Why did conservative white Democrats like John Edwards so much in '08?

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Candidate X understands people like me.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

You really don't need to resort to racism and sexism to understand this.  You really don't.  Edwards didn't do nearly as well in the South against Hillary and Obama as he did against Kerry and Dean. 
Even though McCain and Edwards were on the opposite sides of major issues, they both sought to appeal to populist and reformist impulses, so it's no surprise one would support one then the other. See also the appeal of Huckabee.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I think it's fair to say racism and sexism played a part, however large or small, in Edwards' success, (Edwards getting over 7% in West Virginia long after he dropped out comes to mind) but it certainly wasn't all there was to it.

meh, John Huntsman got 7% in DC long after he dropped out too.