Why John Edwards Is In Columbus, Kentucky

The Edwards roadshow is in Paducah, Kentucky right now preparing the hour-long trip to the tiny river town of Columbus.

Kentucky isn't one of them early primary states, so it's not easy to figure out what "Bank It On Iowa" Edwards is doing here. In fact, the joke in these circles today is that it's some dirty trick pulled by Hillary Clinton's campaign to keep Edwards down for a day.

Not really. Actually, thank Shawn Dixon of Columbia. When the Edwards campaign used the event organizing site "Eventful.com" to run a contest -- Edwards would go where the people wanted him to go -- Dixon led the charge to bring Edwards to Columbus. In doing so, his efforts beat out Los Angeles and Seattle, among other cities.

So here we are.

Other than thanking the good people of Columbus, Edwards wants the news coverage to emphasize his popularity in this rural hamlet in a Southern state won twice by Bill Clinton. The implied message: "Could Hillary Clinton campaign here?"