How Edwards went from personal injury lawyer to presidential candidate

With the US presidential election primaries well under way and Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton stealing all the headlines during the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, it can be difficult to remember that there is third serious candidate for the Democratic Party nomination.

John Edwards, the North Carolina-raised former personal injury lawyer is still very much in the race, with some polls revealing that as many as 10% of Americans believe he will eventually come out on top. But who is John Edwards and what does he stand for?

Easily the most leftwing of the three main Democrat contenders, Edwards has a long history of fighting for the underdog. An appropriate irony, as he now finds himself to be the underdog in the presidential race. Like many personal injury lawyers, he chose the profession as he idealistically believed it would give him a platform from which he "could help people who couldn't help themselves and couldn't fight for themselves".

His legal career was a glittering one. Many times throughout his 21 years fighting personal injury cases, often on a no win, no fee basis, he won his clients millions of dollars from large and unscrupulous multinational corporations.

In 1997, his performance in one trial led to Mike Dayton, editor of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, to describe it as "the most impressive legal performance I have ever seen."

Many believe that his foray into politics was prompted by personal tragedy. It came towards the end of the 1990s after his son Wade was killed in a car accident. Since then, his rise has been meteoric, defeating Launch Faircloth for the North Carolina senate seat in 1998. He was quick in establishing his leftwing credentials, arguing for universal health care, immigration reform and increased taxing of America's highest earners.

Although he ran as the vice-presidential candidate on the unsuccessful 2004 presidential ticket, his profile has continued to increase. Just as he did on the campaign trail then, he still sells himself as "unity candidate", with his slogan "Road to One America".

In the years between that campaign and the current one, Edwards has kept himself busy, lecturing on social issues and chairing the Anti Poverty Center at the University of North Carolina.

However, he has not been free of personal criticisms. Accusations of extreme personal vanity have abounded after it emerged that Edwards was in the habit of paying around $500 for haircuts. His fee of $55,000 to deliver a lecture on poverty also raised a few eyebrows, with many arguing that it represented an unforgivable hypocrisy.

Whatever the future holds for John Edwards the politician, few can deny that he made an extraordinary impact during his career as a personal injury lawyer and that he has so far managed to punch above his weight fighting against the campaigns of two much better funded candidates.

Unfortunately for Edwards, with America readying itself for either its first black or first woman president, it seems that whatever his credentials, in 2008 he may just not have the zeitgeist factor necessary to sweep voters off their feet.

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