NEWTON, IOWA — Here in the heart of Jasper County, a flyover patchwork of green pasture and golden cornfield, lies every ingredient for a John Edwards victory in the critical Iowa caucuses.
The Maytag plant at this small town's heart is slated to close in less than a month. Edwards has been a regular visitor to the local union hall, and when the Democratic presidential hopeful rails against globalization, it is often the plight of this factory that he rues.
The farm towns sprinkled among Jasper County's rolling hills form the core of Edwards' rural strategy. Even history is in his favor: Though John F. Kerry won Iowa in 2004, Edwards beat him by nearly double digits in this working-class enclave east of Des Moines.
But look a little closer, and you'll also see some of the biggest challenges facing the former senator from North Carolina as he struggles against rivals with bigger bankrolls and fresher faces.
Dennis Parrott spearheaded Edwards' Jasper County efforts in 2004, but these days, he can't decide between the self- described mill worker's son and rival Barack Obama. He is not alone.
"John's gotten very far left, more left than I'd like to see him," said Parrott, who prefers yesterday's genial centrist to the elbow-throwing liberal he sees today. "Maybe it's the hedge funds, the expensive haircut, the expensive house. That's where I'm having a problem."
There are three big questions confronting John Edwards: Does he need to finish first in Iowa to keep his presidential hopes alive? Could he actually win the first-in-the-nation caucuses, a traditional springboard to later victory? And, finally, will he?
To date, there are only two easy answers: "Yes." And "yes." After that, it's "Who the heck knows?"
Edwards himself offered this viewpoint in a recent interview about his Iowa strategy: When it comes to the Hawkeye State, "I think anybody who doesn't win is going to be in an uphill fight."
Still, Edwards is believed to have the deepest political organization in the state. He has chairmen in all 99 counties and relationships dating back to his earlier run, when he came in a strong and surprising second behind Kerry and ahead of front-runner Howard Dean.
"I know what's doable in this state, and I think Edwards can win Iowa," said Sarah Swisher, state political director for the Service Employees International Union, who has attended every caucus since 1976. "It's very doable."
