Why Not John Edwards?

[TexasLawyer]

Why Not John Edwards?

By Froma Harrop
Dec 4, 2007

What about John Edwards? The big-media portrays the Democratic race as a death-match between the Clinton machine and the Obama phenom. Edwards comes off as a plodder in the shadow of two glamour pusses. Back in the world of plain people, the story looks somewhat different. A new Des Moines Register poll shows 28 percent of likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers preferring Barack Obama, 25 percent for Hillary Clinton and 23 percent for Edwards. That sounds like a three-way race to me.

Also consider the caucus rules. Within a caucus site, people whose candidate gets less than 15 percent of the total can throw their support to another contender. Edwards now leads the Democratic pack as the likely participants’ second choice, according to a recent Rasmussen poll.

The former senator from North Carolina seems definitely in the game. So why is the race commonly seen as a two-titan contest? The easy explanation, that much of the media are lazy, would not be far off. But something else is going on. We live in a political culture dominated by celebrity journalists covering celebrity politicians. Big media want to consort with the big stars -- currently New York Sen. Clinton (plus Bill) and the charismatic Illinois Sen. Obama (with Oprah in his entourage).

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Delaware Sen. Joe Biden recently hit the nail on the noggin as he explained why a candidate as experienced as he gets so little attention. After all, polls show that in a general election, Biden would run even with leading Republicans Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. Democrats, Biden said, have a talented woman and a talented African-American, and "they've sort of sucked all the oxygen out of the air." A white man does not fit into the storyline. That could be Edwards' problem, as well.

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http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272617541.shtml

[DangerDave921]

1. Could be

Yes, the MSM loves a good storyline. Black man and white woman are both firsts in the world of becoming president. So both are novel to the media. White guy? Hey, we've been doing that for 200 years. Nothing new there.

But he would add a good dramatic twist to the story. If I was him, I'd be decrying the "reverse racism" that is holding him down! LOL

[Doctor_J]

2. He'll be getting my primary vote

He seems to be the best one to get the filthy stench of the House Of Bush off the country.

[TexasLawyer]

7. I like Edwards, too.

At first I had a big problem with Edwards because of his Senate sponsorship of the Iraq War Resolution. But I feel that he sincerely regrets that decision, knows that he was bamboozled, and is committed to getting the US out.

I think he is highly electable. But outside of Gravel I would be supportive of any of our fine Dem candidates.

[balantz]

3. I go with the conspiracy theory.

Edwards wants to put a wrench to the corporate machine. "The media" is owned by, and is the mouth-piece of that machine. The focus on particular candidates is determined by the corporations. Luckily, so far anyway, they haven't been able to throw much dirt on Edwards. I think they just don't want to put any light on him out of fear of giving him a platform to respond and being the focus of public attention.

[ihavenobias]

4. Because

He spent too much money on a haircut and lives in a large house despite claiming to care about people living in houses smaller than his. And because he was a lawyer and all lawyers are evil.

And finally, because he used to be more of a centrist on trade and war and people can NEVER change, even in light of the many negative consequences we've seen from free trade (see tainted food and toys) and war (self explanatory) since those more centrist positions were expressed. Like conservatives on crime, I believe in a ZERO TOLERANCE policy and think so called "second chances" are always an excuse to let people off the hook for bad decision making (in personal or public life).

Note: Yes, that was sarcasm, but I figured I'd air out some of the responses we're likely to see (along with a subject line we're likely to see).

[OHdem10]

5. Our shallow Media decided the race would be only between

HRC and OBAMA. It is that simple. They control every story.
They determine what is put on the air, what is written in the
paper.

Added: The follow the lead of the Elites in each Party.

[TrogL]

6. Stranger things have happened

In the recent elections for Alberta Conservative Party leadership (who becomes Premier by default) there were two front runners with their own camps of voters to hated each other. It eventually came down to "anybody but THOSE TWO" so a complete unknown got in.