Edwards' strengths and weaknesses

[bluestateguy]

Since there is a slim chance that Edwards could win tonight and revitalize his campaign, we should assess his strengths and weaknesses as a general election nominee.

PRO

-Very articulate and charismatic; could destroy Bush in a debate.
-Attractive physically.
-Southern.
-Can connect well with the values of Middle America.
-Could do well with the "likeability" factor, always a media obsession.


CON

-Vulnerable to "trial lawyer" slander.
-Unknown how well he would respond to Rove attacks, given his emphasis on a positive campaign so far.
-Could be broke by March; he is reliant on matching funds.
-Nader voters may bolt; he voted for the IWR.
-Could be tagged with a label of "inexperience".
-No military service.

[Guaranteed]

1. The best thing Edwards has going for him

is his hair.

[Jackson Smith]

2. I think he would be able to unite the Party

He doesn't seem to turn alot of Democrats off like a Dean or Clark (military aspect).

[goodhue]

4. yes

Edwards would be a uniter.

[leyton]

3. Some comments

-Vulnerable to "trial lawyer" slander.

Yeah, that's a big minus, unfortunately. Anyone seen "The American President" with Michael Douglas and Annette Benning? In it, the Republican challenger gives President Douglas (a widower) a lot of crap for having a girlfriend. And Douglas refuses to answer this kind of nasty attack, but it ultimately costs him in the polls. So at the very end of the movie, he makes up his mind to go answer the attacks, and gets up and delivers a speech basically saying, "You wanna be President, you come after me, come after my policies. But Sydney Allen Wade (the girlfriend) is out of your league, Bob." It's real good. So I'm hoping at some point during the campaign Edwards will get on the stump and say, "You know what, I was a trial lawyer and I am not ashamed of it. If 'ambulance chaser' is all you've got, then I look forward to being the next President of the United States." Yeah, that's my little fantasy. But I sure hope it happens.

And if we could mix that with Martin Sheen's debate performance on "The West Wing", hoo baby. Well, obviously, I'm an Aaron Sorkin fan.

-Could be broke by March; he is reliant on matching funds.

Yeah. I hope if Edwards gets the nomination, the Dean fundraising machine will fall behind him.

-Nader voters may bolt; he voted for the IWR.

True. But I think he'll make up for it in attracting the centrist voters that would be turned off by a total peace candidate.

-Could be tagged with a label of "inexperience".

Yeah. That's my biggest worry too.

-No military service.

I don't think that's such a big deal (especially if Clark is VP). Reagan didn't have military service. Neither did Bush the elder (did he?) or Clinton or Dubya.

[AP]

5. Nader is already on record as saying he respects Edwards.

Kucinich wouldn't be working with Edwards if Nader had a problem with Edwards.

[goodhue]

7. trial lawyer

Can be a positive when its made clear that he fought large HMOs on behalf of the little guy. It can be a big positive especially with seniors and progressives. MN AG MIke Hatch is an example of a trial lawyer who spun litigating HMOs into being a progressive populist.

[flpoljunkie]

10. From New York Times profile on John Edward's legal career...

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/12/politics/campaigns/12EDWA.html?hp=&pagewanted=all&position=

Beyond a five-year Senate career in which his biggest legislative accomplishment was a bipartisan health care bill that never passed the House, Mr. Edwards's main victories have been in the courtroom.

He represented many sympathetic plaintiffs, among them some horribly crippled children. He became rich doing it, racking up more than $175 million for his clients from 1985 to 1997 and amassing a personal fortune of at least $38 million, according to North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.

At the same time, he did little or no pro bono work. Nor did he pursue public-interest lawsuits. While he speaks passionately about civil rights and the bravery of civil rights leaders, for instance, he has never used his legal skills to fight against discrimination through the courts.

Neither was he active in politics for the first 44 years of his life, except for the occasional donation to a Democratic candidate. He never ran for office or worked on a campaign. Indeed, before he burst onto the political scene in 1998, he did not even vote in several local elections, because, he says, he was too busy with his legal work.

[AP]

12. Lawyers who need to do a conscience check and do pro bono:

corporate lawyers. Medical defense lawyers. Criminal lawyers.

Lawyers who are doing a public service: lawyers who are responsible for the tranfer of 250 million dollars from negligent corporations to the working class people whom they injured.

Read Four Trials. Every case in which he was involved resulted in a policy change or a change in the law which ended up saving many other lives from death or misery.

That's a public service.

[Jackson Smith]

18. The "trial lawyer" attack makes me sick.

John Edwards worked on behalf of families for over 20 years.

The attacks will not work, all he has to do is TALK ABOUT what kinds of cases he won. It will make his detractors look pitiful.

[spooky3]

15. Apparently NYT is too backwater to know that

the law is so complex that attorneys specialize. Attorneys who specialize in lawsuits involving personal injuries typically do not also litigate employment discrimination suits because there is little overlap in the law you need to know about to be competent in both. Maybe in lil' ol' New York, the lawyers take on any case that a client could bring to them, but not in most communities. (sarcasm off)

Nice try, NYT.

[beaconess]

21. Reality Check

While he speaks passionately about civil rights and the bravery of civil rights leaders, for instance, he has never used his legal skills to fight against discrimination through the courts.

That's because he was a personal injury lawyer, not a civil rights lawyer, two entirely different areas of specialization.

Neither was he active in politics for the first 44 years of his life, except for the occasional donation to a Democratic candidate. He never ran for office or worked on a campaign. Indeed, before he burst onto the political scene in 1998, he did not even vote in several local elections, because, he says, he was too busy with his legal work.

There goes that "he's a political insider" argument. More power to him.

[AP]

23. It's like complaining about a brain surgeon never ever performing

a heart transplant.

Furthermore, to the extent that he redistributed wealth from people who didn't earn it to people they stole it from in the form of neglient actions and faulty products, he participated in a kind of law which is every bit as important as civil rights law (in many senses) and grows from the same progressive tree as civil rights law.

Folks, it's all about the downward and outward distribution of political, economic and cultural power, and Edwards has walked that walk longer, faster, and farther than any other candidate running.

[AP]

6. Best wartime presidents: FDR and Lincoln.

Lincoln has almost the exact same bio.

And both Lincoln and JRE have the mole.

[arewethereyet]

8. well thats not so bad

Trial Lawyer - Clinton was a lawyer and he survived even that

Rove attacks - not a lot to attack and he obviously stays with the game plan, talk about your vision, yur message

Money - I believe that there is big money waiting for "the guy", whoever "the guy" is so long as he is seen to be electable

Nader - sorry to lose anyone but these guys want Bush gone and I think they will bite their lips and pull the "D"

Experience - as was Carter, Clinton, Bush. If you can connect to people with a message they can feel good about then it matters not.
Thats been proven time and again.

Military - Committee assignments probably trump that, an appropriate VP if you're worried.

I like that set of risks a lot. And a lot better than the others.

[DjTj]

9. Responding to your cons...

Vulnerable to "trial lawyer" slander

When he was running for the Senate in 1998, they tried to use this against him and failed miserably. He is proud of his career and says so in his stump speeches. His campaign book is all about his life as a lawyer and not his political career. And in case you don't know what happenned in 1998, he was the only Democrat to unseat an incumbent Republican Senator. This was in the midst of the Lewinsky scandal and in a state Gore lost by 13%.

Unknown how well he would respond to Rove attacks, given his emphasis on a positive campaign so far.

He has responded every time he has been criticized. When Carol Moseley-Braun tried to attack him at the last debate, he jumped on her. He handles criticism with the precision of a trial lawyer and the honesty of the son of a millworker. Consider the recent flap over Kerry's remarks:

Responding to a questioner who asked how he differed from Edwards, Kerry touted his foreign policy experience and said that when he returned home after serving in Vietnam in 1969, "I don't even know if John Edwards was out of diapers."

Edwards responded Sunday evening before a stop in Mason City that drew an overflow crowd.

"I honor his service in Vietnam," he said. "In 1969, I was sitting around the kitchen table with my parents trying to figure out how we would pay for college like so many Iowans do. ... And that is a difference between me and Senator Kerry."

Could be broke by March; he is reliant on matching funds.

He raised more money early on than any other candidate and I think if he gets some momentum, the money will start pouring in. He has also managed to gain traction in Iowa without spending nearly as much money as Kerry or Dean, so I think with Edwards you will get a lot more bang for your buck.

Nader voters may bolt; he voted for the IWR.

As a plaintiff's attorney, John Edwards actually stands with Nader on what made Nader famous: products liability and tort reform. Maybe Nader would even endorse Edwards? Kucinich made a deal with Edwards today; anything is possible. As far as the IWR vote, I think the voters who are willing to vote for a General will be willing to see past the IWR vote. Some of the Dean and Kucinich supporters would be lost, but I believe Clark supporters would stay and the gains in the South and in the center would greatly outweigh any losses.

Could be tagged with a label of "inexperience".

He already addresses this in his stump speech. He tells people that he hasn't been in politics all his life and spent most of his career working in the real world. He asks, "Some people think real world experience is worth something, what do you think?"

No military service.

But he didn't dodge the draft either. It's not an issue when you're up against a draft-dodger. He has plenty of other things to attack Bush on.

[mlawson]

14. Kerry's remark was thoughtless, pointless and rude.

Edwards was SIXTEEN in 1969, and Kerry knew it. Sixteen is neither draft age, nor diaper age; what was the point?? It just sounded silly.

[spooky3]

16. he apologized for it.

[mlawson]

20. Good. I was not aware of that. n/t

[cryofan]

11. don't bother addressing the issues; the media deemed those are irrelevant

Who care what he thinks about progressive taxation?
Who care what he thinks about social spending?
Who care what he thinks about immigration?
Who care what he thinks about NAFTA and globalization?

[cthrumatrix]

13. Cons: $$$ and organization ...as of today

[leftist_rebel1569]

17. My comments on this

I agree with all the pros, and a couple cons...The nader voters might bolt if he doesn't look liberal enough. Not to mention, the IWR vote did hurt him. But I disagree with a few of your cons-

1. The trial lawyer thing could be used to help more than harm, if it was run right...I mean, what sounds more appealing, voting against that dirty trial lawyer or voting for the trial lawyer that's helped many Americans who were wronged live out the American dream?

2. The Military inexperience could easily be countered by having Kerry or Clark on the ballot.

3. His campaign really just got started, it's too early to speculate on money issues.

4. The inexperience can also be countered by having someone like Kerry, Gephardt, or Kucinich on the ballot, who have had political experience.

Other than that, I agree with it all, other than the "slim chance" part. I think he's got a little more than a slim chance, to be honest. Other than that, good post dude :hi:

[spooky3]

19. There are many other "pros"

You haven't mentioned any of his positions on the issues. They are the reasons that I support him.

He established a clearer platform, earlier, than did any other candidate. Please visit his website (see AP's signature line).

[arewethereyet]

22. an excellent point, thank you !

n/t