BY DAN
KENNEDY
Serving the reality-based community since 2002.
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Tuesday, July 06, 2004
JOHN SQUARED. So it's
John
Edwards, probably the best
of some not-great choices. Edwards proved himself to be by far the
most engaging public personality in the Democratic presidential
primaries. His biggest problem, of course, was that he couldn't get
anybody actually to vote for him. Also, is he going to be willing to
rough up his vaunted Mr. Nice Guy image by playing the attack-dog
role normally filled by running mates?
More questions:
- I know people fell into a
catatonic state whenever Dick Gephardt's name came up, but Gephardt
might have at least brought Missouri into the Blue Zone. Can Edwards
help Kerry win his home state of North Carolina? Probably
not.
- Does anyone think the Bush
campaign was really worried about running against a trial
lawyer last winter? Get ready for a barrage of accusations about
how Edwards made his fortune. Before the Edwards campaign fell apart,
there were already some websites out there claiming that he got rich
with a combination of junk science and courtroom histrionics. Are the
Kerry people ready to fire back?
- The most telling criticism that
Kerry had supposedly murmured about Edwards was that the guy simply
isn't experienced or knowledgeable enough to be president. Now,
Edwards is no Dan Quayle, but he's no Al Gore, either. How is this
going to play in a post-9/11 world?
That said, Kerry did okay. His
dalliance with John McCain already proved he was willing to run with
someone more charismatic than he. Edwards will be an asset to his
campaign, and help cast him in a more centrist light.
posted at 11:22 AM |
3 comments
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3 Comments:
Personally, I'd say Dan Quayle was substanitially better prepared than Golden Boy for the VP job, but that's neither here not there.
Some might say that Edwards' jury-friendly personality will highlight Kerry's graveyard-friendly disposition, but it might just work in reverse: Next to the feather weight Edwards, Kerry looks like a competent and experienced politician, a man who, unlike Tort Boy, has not just answers, but actual solutions.
I wish Kerry would have chosen that English-speaking corn farmer instead. They just don't write good roles anymore for people who don't worship at the feet of MALDEF.
Why do you keep perpetuating the lie that Kerry asked McCain to be his running mate? McCain and Kerry have both publicly claimed that it did not happen?
Anonymous
There's no doubt that Kerry talked with McCain about the possibility of at least being considered. I'm sure that Kerry never actually offered him the job, which is why those Bush ads claiming that Edwards is Kerry's #2 choice are untrue. But yes, there was a "dalliance."
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Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
