Published Thursday, May 08, 2008 2:09 PM
Updated Thursday, May 08, 2008 2:10 PM

 

Summerville man to be a delegate for Edwards

When Rob Groce strolls into Denver’s Pepsi Center this August, he will be seriously outnumbered.

The Summerville resident is set to attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention as a pledged delegate for John Edwards, the former U.S. Senator who suspended his campaign in January.

As of Thursday, Edwards had 19 delegates nationwide — peanuts compared to the estimated 1,845 and 1,686 held by candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, respectively.

Groce found himself in the rather limited company May 3, when he was elected Edwards’ delegate from the 1st Congressional District at the state Democratic Party’s convention in Columbia.

He ran his campaign to become a delegate with the same political gusto as those seeking office. He launched a Web site touting his loyalty to Edwards and even sent out mailers.

A series of exclusions based on convention rules narrowed the pool of 22 district candidates to just one — Groce.

“Elected by default” may be a better way to describe his triumph, he says, but he’ll take it either way.

“To get the opportunity is fantastic,” he says. “I still wish it could have come by an actual victory.”

Although Edwards suspended his candidacy and never officially withdrew it, the Democratic nomination is really only up for grabs between Obama and Clinton.

According to the state delegate plan, “If a presidential candidate is no longer a candidate at the time of selection of the At-large delegates, then those At-large slots that would have been allocated to the candidate will be proportionally divided among the remaining preferences entitled to an allocation.”

In other words, as long as Edwards doesn’t officially drop out of the race, Groce can vote for him in Denver. If Edwards bows out, however, Groce will put his support behind Obama or Clinton.

“To be perfectly honest, I hope that I don’t have to do that at all,” he says.

Groce’s support for Edwards began in 2004, when the former North Carolina senator made his first bid for the White House. Groce and wife Deborah visited every candidate’s Web site but they were most impressed with the detail of Edwards’ vision.

“He was the only candidate who listed very specific goals and plans instead of general terms,” Groce says.

If Groce’s respect for Edwards was sparked by his platform, it was fortified by the presidential hopeful’s attention to the plight of New Orleans.

Groce is a native of the storm-battered city. Along with Deborah and her father, he moved to the Lowcountry in 2005 after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Edwards both launched and suspended his campaign in the Lower Ninth Ward, the same area where Groce went to high school and worked an after school job.

Edwards went to bat for New Orleans so Groce went to bat for Edwards. He worked campaign phone banks in Charleston, canvassed door-to-door in Summerville and volunteered with One Corps — the citizen action arm of Edwards’ campaign.

Groce remains involved with South Carolina One Corps, volunteering at the Palmetto House homeless shelter in Summerville and at the Lowcountry Food Bank. He says he wants to “continue the momentum” of Edwards’ campaign.

Contact David Berman at 873-9424 ext. 214 or dberman@journalscene.com