The Edwards Dynamic (Ctr. For American Progress)

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The Edwards Dynamic

Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) is scheduled to address the Democratic Convention tonight, bringing his "Two Americas" theme that propelled him to such a strong primary showing. While wealthy elites on Wall Street, well-paid pundits and the Bush White House try to deny the economic chasm that divides America, Edwards has given voice to millions of Americans left behind by the Bush administration's policies. As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes, Edwards has "blended tales of his working-class roots with passionate denunciations of 'two Americas' and a down-home brand of economic populism." With wages stagnating, few Americans feeling any tax relief, and the Bush administration pushing policies that would squeeze working America even more, Edwards' message appears to be resonating. And the only thing his critics seem to come up with is the fact that he was a trial lawyer – an attack that allows Edwards to talk about his experience representing average people against the corporate interests that fund the Bush campaign.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SHOWS THE TWO AMERICAS: Slate's Daniel Gross puts some numbers behind Edwards' Two Americas theme. In the past, different income groups have generally trended the same direction in terms of consumer confidence. And if the economy were undergoing a broad-based expansion, if a rising tide were lifting all boats equally, you might expect that trend to continue. But under President Bush, that has changed. Today, the over-$50,000 and under-$50,000 groups are moving in opposite directions: between December 2003 and June 2004, confidence in the over-$50,000 set rose from 99.3 to 104.1. In the under-$50,000 set, it fell from 87.4 to 85.5." As Gross notes, "the growing pessimism of the poor and the growing optimism of the rich—suggest the economy's improvement isn't helping everyone."

WHITE HOUSE ATTACKS INEFFECTIVE: The White House has unleashed a series of vicious attacks on Edwards for his experience representing average Americans in court. The problem with this tactic, however, is that Edwards can counter with all the stories of how he helped average people defend themselves against corporate abuse. As one Republican lawyer asked, "If the rap on Edwards is that he is the friend of personal-injury trial lawyers, where does this leave the Republican National Committee? Is the RNC the friend of the drunken driver?"

EDWARDS' DEFINING MOMENT IS AN ASSET, NOT AN ALBATROSS: As the "trial lawyer" attacks continue, the Washington Monthly reports, "the defining case in Edwards' legal career" occurred in 1993, when a five-year-old girl "became caught in an uncovered drain so forcefully that the suction pulled out most of her intestines." Edwards filed suit on the Lakeys' behalf against Sta-Rite Industries, and soon discovered that 12 other children had suffered similar injuries from Sta-Rite drains. Attorneys "describe his handling of the case as a virtuoso example of a trial layer bringing a negligent corporation to heel."

THE HYPOCRISY OF THE TRIAL LAWYER ATTACKS: The dirty little secret of the White House's trial lawyer attacks is that a cadre of key Republican Senators started their careers as trial lawyers. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a former trial lawyer. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) was a trial lawyer "in a state where juries have awarded numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts in plaintiffs' cases." And Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said, "I have a number of trial lawyers that support me personally – they are friends of mine...I don't look at ATLA or trial lawyers as an enemy by any means."

REPUBLICAN SENATOR DEMANDS WHITE HOUSE STOP ITS ATTACKS: Earlier this month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a former trial lawyer, went on national television and told the White House to stop its baseless attacks on Edwards' legal career. Calling Edwards a "great guy," Graham told ABC's This Week on 7/11/04 that "people in my party beat on John Edwards for being a trial lawyer. As far as I know John made his money honestly. I used to represent people in courts in the south. So I wish we'd get off that." Two weeks later, Vice President Cheney said "Lindsey Graham is doing a great job for the people of South Carolina," though moments later he delivered another diatribe against lawyers.

TRIAL LAWYER ATTACK WON'T FLY IN FLORIDA: The Gainsville, Florida Sun reports that the White House is trying to take its trial lawyer attacks to Florida, but may find some stiff resistance. While Gov. Jeb Bush has been outspoken in his criticism of the profession, promising ''to whack'' the trial lawyers, "even some Republicans say making trial lawyers the 'boogeymen' of this year's election may prove difficult." The leading GOP contender is former Bush Cabinet Secretary Mel Martinez, a successful trial lawyer who was president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. Similarly, the president of the state trial lawyers' association is a lifelong Republican, whose father once ran for governor.

http://www.americanprogress.org

[NewJeffCT]

1. Center for American Progress is wonderful

I'd suggest all visit their website & sign up for their daily emails - they give an honest breakdown of the RW spin we get in the "mainstream" media.

[nostamj]

2. Two 'Jeff's Agree!

It is excellent! (I like hearing them on the Franken Show everyday too...

[redqueen]

3. YES! The Progress Report is a must read!

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[AP]

4. I LOVED what Clinton said about Edwards:

He noted Edwards's great skills and said the significant thing about Edwards is not that he has those skills, but how he chose to use those skills.

It gives me goosebumps to think about this.

(And, incidentally, the thing that is so compelling about this statement is at the core of the Spiderman movies -- it's a coment about heroism and about trying to help people.)

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