On the campaign trail: 3 big S.C. questions ...

About the presidential campaigns

WILL EDWARDS ENDORSE?

As the May 6 North Carolina primary approaches, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters are listening to hear what, if anything, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards has to say about the Democratic presidential race.

Edwards, the S.C. native who represented North Carolina in the U.S. Senate and ran two unsuccessful campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination, could provide more distance for Obama, who leads in North Carolina, or help a trailing Clinton close the gap there with an endorsement.

Former S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges, however, said he’s not certain Edwards will get involved in the primary.

“I don’t know of a scenario where Senator Edwards would feel that’s appropriate,” said Hodges, an Obama supporter who has campaigned with the U.S. senator from Illinois across the country. “I have not heard anything about what Edwards is going to do. I sure wish he’d endorse Barack Obama, but I have a feeling he will sit this one out.”

Efforts to reach Edwards have been unsuccessful. The question will persist: Does Edwards have a favorite?

IS CLYBURN LEANING TOWARD OBAMA?

Officially, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a superdelegate, has not decided on a candidate. Instead, he just rips the campaign of U.S. Sen. Clinton with regularity. Impartially, of course.

The S.C. congressman, who said he would not endorse during the S.C. Democratic presidential primary, clearly is unhappy with the Clinton campaign over remarks made by former President Bill Clinton.

This week, Bill Clinton said the Obama campaign was playing the race card against him in January. That was when Bill Clinton compared any success by Obama in the upcoming South Carolina primary to the success the Rev. Jesse Jackson had in winning the state’s primary two decades ago. Obama subsequently won the S.C. primary. His supporters and other political observers say Bill Clinton’s remarks were an attempt to paint Obama’s campaign in the same light as Jackson’s largely symbolic candidacy.

“Black people are incensed,” Clyburn told The New York Times. Clyburn also said the Clintons appeared to be committed to doing anything they can to weaken Obama to the point that he cannot win in a general election. That, Clyburn told the Times, may cause an irreparable breach between the Clintons and the African-American community.

That raises one big question: If Hillary Clinton were to win the Democratic presidential nomination, could she get the wide support of African-American voters needed to win in November?

IS SANFORD STILL IN THE RUNNING FOR VICE PRESIDENT?

The Wall Street Journal seems to be convinced Gov. Mark Sanford is a leading Republican vice presidential candidate, even if signals coming from the campaign of GOP nominee-to-be John McCain suggest Sanford is a long shot.

A Journal opinion piece last weekend made the case for Sanford: “Sanford has amassed a political record that many within the GOP would like to see enacted in Washington: tax cuts, school choice, market-based entitlement reform and a long list of vetoes handed out to a profligate legislature. Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham have all floated Sanford’s name for veep.”

The column includes Sanford’s infamous spending protest — taking two live pigs to the State House — and an argument that Sanford — among the least empowered governors in the country — still has managed to leave his mark on the state.

Sanford gets plenty of credit for his successes, such as Medicaid reform. He even gets credit for some failures: School choice has yet to pass the Legislature, and the overwhelming majority of Sanford’s vetoes have been overridden by the Republican Legislature.

But the piece doesn’t include this: Graham, McCain’s closest ally in the Senate and one of his closest campaign advisers, said recently he did not think he, Sanford or any other South Carolinian would bring anything to the McCain ticket.

Also not mentioned is the fact that Sanford, who endorsed McCain eight years ago, refused to help McCain during January’s S.C. Republican presidential primary that McCain eventually won.

— Contributing: Senior writer Wayne Washington and Leroy Chapman Jr.