Half the audience who showed up last week to see John Edwards' first South Carolina appearance since he won his home state's primary in February walked out before he arrived – two hours late.
And in another sign of trouble in paradise, the state's Democratic Senate candidate – whose campaign the Edwards visit was supposed to boost – declined to be seen on the same stage with Edwards.
Democrat U.S. Senate hopeful Inez Tenenbaum "has gone to great lengths to distance herself from the national party," reports the South Carolina newspaper The State.
Edwards "is about as close as she’s going to allow herself to get to the national party," the paper added, noting, "Tenenbaum didn’t appear on the platform with him" at either the rally or a fund-raiser scheduled for later that day.
Aides said she would have skipped the event altogether if John Kerry had been the guest of honor.
It didn't help that Edwards kept the crowd at Columbia's Martin Luther King Jr. Park waiting so long.
As they sat for two hours in the sweltering heat inside the community center, Democratic officials were observed checking their watches and looking irritated.
When state party chairman Joe Erwin opened the door to let some air in, people began to get up and leave.
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"The hall was about half-full by the time Edwards arrived," The State reported.
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