By Tom Raum
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - In selecting Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina as his running mate, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry put aside past differences with his former rival and picked a man whose strengths offset some of his own weaknesses.

KERRY-EDWARDS

• Cleveland, Dayton first stops for Kerry-Edwards • Ky. Democrats pleased with addition to ticket • Edwards brings pluses, risks to Kerry campaign • Analysis: Edwards adds zing • Men, women on the street ponder pick

Edwards conveys a warmth and common touch that New Englander Kerry lacks. Like Kerry, he is a multimillionaire - but unlike Kerry, his wealth is self-made. As the son of a Carolina textile-mill worker, Edwards' roots in the increasingly Republican South provide important geographical balance to the Democratic ticket.

And while Kerry has been criticized for long-winded speeches that sometimes sound as if they were meant to be delivered on the Senate floor, Edwards has proven to be a mesmerizing speaker.

"He's probably the best orator the Democrats have," said pollster Frank Luntz. "He's a very good debater, and he has the capability of electrifying the Democratic convention."

But there are some negatives for Republicans to exploit: Edwards will be criticized as a former trial lawyer with little political and limited foreign-policy experience. And a two-senator ticket hasn't won since John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson made it work nearly a half-century ago.

During last winter's primary, voters gave Edwards high marks for his positive message. His "two Americas" stump speech, depicting one America for the wealthy and privileged and another for everybody else, won praise.

Yet his sunny side and magnetism didn't draw him enough votes to win anywhere but South Carolina, where he was born, despite second-place finishes in Iowa, Missouri, California, Tennessee and 20 other states.

Just minutes after the selection of Edwards, 51, was announced Tuesday, the Republican National Committee launched a Web site - Kerrypicksedwards.com - containing a voluminous catalogue of Edwards' purported shortcomings.

"Who is John Edwards? A disingenuous, unaccomplished liberal and friend to personal injury trial lawyers," proclaims the site's opening headline.

Still, analysts and political veterans in both parties suggested that Edwards' benefits to Kerry should outweigh potential liabilities. With the race excepted to be razor-thin, Edwards' selection raised new concerns at the White House and at Bush-Cheney re-election headquarters.

"He brings a lot of vitality and energy," said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. "Maybe he can lighten up Kerry."

An expert on Southern politics, Black said it is unlikely that Edwards' presence on the ticket will bring the South into the Democratic column, but it couldn't hurt.

If nothing else, "it makes North Carolina more competitive," Black said. "Republicans can no longer take the state for granted. Bush will have to fight for it."

Edwards brings more strength to the ticket than any Democrat actively considered for the No. 2 spot, suggested Doug Schoen, a Democratic consultant who was President Clinton's pollster.

"He and Kerry have different appeals, different constituencies," Schoen said. "Edwards is a centrist and a potential help in the South and with young people. He's a fresh face, a new voice."

Schoen said the down side is if Republicans can succeed in portraying Edwards as little more than a wealthy trial lawyer and political novice.

Luntz, who formerly worked as pollster for Ross Perot and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., agreed. "The public really believes the legal system is messed up right now, and blame the personal injury lawyers like John Edwards," Luntz said.

It's no secret that Kerry was not an early fan of Edwards. The two senators have had a cool relationship and Kerry groused during the primary about what he saw as Edwards' opportunism in running for president with only five years of Senate experience.

But Edwards appeared to go out of his way during the campaign to avoid antagonizing Kerry, 60, sometimes drawing complaints from his own advisers that he wasn't being tough enough on the four-term Massachusetts senator.

Edwards and Kerry had few major policy disagreements except on trade, where Kerry supported various free-trade measures and Edwards opposed them. They both supported the decision to go to war in Iraq, for example, and both voted against the $87 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Edwards made trade, jobs and the economy the central focus of his campaign.

Simon Rosenberg, head of the new Democratic Network, a Democratic-aligned advocacy group, called Kerry's selection of Edwards "a strong, bold move," arguing that he will Democrats reach independents, aid the party in underscoring its claim that Bush is not in tune with the middle class and help counter the GOP's criticism of Kerry as overly pessimistic.

Edwards' choice "is reinforcing where the party wanted to go anyway," said Rosenberg. But, he added, "You never know how these things are going to play out."