"It's been a remarkable journey for this country boy from North Carolina to grow up in a small town and get the opportunity to run for vice president of the United States," Edwards said. "And if I had not grown up in North Carolina, I would not have been able to do the things I've done."
Edwards, 51, will finish his term in the Senate early next year; his successor will be Republican Richard Burr.
At a town hall-style meeting, Edwards sidestepped the issue of whether he'd consider a presidential run in 2008, saying he's focusing on his wife's illness.
"Right now, with all that has happened, we're going to work to make sure Elizabeth is well," Edwards said. "I will make any decisions on what I should be doing over the next few months and beyond in the future."
Yet in vowing to fight for those without health insurance and jobs, Edwards sounded like a man with political plans.
"The fight is important," he told reporters. "The battle I'm fighting is about building one country. It's not about blue states or red states."
Edwards suggested that Democrats did not do enough in the 2004 election to tout their religious beliefs.
"The voters did not know where we stood and what we believed in," he said. "The American people need to know we are going to keep this country safe."
Edwards, who plans to build a home near Chapel Hill, said he is looking forward to returning to North Carolina and having his younger children attend public schools there.
