Brooks on Edwards, NYTime

[DemDogs]

"John Edwards has the most persuasive theory. He argues that most voters do not place candidates on a neat left-right continuum. But they are really good at sensing who shares their values. They are really good at knowing who respects them and who doesn't. Edwards's theory is that the Democrats' besetting sin over the past few decades has been snobbery. Edwards draws an implicit contrast between himself and Howard Dean and John Kerry by pointing out that he worked for everything he has. He loaded trucks to pay for college. "It didn't hurt me at all," he says.

"He draws an explicit contrast with George Bush, arguing that the Bush administration rewards wealth and punishes work. This is not about economics, he says; it's about values. The Bush administration disrespects working Americans. It lowers taxes for people who sit around the pool and collect capital gains, while shifting the burden to people who wake up early, work hard and hope to get rich
..."Except for Bill Clinton, Democrats have nominated presidential candidates who try to figure out Middle American values by reading the polls, instead of feeling them in their gut. If they do it again, the long, slow slide will continue."

Read the whole column <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/opinion/21BROO.html>

[chimpymustgo]

1. Brooks may have stumbled onto a truth. I think he's right about Edwards.

And the American people. And electability.

[sandnsea]

2. This is true

Americans vote for somebody who they think expresses their values. I've always liked that best about Edwards. I knew he'd have the ability to express traditional Democratic values in a way where people would start to recognize them as mainstream values. I still don't think people are going to trust him on security and I think that's a way bigger issue than is being recognized.

[DemDogs]

3. He's strong on security actually

He has had more proposals for improvement of our national security than any other candidate. Some of the ideas are completely unique, like an agency to replace the intelligence activities of the FBI and proposals to reduce the risk of agro-terrorism that compromises our food supply. I'd love to see him in a debate with Bush on security.