Mr. Edwards subtly altered his argument about his appeal to the South, this time emphasizing a general-election appeal.
While that shows Mr. McCain's potential general election appeal, it also represents a challenge for him.
Some are Democrats and some Republicans, but they all share a high level of education and a crossover election appeal.
Even after all these months of campaigning, the wariness of the base and conservative litmus tests, more than general election appeal, are driving the nominating process.
To be sure, a presidential nominee's policy proposals are only part of what determines the breadth of his or her general election appeal.
Bush also cannot claim Romney's veneer of general-election appeal; 36percentt of all Americans rate him favorably, while 55percentt see him unfavorably.
The next phase of the campaign, where Mr. Romney is likely to be the subject of attacks from his rivals, will help answer whether voters are willing to be pragmatic and support a candidate who has a stronger general election appeal.
California's colleges and universities had been instrumental in turning the nation's biggest state into the world's seventh-biggest economy and an international cultural mecca and they formed the heart, Brown presumed, of his re-election appeal.
Politically, as the presidential campaign rolls forward, a pivotal question is whether that portrait, which the White House worked feverishly to undermine, will raise questions about what has been a fundamental part of his re-election appeal.
For instance, it charged Abdurrahman Atalay, a political activist who filed an election appeal, with "inciting hatred".
