DENISON -- Democrat John Edwards has parlayed years of grass-roots campaigning into momentum when it counts the most -- just as Iowa launches the presidential nominating season.
Though he's got less money than rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, if he can pull off a victory on Thursday, cash and other help could come flooding in almost instantly in this high-tech political world.
That's if he wins. His second-place finish here in 2004 sent him on his way to the second spot on the Democratic ticket. Second place on his second try wouldn't be the same. Third place would push him back into the ranks of the 2008 also rans.
Edwards strategist Joe Trippi noted that John Kerry began raking in $2 million a day after winning Iowa four years ago, and he says Edwards could walk the same path. Rival campaigns have begun to openly worry about Edwards, after months where he was stuck in third place.
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