WILMINGTON, N.C.  What will the Edwardses do?

As the Democratic candidates and their surrogates traipse through North Carolina in the final days before its primary, some people here are wondering: Why so quiet in Chapel Hill?

That is where John and Elizabeth Edwards retreated after he dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination on Jan. 30. Neither Mr. Edwards, a former senator here, nor Mrs. Edwards, a political activist herself, have endorsed a candidate, despite the growing intensity of the race between Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama and the fact that the contest has now landed in the Edwardses’ own back yard.

“I don’t get it,” said Kathi Lewis of Wilmington, as she waited with two friends for Senator Clinton to arrive at a campaign event Sunday evening. “We were just talking about it on the way over here. It’s too bad he’s not the candidate, but if he endorsed, it would sway people in one direction or the other.”

Mrs. Clinton’s supporters, in particular, are anxious for the Edwardses to speak up about who they support. Senator Obama has held a significant lead in the polls here for months, and Clinton supporters are hoping that an Edwards endorsement would narrow the race and bolster Mrs. Clinton’s chances at a crucial moment.