What's the John Edwards brand?

• John Edwards is compassionate and likeable.
  
• Edwards is a Prius – comfortable headroom and good for the world.
• While Edwards embodies a bit of the personal connection Apple afficianados have with their machines, Edwards is more like a Blackberry or a trusty wireless phone: always there, always keeping you in touch.
• If we have to pick a baseball team for Edwards, it would probably be the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox – a bit of hard luck story with a lot of nostalgic appeal.

Edwards' brand strength is Connectivity, or Brand Relevance:

• 28% say he is the most compassionate of the Democratic candidates, where he has a very small lead over Clinton at 27%.
• Edwards (18%) does trail both Clinton (31%) and Obama (30%) as being most sensitive to the needs of the poor.
• His biggest strength in the area is due to hs South Carolina roots: 42% say he is most in-tune with the state's voters.

While Edwardis trails Obama in Personality, he does best Clinton in this brand element:

• He ties Clinton for second behind Obama (31%) as most likeable with 24%, but has far fewer negatives (3% call him least likeable) than Clinton (17% say she is least likeable).
• 25% say Edwards has the most warmth and personal charm, with Obama leading this category with 33%.

Edwards' biggest weakness is in the area of Performance:

• Just 7% call him most intelligent.
• 13% say he'll have the most respect from other countries.
• Just 9% say he is most prepared to be president, with only 7% say he has the most relevant experience for the job.

Edwards must certainly strengthen his brand if he's to repeat his 2004 primary victory in his native state:

• In a multi-candidate field Edwards is third (17%), far behind Clinton's 38% and traling Obama by four points.
• If the field is reduced to Clinton, Edwards and Obama, the latter two split the anti-Clinton vote - Clinton leads with 43%, with the other two tied at 25%.