After weeks of heightened speculation, John Edwards got the jobas presidential nominee John Kerry's vice president .
While sometimes the presidential nominee's Veep doesn't make adifference in support, for some, like University of Memphis nursingmajor Tyler Hunt it does.
"If I were undecided about which candidate to vote for," saidHunt, "I would look to the vice president to make my decision."
In a split electorate, a small difference can mean thedifference between winning and losing the election, as was seenfour years ago when George W. Bush beat Al Gore in Florida by 537votes.
But many political analysts say Edwards was the most logicalchoice for the Massachusetts senator to appeal to the South, whichBush swept in 2000.
Edwards, who built his wealth as a personal injury lawyer in the'80s and '90s in South Carolina, appeals to "middle-class Americansand those struggling to reach the middle class," Kerry wrote in ane-mail to supporters announcing the nomination. "Throughout his owncampaign for president, Edwards spoke about the great divide inthis country -- the 'Two Americas' that exists between those whoare doing well today and those who are struggling to make it fromday to day."
Like Hunt, other U of M students have their own opinions aboutthe vice presidential seat.
"I want someone who is a able to lead just like the president,"said psychology major Brandon Veasley.
Some, even Kerry, questioned Edwards' political abilities duringthe primaries, noting that Edwards could not win his own state ofSouth Carolina.
Although Edwards will be a complement to Kerry, said U of MTiger Democrats adviser Douglas Cupples, in the end, it is thepresident people will be voting for.
While Cupples said choosing Missouri's Dick Gephardt would havebeen a better political move, he sees the electorate split between"a group that wants to see Bush elected again" and another thatdoes not.
Loyalties have been set, he said, and "people are going to bevoting for a president not a vice president."
