CONWAY, New Hampshire — Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards may have made millions of dollars as a plaintiff’s attorney suing big U.S. corporations, but he wants voters to know that he’s no city slicker.

Campaigning in Conway, a town of 9,200 in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, Edwards argued that his Southern drawl would make him a more appealing candidate to rural voters.

“The last two Democratic presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, both talked like me,” the former North Carolina senator and son of a textile-mill worker said, trying to link himself to their good fortunes.

“I’m from small town America and that’s a place where we usually have trouble,” he said of the Democratic party. “There’s nowhere in America that I can’t go and campaign with our congressional candidates and not only not be a drag on them but actually help them. And that makes a difference.”

Edwards was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004 but his ticket did not win.  And, voters who turned out to hear his pitch on Wednesday were mixed on whether the drawl would really matter.

“I like it,” said Tom Wright, of Intervale, New Hampshire, who said he planned to vote for Edwards. “My opinion is he’s more electable than all the other leading candidates.”

Hope Nusbaum, a homemaker from Conway, said that a candidate’s accent would not influence her thinking.

“For me, it does not make a difference,” said Nusbaum, who said she was leaning towards Edwards but had not yet made her final decision for the Jan. 8 primary. “He could come from New York City and if he still had these ideas, I’d still vote for him.”

– Photo credit: Reuters/Scott Malone