Milwauke ? On, said Wisconsin.

On to the next series of primaries. On to a contest that removes the asterisk of regionalism or a crowded field and replaces it with one that forces the top two Democrats to battle one on one. On to a decisive March 2 when the twin pillars of Democratic strength, New York and California, can likely settle the issue.

With another 11th-hour surge in the Midwest, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina used his accentuate-the-positive persona and his jury-tested empathy about economic anxiety to win the title of “The Alternative” to the front-runner, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

The title might not mean much. They don’t give trophies for second place in politics. But the verdict from Wisconsin’s voters, who delivered Edwards a muscular runner-up showing, was that the race should go on. Kerry, as expected, won Tuesday’s primary. But his 40 percent polling was better just by points than Edwards’ 35 percent.

Wisconsin voters sent a message that the race between the two is essentially one of likability (Edwards) versus electability (Kerry). A formidable obstacle for Edwards is that voters seem to care more about the latter than the former.

Warning for Kerry

The closeness of the race was a strong warning against complacency for Kerry, who spent his time in Wisconsin framing a general election campaign against President Bush more than engaging other Democrats. Kerry seemingly lost ground each day that he spent in the state. His slender margin of victory was hardly the stuff of invincibility. Still, he now has 15 victories to one for Edwards.

But Edwards faces challenges as well. For one, neither he nor Kerry has been the subject of much intramural criticism, and that is likely to change. One not-so-subtle sign was when Kerry appeared on the stage to claim victory just as Edwards was on live television, trumping the runner-up for the moment.

Dean floundering

John Edwards, who finished a surprisingly strong second to front-runner Sen. John Kerry in the Wisconsin primary, is now positioned for a two-candidate race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The North Carolina senator, though, faces an uphill climb against Kerry, political experts still contend.

The candidate who was the frequent target of attack, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, now finds the lights of his campaign flickering and quite likely, out. Dean won everything before anything mattered — money, endorsements, pre-election polls — and nothing after everything mattered. At this stage of the process, there are no tickets to go on for finishing in third place.

His campaign will be studied for its rich successes and stunning failures, and the candidate no doubt will question how he could have so dominated the process in terms of setting the agenda and energizing his party and lost so spectacularly, 0-for-’04 so far.

Dean still retains some leverage and should he drop out, an endorsement of either Kerry or Edwards could be significant both in terms of energy and fund-raising.

Kerry, along with Edwards, quickly replaced Dean in the minds of voters as the more credible candidates to take on Bush.

Winning over voters

The North Carolina senator claimed repeatedly that if he just had a chance to get in front of voters, he would win them over. That clearly seemed the case in Wisconsin. He was essentially unknown in the state just a month ago, and fourth in the polls a week ago, but with a vigorous campaign and more than $300,000 in television advertising, Edwards made a persuasive pitch.

Edwards also won pluralities among college graduates and upper middle class wage earners, the exit polls found. He won the votes of those who said that jobs and the economy were the most important issues, a clear indication that his campaign message about an America divided between haves and have nots had gotten through.

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pumps his fist while taking the stage with his wife Teresa during an election night party in Middleton, Wis. While Kerry won Tuesday's primary, Sen. John Edwards took a close second place that reinvigorates next week's California and New York races.

And he once again proved to be the Democrat who voters found most empathetic.

Taken together, that contributes to Edwards’ case that he is potentially a stronger general election candidate than Kerry.

If only he could do so well among core Democrats. That has, and continues to be, Kerry’s great asset. He wins among the old, among minorities and among those with lower incomes. In other words, his party’s traditional base.

Rough road ahead

For all the good news of the night for Edwards, the glass was also half empty.

He will not have a chance to campaign in the 10 states staging primaries on March 2 with anything close to the retail intensity that he used in Wisconsin. He will not have the money to advertise in all those places.

Another problem for Edwards is that he has so far not run a campaign against Kerry so much as he has run one for himself. That approach can work in a larger field. It is much harder to make it work when the race is one on one. And one of Edwards’ clear strengths has been that voters embrace his positive campaign.

That strength might now be a weakness. Now the races is about choices and the burden is on Edwards to make those choices clear.