To all who believes that the right's "trial lawyer" attack would be enough

[DaisyUCSB]

to seriously hold off Edwards from beating Bush, at least more than the ammunition that Kerry gives them. I urge you to read this and consider it:
http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=636

Commentary: Most Hated In Bush's America

Republicans are constantly at war with two groups in our society, both of which defend the interests of ordinary Americans in a way that no other groups can.
By John Greeley

Republicans consistently single out two particular groups for their severest criticisms. It just so happens that both groups represent very important interests of individual Americans. What I refer to here are trial lawyers and trade unions of all types.

One need look no farther than to examine exactly what each group does to understand why they vex true Republicans. In the case of trial lawyers, are they merely the ambulance chasing, cash crazy, misfortune manipulating social parasites Republicans describe them to be? Not by a long shot. While it is true that large sums of money can be, and are earned by lawyers, that fact alone does not take in the bigger picture.

Trial lawyers earn large fees because they do battle on the level playing field of our legal system. It remains the only arena in the world in which one single individual, represented by counsel, can fight the wrongs committed against him and against others by the largest, richest and most powerful corporations on earth (made rich in many cases by virtue of the same wrongs), either directly or indirectly. No where else is this possible...

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. Its not the trial lawyer thing that would sink him...

Its the "pretty boy" "inexperienced, soft on terror wussy boy" image that wouyld stick like glue.

He would get crushed in the GE.

[DaisyUCSB]

3. So Bush is going to call him a "wussy boy" and a "pretty boy"

no, he wouldn't dare.

And Please tell me the states that would go to Bush if Edwards were the nominee that would result in him getting "crushed"

Unless you can take the time to explain you're inflammatory, exaggeratory statements, your not engaging in real debate.

[KissMyAsscroft]

8. Ok....

The entire south.

How's that for your answer?

Except for maybe Edwards home state.

And Bush wouldn't say it directly, his minions would. And it would STICK. LIKE. GLUE.

[DaisyUCSB]

14. So, Edwards would lose the entire south other than maybe NC, and Kerry?

he would do better in the south?

I don't contend that Edwards would NOT lose most of the south, all he needs is 2000 Gore states plus 9, which he was a heck of a better chance than Kerry at.

[atre]

18. There's a reason why Kerry has impliedly written off the South

He knows he can't win here. If your objective is to win Southern states, you DO NOT want Kerry to be the nominee.

[mmonk]

20. but Edwards has only won one state in the south so far in the primary

[spooky3]

22. Voters in the Dem primaries are not the same as voters in the

general election, and the voters' choices are not the same, obviously.

Kerry may be the top choice of primary (mostly Dem) voters at the time (or he might not have been, if Clark and Dean has not also been in the race then--we just don't know) in VA and TN. But in the general, when it is Dem vs. Rep, Edwards could get more votes than Kerry would get in the same states, especially given that between now and then, he will become better known to the average voter.

No one has to take a lot of the south. But several southern states and a few Midwestern ones were barely lost by Gore. Do we think that, vs. Bush, Edwards would be more likely to pick up Ohio than would Kerry? I do. How about West Virginia? Arkansas?

Ohio alone, or WV and Ark, would be all that it would take.

[mmonk]

23. I could see Ohio

but I think Kerry could pick it up as well.

[atre]

27. So you write off the South as well?

nm

[atre]

26. Reply

As I'm sure you're aware, there's a tremendous difference between winning a state's primary and winning that state in the GE.

Edwards attracts moderates and watered-down conservatives who are upset with the Bush Administration. Kerry has done a better job of attracting the rank and file Democrats in the primaries. If Edwards gets the nomination, Kerry's southern support is almost assuredly transferable. Many of Edwards' supporters will not transfer their votes to Kerry.

You also cannot discount the amount of free media that Kerry has been getting since Iowa.

[spooky3]

31. Kerry's also spending a LOT more $. In VA I saw one Edwards ad

and he was staring straight into the camera and reading--low budget.

I saw Kerry's ads on TV frequently. They were excellent ads, well-produced, very professional.

I'm not saying he's doing anything wrong. I'm just saying that it helps to have a lot of $.

[mmonk]

2. If that's all they will hit him with

I'll eat my hat.

[DaisyUCSB]

4. Did I say that's all they'll hit him with?

No I didn't, but we know it's one of the only things they will use against him that they couldn't use against Kerry, because that's all they have attacked him with for the most part since he began his presidential campaign.

And it would backfire, like most of their predictable attacks against Edwards, because he's running against George W. Bush.

I don't see an obvious way, however the convictionless/Gigolo/"who knew Ted Kennedy was the conservative from MA/ attacks would really backfire against Kerry

[mmonk]

5. I think they will hit him with

inexperience in foreign policy next to the wartime president who will keep us safe and support the troops. I think they will say he wants to overturn all the trade policies creating a trade war. I think they will say he is the reason for the high cost of medical insurance. I think they will say he is the reason for increased liability costs which will cost American business and jobs. They will hit him over the head for being for trade with China, which costs American jobs, particularly textile jobs in the south while saying he is against NAFTA though he wasn't in the Senate when NAFTA was voted on (making it out to be hypocrisy). Those are just a few I see coming down the pike.

[KittyWampus]

6. Also, Edwards' Posturing On Being "Son Of A Millworker"

the mediawhores would eventually hone in on the fact Edwards grew up the son of a mill manager/consulting business owner who was NOT poor or working class.

Edwards' signature line is a load of crap. That really ought to play well.

[mmonk]

7. They will also mention the missed votes

in the Senate.

[DaisyUCSB]

10. Of which he has missed less than Kerry

the hypocracy is really never ending

[mmonk]

17. over how long of a period?

[atre]

19. Someone posted the stats not too long ago

Edwards' voting record was better than ANY of the crop of Presidential candidates, except for Kucinich. Kerry was by far the worst of the group, IIRC.

[mmonk]

21. then the repubs may hit Kerry with his absence lately

[atre]

29. I don't think voters care, to be honest

That may work at the House level, where people expect serious representation, but I don't think it works at any level above that.

[DaisyUCSB]

9. Edwards is the son of a millworker

Edwards father worked his way up to management and the middle class by the time he was in highschool. Edwards was born into a working class family that didn't own a home and they did have to borrow money to bring him home.

He did work through highschool and college part time, and was forced to transfur from Clemson to NC state because of finances. And he did work part time and summers to pay through public college and law school.

He has never said he grew up poor. He has said he grew up like a REGULAR PERSON. UNLIKE KERRY. UNLIKE SOMEONE who was born to parents worth 8 figures by inheritance, who married one wife worth OVER 300 MILLION DOLLARS, divorced messily, and married another wife worth 3 quarters of a BILLION dollards

[mmonk]

11. the class warfare stuff may get traction in the dem party

but not with the rest of America. You were talking about the general election weren't you? Ever wonder sometimes why many of us North Carolinians are supporting other candidates?

[DaisyUCSB]

13. If there was ever an empty last resort buzzword it's "Class warfare"

one I might add, put into the lowest common denominator modern political soundbite-osphere by conservative republicans to discredit democrats.

And if you mean that people don't resent people like Bush, and all the breaks they get then you are wrong

[mmonk]

16. empty to us

but resonating to people who listen to their rhetoric.

[AP]

24. In mid January, 93% of Dem NC'ians approved of Edwards's run.

[mmonk]

30. and around 26-30% of NC dems were for Dean a couple of months ago

so?

[Edwards4President]

25. That's bull

Edwards's father was indeed a struggling mill worker and he grew up in difficult circumstances in mill towns. Yes, his father eventually worked his way up to manager - after many years - but that does not mean that he lived a cushy life by any stretch of the imagination. He had a hard row to hoe.

I would think that anyone with a lick of knowledge about Edwards would refrain from trying to claim that he is not being truthful about his past - he'll shove it right back down their throats.

It is clear from your posts that you simply hate Senator Edwards, but you'll need to do better than this if you want to convince anyone they shouldn't vote for him.

[DaisyUCSB]

12. How is it hypocritical to be against a policy just because you weren't

there to vote on it. Gee It's really hypocritical for Mike Crapo from Idaho to be against the Japanese internment in world war 2, he wasn't there to vote on it!. It's really hypocritical for Jack Reed from Delaware to be against McCarthyism, he wasn't there for the hearings?

You're logic is severly flawed. And most everything else you mentioned are connected to him being responsible for things people say trial lawyers are responsible for. he's not responsble for all trial lawyers, and they aren't responsible for 95 percent of what republicans say they are.

All that plus, he's facing a failed bussinessman and insider trader. Bush going after Edwards career would therefor BACKFIRE

[mmonk]

15. You missed the China part

Whether he is against it or not, it sure is convenient right now to be against it. They will make an issue of it. Look, everybody asks me what the republicans will hit him with. I give it to people as the republicans will frame it and everybody gets upset with me.

[atre]

28. Lauch Faircloth in 1998

Lauch tried this same strategy in 1998 and lost miserably in one of the few Democratic bright spots in that election cycle (the other being the defeat of Alphonse D'Amato, IIRC).