Washington Post: Bloggers Say it Again - They Like Edwards

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/08/04/bloggers_say_it_again_they_lik.html

CHICAGO - It's John Edwards country at the blogapalooza that is Yearly Kos.

We're sitting here at the progressive blogosphere's first presidential forum, to be followed by individual break-out sessions with the candidates. Sen. Hillary Clinton, citing a scheduling conflict, held her break-out before the forum, as opposed to after it, as the other candidates plan to do. She was warmly received, despite the fact that Edward Anderson, a Daily Kos blogger, walked around minutes before the session, passing around buttons that read "Bush - Clinton - Bush - Clinton" with a sad, yellow face.

But it was Edwards that shined in the forum. The former North Carolina senator received two standing ovations, his voice drowned out by applause as he derided special interests in Washington. When the candidates were asked if they'd have a presidential blogger, Edwards said he would - and her name would be Elizabeth Edwards. Edwards's wife was an early adopter in blogging, and she's been a crucial, encouraging voice in her husband's campaign on the Internet.

There are a few reasons why Yearly Kos is Edwards country. Since the beginning of the year, the former North Carolina senator has led the monthly straw poll at Daily Kos, the popular liberal blog that lent its name to this convention. Last month, he won 36 percent of the vote - with Obama at 27 and Clinton at 9. Joe Trippi, who holds rock star status here after he effectively used the Internet to build support for Howard Dean's campaign, is now a major force in the Edwards campaign. Mathew Gross, a former Deaniac who launched the first ever presidential blog, is a chief online adviser for Edwards.
So even on Sen. Barack Obama's birthday -- he turned 46 today -- in the town that he now calls home, Edwards seemed to rule at Yearly Kos.

-- Jose Antonio Vargas

[IndyOp]

1. Go, JE! (n/t)

[GeorgetownDems]

2. John Edwards at the Union Hall - Video

This is from Georgetown, S.C.

http://www.dailymotion.com/OneCarolinaGirl/video/x2me12_john-edwards-speaks-to-united-steel_events/1

[maximusveritas]

3. Edwards is great at throwing out the red meat

that an audience like the one at Yearly Kos demands.
Obama is not good at it, especially in a debate setting. He is much more interested in making complex nuanced arguments that may generate polite applause, but won't bring the crowd to its feet.
This forum was suited perfectly for Edwards and he delivered.

[screembloodymurder]

4. So do I.

We have a women (never been elected) and a black (never been elected) and a good looking, white, southern male running for President. They are all capable and smart, but in a country ripe with racists and chauvinists, only one is electable. I see huge risk in every candidate but one. With the future of our democracy at stake, why think outside of the box.

[jsamuel]

6. John Edwards: If you won't vote for Hillary or Obama because she is a woman or he is black, I don't

want your vote either.

[jsamuel]

5. he did wonderful, there is a reason why he wins online

[lib2DaBone]

7. Tuff Enough

I love John Edwards. But he is not tuff enough to stand up to republican swiftboating and slander. The best candidate for the democrats will be a someone that is comfortable in a cage fight, someone who can stand up and fight bare knuckles and claw his/her way to the top. We are fighting for our lives here people... the end of civilazation as we know it.......