may not be saying it, but he's putting the argument out there that white male rural voters won't vote for a black guy or a woman," Taylor Marsh, a Democratic blogger and radio talk-show host, said in an interview. Marsh also recently raised the race and gender questions in a blog posting about Edwards' electability claims.
Garnet Coleman, an African American state lawmaker from Texas, said that Edwards was sending a subtle message about the risks of nominating someone who would be vulnerable to racism and sexism among the broader electorate.
"He's trying to make sure that when Democrats make a selection, they realize that the world is not perfect and they have to consider the long haul," said Coleman, who has endorsed Edwards in part based on his electability in the South.
"He has to be diplomatic," Coleman added. "He doesn't want to make it seem like he believes that an African American or a woman couldn't govern the country. It'd be real easy for someone to come out and say he's being insensitive to women and African Americans."
