George Stephanopoulis’ TV grilling of John Edwards yesterday is the latest pimple to erupt from the Democrats’ acne problem in the ’08 beauty contest.
The former Clinton White House aide posed some tough questions to the former Vice-Presidential candidate, much to the delight of anti-liberal bloggers, who interpreted it as shilling for Hillary.
But the problem goes deeper. In his chase of sitting Senators Clinton and Obama in the polls, Edwards is beginning to annoy his party’s leadership.
Harry Reid, the Senate leader, responded to Edwards’ campaign ad urging lawmakers to send Bush their vetoed bill “again and again” by pointing out “he’s not in the Senate, I am...He doesn’t have to cast votes here in the Senate, we do.”
Instead of running for reelection, Edwards is, in effect, running against himself for President, repudiating his former positions with the dramatic flair of his trial-lawyer training.
Is it working? So far, despite widespread sympathy for his wife’s struggle with cancer, Edwards has not made much progress in the polls and annoying his former Senate colleagues may not help much in his attempt to re-brand himself as an outsider.
In assessing the candidates, the current Newsweek sums it up: “Edwards strikes some as a little slick, even (or especially) when he is talking about his family trials. As for his political courage, he is making a bet that old-style soak-the-rich populism can be a winner in this election cycle--though the recent flap over his $400 haircuts has not helped his common-man pitch.”
Regarding Edwards' poll standings. Rasmussenreports.com has a list of hypothetical match-ups against for both the candidates from both parties. Last I checked, a few days ago, Edwards matched up better than either Obama or the inevitable Hillary sponsored by Citigroup.
ReplyDeleteYikes! Sorry about the tangled mess of the previous post. Hopefully there's still enough coherence to get the idea.
ReplyDeleteI see your point, but there is a difference when you match up two developing candidates (i.e. Giuliani vs. Edwards) and when you matchup a developing candidate (Giuliani) with an established one (Clinton).
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