What Edwards Has That Kerry Doesn't: (opinion column) [View All]

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http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_ferguson&sid=af.mQBESqLf8

What Edwards Has That Kerry Doesn't: By Andrew Ferguson

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- With the March 2 presidential primaries in 10 states looming over the political landscape like the Big Kahuna, Democrats might appreciate a quick guide to the differences between their two remaining serious candidates, John Kerry and John Edwards.

Both are faithful Democrats, both wealthy, handsome and well- tailored. As senators, both voted to authorize the Iraq war, favor keeping the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, and advocate ambitious but incremental reform of the nation's health-care system. <snip>

...not that Kerry talks too much -- all politicians talk too much -- but that so much of his talk is undisciplined, self-referential and pompously unappealing. Here he stands in sharp contrast to Edwards, who is by far the more disciplined political performer of the two --and, though Democrats may be reluctant to admit it, the better candidate, too. <snip>

Edwards...honed his skills during 25 years as a trial lawyer -- pacing courtrooms, pruning arguments, trying to keep juries awake. His stump speech, repeated as often as six times a day for more than a year, is buffed till it glows. In five minutes he can cover more issues, and push more hot buttons, than Kerry can handle in half an hour.

Republicans like to complain that Democrats wage ``class warfare.'' They mean the phrase metaphorically, but with Edwards they get the real thing. ``I believe,'' he says in his stump speech, ``that the son of a millworker can go toe-to-toe with the son of a president.''
<snip>

In November, voters will vote for the candidate who has withstood six months of pitiless exposure, including a series of debates with President George W. Bush, and survived with his personal appeal intact. Democrats should ask: Is Edwards more likely than Kerry to wear well? That's one more ``yes or no question'' that John Kerry might have trouble answering.

Andrew Ferguson in Washington at [e-mail].