How many cross-over voters are we going to get with Edwards?

[deminflorida]

Interesting Article...especially the end....

What John Edwards' Money Said

"Edwards has a point. No one should doubt the power of regionalism in American politics. All presidents since 1972 have been from the South or the West. Edwards has one essential trait for winning the presidency.

But John Edwards is not Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton (not to mention Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush). He's not a former governor. All presidents since 1972 (save for George H.W. Bush) have held the highest office in a state far from Washington, DC. That's not surprising. Americans regularly tell pollsters they don't trust the federal government. Their faith in D.C. has improved ever so slightly of late but probably not enough to elect a Washington insider (or someone from Massachusetts).

Edwards is a senator (and hence, an insider) but only recently arrived (elected in 1998). He might hope to run a populist campaign and hope his Southern charm carries him the rest of the way.

Yet Edwards became rich as a trial lawyer and gets most of his campaign funds from his fellow plaintiffs of the bar. He has gotten about 60 percent of his funding for the presidential campaign from other lawyers. There's nothing illegal or immoral about that. Lawyers also have a right to participate in politics.

Having trial lawyers for friends and supporters, however, contravenes the image Edwards hopes to cultivate as an outsider who will stand up to the special interests in D.C. Fairly or not, trial lawyers seem to have found their own presidential candidate in John Edwards.

Edwards will say trial lawyers fight for the little guy against big corporations who have done them wrong. His opponents will surely point out that two thirds of Edwards' money comes from donors giving the legal maximum of $2,000. That may make his populist rhetoric sound hollow.

We should not be concerned that John Edwards' campaign broke some campaign finance rules. We should wonder why he has not attracted broad support from Democratic donors. Americans hope to elect a president who seeks, to the best of his ability, the good of the nation as a whole. For now, John Edwards seems more of a lobbyist than a leader."

http://www.cato.org/dailys/05-09-03.html

[arewethereyet]

1. rummaging around Cato ? thats interesting.

Actually having the most centrist platform in the lot would stand him well for attracting crossover voting.

His tax position is the only realiztic one, his plans to alter the status quo that prevents advancement of those of humble means via easing transition into higher education and home ownership are a breath of fresh air that will actually have their desired effect. It placed the recipients into a stake holding position which is the basis of success and generally lacking in socially oriented programs.

People fed up with Bush's spending spree will like what they see in Edwards.

[ShaneGR]

8. Edwards would gobble up a LOT of Republican women

And I do find it interesting that he's using material from Cato.

[arewethereyet]

9. there also the hunka hunka burning pol factor as you suggest

every vote counts right ?

[ShaneGR]

10. You got that right

Make no mistake about it, a LARGE percentage of women voters DO vote based on looks.

Ask Bill Clinton.

[ngGale]

2. Only my opinion, but the reason Edwards has not yet...

attracted broad support from Democratic donors. Most of them are giving to Kerry as the candidate with the 'electability' factor.
Edwards can get a lot of cross-over voter's because he is for 'real.'

[PurityOfEssence]

3. How shocking that right-wing sites have a problem with him

To answer your question, he'll get many southerners and rural voters. His rural planks are unlike anyone else's, and it's a demographic that's sorely ignored by the left.

Maybe Clark can get more conservatives and Republicans to vote for him, but the loss of the left that he will have will net him less overall gain than Edwards. I'll bet that Edwards will also bring more new voters and non-voters into the process than either Kerry or Clark.

There's also this: the conservatives can easily say that the Democrats are so pathetic that they had to go outside of their party to even find someone they thought could win.

[bain_sidhe]

6. Huh?

Maybe Clark can get more conservatives and Republicans to vote for him, but the loss of the left that he will have will net him less overall gain than Edwards.

You do know that Clark's proposals are more liberal and more progressive than Edwards, right? I mean, you're talking about perceptions that military types MUST be conservative, right? PLEASE don't tell me you really think that Edwards is more liberal than Clark.

[ChiefJoseph]

4. Tons

He has Clinton's political gifts without the zipper problem.

[bearfartinthewoods]

5. please edit to four paragraphs to protect DU from

copyright infringement woes.

[DjTj]

7. Edwards speaks for rich trial lawyers...

...and for people who can't afford to donate at all.

When John Edwards first started speaking about poverty in his stump speech, I e-mailed the campaign and warned them about the "class-warfare" image he might start to create.

But Johnny has stuck with it. He has kept on talking about these people that don't vote and can't afford to donate to campaigns. As long as he is using his money to speak for these people with no apparent political benefit as far as I can tell, I will have tremendous respect for him.

I believe his post-Iowa donations will be much more well-rounded. When you aren't a career politician, you don't have as much of a broad base from which to draw funds. He truly is an outsider and he had to rely on his first career to raise money. He did not become a national politician until January 19, 2004, and his fundraising will soon start to reflect that.

[ShaneGR]

12. Well, since Iowa I have given $300... and I'm not a lawyer

And the Edwards campaign doesn't put up those stupid bats or train things to tell the supporters whether they are/aren't raising money. Though the guy on the phone at HQ said they were pulling about 250K a day since Iowa.

[revcarol]

11. A few.

Mostly unemployed mill workers.

[BigMcLargehuge]

13. locked

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