By CHUCK RAASCH
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON - In choosing Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina as his running mate, John Kerry picked the politician that would best complement his presidential candidacy.

There are risks, mainly Edwards' leadership inexperience. But Edwards, 51, also brings enthusiasm, Southern appeal, a demonstrated ability to attract middle-of-the-road voters, and a stark generational image contrast with Vice President Dick Cheney.

KERRY-EDWARDS

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More than any other Democrat that Kerry reportedly considered, Edwards also potentially helps other Democrats running for the Senate and House in November. Some Democratic strategists think Edwards could help most in five Southern states - Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana - where Democratic senators are retiring and Republicans are mounting strong takeover challenges.

The selection "is good for the country, good for Senator Kerry's presidential campaign and great for our Senate candidates around the country," said Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said Edwards, a one-term senator, brings distinct pluses and minuses.

For Kerry, who has struggled against claims that he's aloof, Edwards' "energy and charisma are much needed on this ticket," Sabato said.

But Kerry "cannot possibly claim that Edwards was the most qualified and experienced candidate available to be a heartbeat away from the presidency," Sabato said in an online analysis shortly after the pick was announced.

Edwards, who became wealthy representing clients in injury claims, has been in the Senate less than six years and has spent much of the last year away from the institution campaigning for president himself.

Even Kerry once took a shot at Edwards' inexperience. "When I came back from Vietnam in 1969, I don't know if John Edwards was out of diapers then," Kerry quipped before the Iowa caucuses in January.

Kerry later apologized, and the two men have maintained a political but not overly personal, relationship.

JOHN EDWARDS

10 things you need to know about John Edwards 1. He grew up in a modest household, but is one of the Senate's wealthiest members. Edwards' father was a textile mill worker in North Carolina. His wealth came by representing people in personal injury claims against corporations. 2. Unlike many elected officials, Edwards did not work his way up the political ladder. In his first run for political office, he was elected to the Senate in 1998 at age 45. 3. Even though he had been in the Senate only two years, Al Gore seriously considered Edwards as a vice presidential running mate in 2000. Edwards' youthful appeal and his home state of North Carolina - considered a potential swing state in 2000 - made him stand out to Gore. 4. Edwards, 51, won only one presidential primary- South Carolina, where he was born - before dropping out of the Democratic race. But he impressed many Democrats with his vigor and message of economic populism. 5. Edwards' telegenic style and good looks often draw comparisons to John F. Kennedy. People magazine named him "sexiest politician" in its November 2000, "Sexiest Man Alive" issue. 6. The comparisons to Kennedy stop, however, when Edwards talks. He has a Southern drawl, which he sometimes poked fun at when he campaigned in Iowa, New Hampshire and other non-Southern states in the primaries. 7. He was the first in his family to go to college. Edwards graduated from North Carolina State University in 1974. Three years later, he received a law degree from the University of North Carolina. 8. John and Elizabeth Edwards' life together has been touched by tragedy. Their 16-year-old son was killed in a car accident in 1996. They have three other children. 9. Edwards often talks about "regular people" and their struggles in "two Americas" as a way to delineate between people on the lower and upper ends of the income scale, but critics say it is class warfare disguised as folksy rhetoric. 10. According to the Almanac of American Politics, Edwards won more than $150 million in verdicts for plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits before selling his law practice for $5 million. He began his legal career defending record companies accused of pirating Elvis Presley records.

Although the long-term impact of a vice presidential candidate often fades after the announcement hoopla, the person chosen does help set an overall tone for a presidential ticket.

Ronald Reagan's choice of the foreign affairs-experienced George Bush addressed concerns about Reagan's lack of it in 1980. Dick Cheney joining the ticket in 2000 did the same thing for George W. Bush.

Here's what Kerry gets with Edwards:

• A fighting chance in the South, where Kerry has struggled to be competitive outside Florida, Louisiana and Arkansas. In his new analysis, Sabato switched North Carolina from solid Bush country to leaning Republican.

• A running mate who demonstrated in his own presidential primary campaign an ability to appeal to working voters with a message of job growth and economic fairness. Edwards' description of "two Americas" - essentially the working class versus the investment class - helped him stay competitive even while Kerry pounded him in primary after primary, from January into March.

• Fresh attacks that the Democrats have fielded a duo of Washington insiders, something Kerry could have avoided had he picked someone like Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. The Kerry-Edwards ticket is made up of two wealthy politicians that feisty challenger Howard Dean once quipped frequented the "salons of Georgetown" - a reference to their expensive homes in one of Washington's toniest neighborhoods. This is also the first time that two senators have run together since John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson shared the Democratic ticket in 1960. Bush appealed to this powerful outsider impulse in 2000 by campaigning as a Texan with no Washington baggage. The Kerry-Edwards ticket can't do that.

• A generational image difference. Even though they are only 12 years apart in age, Edwards and Cheney have starkly contrasting personas. Edwards, telegenic and more youthful-looking than his 51 years, had the most raw physical appeal of any of the Democratic candidates running in the primaries. Cheney has a reputation as a steady conservative and experienced insider but also has a history of heart problems.

• New debates about political experience. Republicans wasted little time trying to "Quayle-ize" Edwards, portraying him as a "disingenuous, unaccomplished liberal" - a la the Democratic attacks on Vice President Dan Quayle's greenness in 1988.

Although Edwards has as much experience in public office as Bush did in 2000, Edwards does not have executive experience. And the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have put a fresh focus on leadership abilities in a more dangerous world. Kerry's campaign tried to head off questions by releasing a lengthy description of foreign policy-related issues Edwards worked on before he began running for president last year.