Will Edwards get down to business?

• Author: Cline, Ned
• Position: Capital

Politics' perpetual Happy Face is giving a lot of North Carolina businesspeople heartburn. Most didn't vote for John Edwards six years ago when he promised prosperity with a smile and spent his way past a lackluster incumbent to become the state's junior U.S. senator. They probably wouldn't have voted for him if he had gambled on another term this year. They're glad he's leaving the Senate because he hasn't done them many favors. Another choice, they figure, is a better choice.

But dang it all, isn't it better having someone from your state as vice president than someone from, say, Wyoming?

That's the choice facing corporate North Carolina since John Kerry picked (even if it wasn't his first choice) Edwards as his running mate. Tar Heel executives break out in a rash when they talk about plaintiff's lawyers. Edwards has made millions suing people--and businesses. His fellow trial lawyers spent millions fueling his presidential aspirations. And though he and Kerry talk a lot about saving jobs, as a freshman senator he didn't do much to slow imports, another issue close to the wallets of Tar Heel manufacturers.

"I think for those who are rabidly against free trade and for tort reform, he will only highlight their opposition to the Kerry ticket," says Michael Lord, a Wake Forest University management professor. "But they weren't going to support the Democratic ticket anyway."

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"The selection of Edwards was a smart move in that it will energize the Democratic base of labor, lawyers, educators and minorities," says Phil Kirk. President of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry--the state chamber of commerce--Kirk worked in the administrations of two GOP governors. "But after the excitement dies down, Edwards will not find much support in the business community in North Carolina or elsewhere because of his anti-business voting record."

Even when Edwards took business' side, he often was ineffective. He favored the tobacco buyout but was campaigning and didn't vote for it. He favored a tax cut for companies that manufacture in this country. It failed. He wanted enterprise zones for small businesses. That failed. He was on the Senate Banking Committee but gave it up. One business group gave him a favorable rating of zero, a second, 6%. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which will campaign against Kerry/Edwards: 10%.

"Edwards is a mixed bag for most business folks," says Robert J. Brown, CEO of High Point-based B & C...