I hope this guy is wrong

[renie408]

Because I sure think that John Edwards would be a great President:

>>In a sad irony of presidential campaigning, it's becoming clear that John Edwards's policy strength is also his biggest political weakness. Over the past few months, he's done more than just prove his policy acumen--he's shown that he works best in forums where he gets to focus on the issues. He's conducted 30 town hall meetings in New Hampshire (and even more in Iowa and South Carolina), meetings in which audiences get an hour to ask him anything about everything from FCC deregulation to domestic oil drilling to weapons of mass destruction. He doesn't duck the tough ones, and he doesn't jump on easy ones to strut his stuff. His answers are honest, informed, and straight-forward. And he's always ready. It's the sort of forum Bush wouldn't dream of attending, and it warms the cockles to think that we could elect a White House occupant who would.

And yet it's looking less likely that we will. Indeed, Edwards's perhaps excessive town hall schedule--by the primaries he'll have done 100 in New Hampshire alone--is indicative of a larger problem: Though policy-intensive, he is no egghead politician (à la Bill Bradley); nevertheless, he harbors the egghead's notion that if he can just get enough people to listen to his ideas, he can win. He keeps his head down, avoiding the party infighting that is occupying so much of Lieberman, Dean, and Kerry's time. Unfortunately, it's that very infighting--and resultant media coverage--that often helps define who's on top. So while Joe and Howard and John K. argue over just what Dean meant when he said the United States should not take sides between Israelis and Palestinians, John E. is quietly pushing a remarkable raft of education reforms to groups of 100, 200 people in small-town New Hampshire. Guess which story is more important. Now guess which one will help define the front-runner.<<

It is ironic that the exact thing that I think makes the other candidates less Presidential is the exact thing that will give them the most press and help their candidacy.

[molly]

1. Ignore it - I like him and I still

support him as my number 2 choice. IMHO he has a much better chance than the front runner.

[renie408]

3. I think so, too

I swear, I never thought I would be excited by a politician. But the more I read and the more I see, I LOVE THIS GUY.

You know, I bet everybody feels this way, but I just can't understand why it isn't as clear to everybody else as it is to me that he is a great candidate.

[Mairead]

9. If he weren't so DLCish, I'd put him on my dance card too

Unfortunately, like CMB, he is.

[rads]

20. I don't think he's all that DLCish....

I'm not sure where the common conception of Edwards as a DLC clone comes from, but I suspect it has something to do with people "expecting" him to be a conserva-Dem since he's from the south. In '02 he had an ACU rating of 15, which is quite liberal considering he's from a semi-conservative state like North Carolina. To put it in perspective, that places him as slightly to the left of Patty Murray and Tom Carper (who are from much more Dem-friendly states) and relatively far to the left of other southern Dems like Fritz Hollings and John Breaux.

He's not my top choice and he's definitely not perfect, but he's among the four or five candidates that I would be extremely happy to have at the top of the ticket. :)

[Brucey]

2. There's a long way to go in this one.

And there are many battles to be fought in the future. Edwards is young; it's great to have him on our side.

[alexwcovington]

4. Yeah....

A senior post in the Senate or the veep slot could help out his name recognition and distinguish him from that TV seance guy.

[molly]

12. I had this discussion with my husband yesterday

the seance guy is John Edward - John EdwardS (with an S) is the political guy.

[blm]

5. That's why I think Dean started attacking last January

and kept targeting Kerry. He knew he would get the most press from it.

The press spins every confrontation against Kerry much like they did with the Gore/Bush race. Corporate media.

The silly season is over...I think Edwards will perform admirably.

[JI7]

6. the whore media

typical whore media doesn't cover most of this. john edwards is doing the best he can by going to the most people as he can. and he does a very good job. i think he may turn out to be the surprise winner as bill clinton came from behind to push ahead. don't give up. just continue supporting him as you do. that's what i do with john kerry.

[AP]

18. Typical that they try to spin a strength into a weakness.

This was McCain's strategy, by the way. If not for the character assassination by the Bush campaign in SC, it would have worked. Anyway, we all know who McCain is now. Did we know who he was before he went to hundreds of town hall meetings in NH? Do we think he's a policy wonk becuase he did? No. Didn't think so.

This was also Clinton's strategy. He won. (He was a policy wonk long before he went to his first Town Hall meeting.)

[deutsey]

7. "if he can just get enough people to listen to his ideas"

How silly of Edwards...:evilfrown:
>sarcasm off<

[RevolutionStartsNow]

8. Reminds me of a story...

My daughter ran for 5th grade president last year at her elementary school. She didn't win, and afterward I was talking to her about the process. She told me about the various speeches the other kids had made. When I asked her who won, she said, "The people with no ideas."

Welcome to politics, kid.

[DrFunkenstein]

10. Ever Since He Tried To Make Peace At The First Debate

I've been slowly gaining respect for him. I was initially turned off by his centrism, but he has not only passion, but also a really level head - which is so necessary in a real leader.

[chimpymustgo]

11. Edwards might be the man for the times. A uniter, with fresh ideas.

Restore integrity and dignity to the White House.

www.johnedwards2004.com

[kang]

13. Edwards still has time

I read that TNR post a couple of days ago too, but he's still got a few months to go. After all, now that he's not worried about running for Senate again, he can just keep flooring it in NH, Iowa, and South Carolina. From what I understand, he really wins people over in those small talks he does (as I would expect he would). I checked out his website and the ads he's been running. They're awfully good at getting across this sense that he's a real person.

The fact is, Dean and Kerry may talk about their experiences when they were younger (physician and soldier), but neither is likely to talk about their upbringing or background since it will remind people that they were just as upper class wealthy as Pres. Bush. Somebody even enlightened me on this forum with the fact that Dean is actually a "III" which doesn't exactly scream blue collar. While Gephardt can talk about his roots just like Edwards, he's just not as good at it and it sounds much more forced.

The thing that's unique about Edwards is that he wasn't interested in politics all his life (I'm not sure he voted regularly), but he was a guy who worked hard to become a lawyer and won some major victories for plaintiffs against big companies. I think in the current climate with so many people hurting, people might not care so much that he was a "lawyer" or "suit." After he got that money, he decided to run for Senate. It's got a Mr. Smith goes to Washington appeal to it.

If he can keep at it, I'm pretty sure that a few of the other candidates will falter (as has happened in all races) and he'll pick up enough support at least to be a serious contender for the VP slot.

[kang]

14. Gotta correct myself

Somebody brought up the fact that Edwards won major awards for medical malpractice cases. This is a bit diff. than his products liability cases since it can be argued with a bit more traction that the costs are spread to others through doctors going out of business due to high malpractice insurance rates.

[DemDogs]

22. And you gotta be corrected

The line about judgments in malpractice cases causing malpractice insurance rates to go up is Republican baloney. Every independent analysis says rates go up when the market goes down -- insurance companies make their real profit in the stock market and when it goes down, the profits go down . . . unless they can get the money elsewhere, like from the doctors. Don't buy this Repub nonsense.

[kang]

30. There's another forum where we discussed this too

and you're right that insurance companies will spread their costs onto others whenever they can, but you can't completely dismiss the fact that insurance rates in some states are substantially higher than in others. Many doctors are moving as a result. Perhaps the real motive for the rates being so high is what you say, but I don't really look at it as a left/right issue so much as a real problem facing health care.

[sandnsea]

31. Caps don't help

That's what California discovered. Until they changed the actual insurance laws, malpractice insurance continued to go up. My auto insurance rates went up about a year ago, my insurance company took a big loss because they were a Worldcom insurer. Alot of people's insurance rates went up last year and everybody thought it was 9/11 losses. It wasn't, it was Enron, Worldcom, etc. That story came out in the papers for about 2 days, then poof, gone.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

15. The misconception that the writer holds

(who is the writer, btw, do you have a link to this or something)

is a common one among the media. That the media and the media coverage is all-important. Of course it is important. But the only thing that is all-important is who gets the most votes on election day. (As long as they get counted.) And the closest election day is a long, long, way off.

[renie408]

16. It is from TNR

[sandnsea]

17. He's a Southerner

People in alot of the rest of the country are used to 'getting to know' a candidate, or a person even. What you see the first time you meet somebody, isn't always what you get later on. Not a Southerner. You meet them, you know them. They say exactly what they think from the gate. It might not be alot, but there's absolutely no hedging on it. That's my experience anyway. So people are waiting to 'get to know' more about Edwards, and they haven't figure out that they know him. He needs to address this and turn it to his advantage. He needs to tell people straight up that in the South, you're raised to be yourself. There's not going to be any surprises or little secrets that will creep up, no revelations, no contradictions of character. He has told people who he is from the very first day and that's the same person he's going to be until he's in the White House! That's what I think anyway!

[renie408]

19. You have obviously never been

to a Junior League meeting.

[sandnsea]

21. This was a compliment

and I'm not the first person who's made the same observations about Southerners. In fact, the article posted by Chimpy says Edwards isn't particularly reflective. I think it's a good thing there's no little secrets or backroom deals waiting to pop out on Edwards. He just needs to turn it to his advantage to give people even more confidence in him, that's all I'm saying. Wow, am I getting whacked because I said Southerners are straight-forward people? I hope not. Or did I miss something in your sense of humor???

[DemDogs]

23. Edwards is straight forward, a straight talker

You are right that Edwards is straight forward, and the TNR piece nailed it to -- direct answers whatever the question. He knows his stuff, which is necessary to win. He knows how to talk to people, which is necessary to win. He has a real line on the difference between him and Bush, both in background and perspective, which is necessary to win. Ideas, personality, life story = sounds like what we need.

[renie408]

Well, yeah

you missed the joke. Probably because it sounds like you have never been to a Jr. League meeting.

Junior League is where ehvryboddy who is ahnyboddy (and is a woman) ahspires to buhcome a mehmbah.

Ok, it is REALLY hard to write a Southern lockjaw accent. It was a joke. I live in the south and know plenty of people who ain't what they seem to be. Especially in the Charlotte region because here there is so much new money. Everybody wants to be old money southern. But there really isn't much old money left down here. Plenty of new money, not much old money. But I do appreciate the compliment.

[sandnsea]

27. Oh good

I didn't want you mad at me too! And you know, I don't know anything about Southern money. That would not be my Arkansas family! My brother-in-law came up with folks who didn't even have indoor plumbing! His parents were two of the most wonderful people I have ever met in my life, never had a mean word to say about anyone. So that's the kind of person I see in John Edwards, it's going to take a while for the lightbulb to go on in cynical America. "Oh, this is really who he is!"

[renie408]

28. I see Edwards

as being from a hardworking milltown family that wanted something better for their kids so they raised them to work just as hard at getting out of the mill. I am really impressed that John Edwards was working summers and school breaks through highschool in a mill and on farms til he got through school. I wonder what some other candidates were doing on school breaks. I do know that being from a lower middle class family does not, in itself, make him suitable to be President, but the drive, brains and hardwork that got him from THERE to HERE sure as hell help. And I think that people are sick of the privileged running the country.

[sandnsea]

29. Exactly

And my brother-in-law is an engineer and my sister is a budget director at Alltel. They may not have worked up to the amount of wealth Johnny has, but same basic story. Except they became Republicans, eeeeww! I just try to look past that little detail!

[renie408]

24. Well, yeah

you missed the joke. Probably because it sounds like you have never been to a Jr. League meeting.

Junior League is where ehvryboddy who is ahnyboddy (and is a woman) ahspires to buhcome a mehmbah.

Ok, it is REALLY hard to write a Southern lockjaw accent. It was a joke. I live in the south and know plenty of people who ain't what they seem to be. Especially in the Charlotte region because here there is so much new money. Everybody wants to be old money southern. But there really isn't much old money left down here. Plenty of new money, not much old money. But I do appreciate the compliment.

[renie408]

25. Well, yeah

you missed the joke. Probably because it sounds like you have never been to a Jr. League meeting.

Junior League is where ehvryboddy who is ahnyboddy (and is a woman) ahspires to buhcome a mehmbah.

Ok, it is REALLY hard to write a Southern lockjaw accent. It was a joke. I live in the south and know plenty of people who ain't what they seem to be. Especially in the Charlotte region because here there is so much new money. Everybody wants to be old money southern. But there really isn't much old money left down here. Plenty of new money, not much old money. But I do appreciate the compliment.

[renie408]

26. Sorry about that

I don't know why it posted three times.

[DrFunkenstein]

32. Open Challenge To Edwards People

Of all the TNR pieces ever written on him, which is your favorite?

[renie408]

33. Challenge accepted....

hold on, I have to go and read....

Ok...I'm back.

Now the article I have selected is a little weird, because it is very brief and not a huge "John Edwards is the second coming of Christ" type thing. It's this one...

http://www.tnr.com/primary/index.mhtml?pid=662

Its about Edwards idea for a national translation database to help improve medical care in this country. The title is "Good Things Come in Small Packages". I like it because it highlights the way Edwards mind works to come up with real-people solutions to problems.

[Bread and Circus]

34. It isn't the message, or the messenger...

sometimes it's the package the messenger comes in.

I am not bagging on Edwards I am only trying to shed
a little light here. I have a psychology background
so I look at these things in those terms. In light of
this, I believe most people vote on a gut reaction more than
anything.

If your guy isn't getting the reaction you think he should,
ask yourself how people perceive him (not what he is saying,
but who they think he is). That's why smear tactics,
lies, and dirty campaigning works. It's all about image.
Edwards is a good looking guy but ultimately he is a trial
lawyer. Being a trial lawyer is not very inpiring because
in the back of our minds we have a reflex notion that trial
lawyers are greedy and are part of what is ruining America.
It may or may not be true but that is the perception and that
is why I don't think people warm up to him the way they have
to Dean.

Dean has run his campaign on the "Robin Hood" image of "taking
our country back" and "taking the power back" and "running from
the democratic wing", blah, blah, blah. Well, we all know, he is
no more of a Democrat or able to "take the power back" than any
of the others. But he took a gamble on what he thought people
want to hear, Trippi painted his image in bold brush strokes,
and voila...he is the front-runner.

Don't take this as a cap on Edwards or Dean, because it is not.
All I am saying is that politics is largely
about image, especially the Presidential race. So, look at the
"gut reaction" factor that Edwards evokes and maybe you'll
find your answer.

[renie408]

35. O-Kay

Thank you for your response.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the way Edwards is perceived and if you read the article...you DID read the article, right? You'll see that it wasn't a diss on Edwards, but it was saying that though Edwards knocks the socks off of everybody he talks to, Dean and Kerry's back and forth is drawing more media attention than his thoughtful town meeting approach.

[Bread and Circus]

37. Yeah, I read the article

and I think it misses the mark for the reasons
I gave.

Edwards has had many months to catch fire and he
has not. The reason is more of a packaging problem
and not what the article was suggesting.

[Andromeda]

36. I'm supporting Dean now...

but I really like John Edwards. He's got everything you could want in a candidate. He's not a controversial candidate; he's a gentleman in every sense of the word. Maybe that's why he's not getting enough attention.

Dean has an edge---he generates a lot of excitement because he energizes crowds of people like nobody I've ever seen before, except for Bill Clinton. He speaks off the cuff and that is a tendency he's going to have to curb somewhat. He'll have to learn to weigh his words more carefully because too many of his critics are waiting to hit him over the head with them. On one of the news shows I saw a while back, don't remember where, he complimented Edwards and said he's a good man. I've heard him compliment other candidates and I know that goes against the popular notion that Dean rips everybody apart but it's true.

John Edwards is a good man and I hope he hangs in there. He has a lot to offer.

[LWolf]

38. I don't know; what do you think?

Edwards is #2 for me at this point. I'm concerned about him not running to keep his senate seat; if he doesn't get the nomination, I'd like to see him still working in congress.

A DUer recently posted a remark about actually thinking elections were about issues...called that "stupidity."

This post seems to support the idea that elections don't revolve around issues.

I don't know. I just know that the issues are important to me, and I'll make my choices based on the issues, not on someone's idea about how to beat the other guy.

Perhaps a letter-writing blitz to major media, demanding more coverage of issues than brawling, and letting sponsors know what voters want to see in political coverage?