January 24, 2004
THE PIG IN THE POKE:
Two-Face: John Edwards is a Clinton-style golden boy. What does it look like when he has a bad day? (Jonathan V. Last, 01/23/2004, Weekly Standard)
JOHN EDWARDS is currently the trendy pick to win the Democratic nomination. According to the conventional wisdom, John Kerry is now the solid frontrunner, Dean is a has-been (albeit a has-been with money), and Clark is increasingly out of his league--making Edwards a nice dark-horse bet.The primary reason for liking Edwards is his collection of natural gifts. He's smart and confident, but more than that, he's a tremendous politician. When he's firing on all cylinders, he's polished but not slick, seamless but not prepackaged. He does not always fire on all cylinders.
Exhibit A would be last night's debate, where Edwards treaded water until he ran up against the Defense of Marriage Act and didn't appear to understand the law. Exhibit B would be today's event at the Page Belting manufacturing plant.
You'd think they'd have learned their lesson about neophytes after the Dean and Clark implosions. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 24, 2004 10:23 AM
True. As one local pundit here put it last night all of the Dems are flawed (Dean and Clark will implode, Edwards too green, Lieberman too dull, Kerry a NE liberal) and Kerry looks good only in comparison to them.
I think a Kerry-Edwards ticket prevents a GOP landslide but I can't see it winning.
In retrospect, these guys are making Dan Quayle look good, in a variety of ways.
I heard Edwards say on NHPR the other day that no way no how was he going to accept the veep slot. Of course, that's pretty meaningless; if he craters in NH, SC, etc and gets offered the spot he may grab it. What else does he have to do?
Posted by: Governor Breck at January 24, 2004 9:58 PM