Going into 2008, I thought John Edwards the strongest Democrat to run. I thought Edwards the strongest Democrat in 2004, going into it.
In retrospect, I was probably wrong. Scandal aside, Edwards had a creepy side to him that turned people off. A certain amount of that was some of the macabre sentiments he felt regarding his son Wade's death, which was not his fault, but was something that creeped John Kerry out. (Kerry expressed regret that he picked Edwards after the fact.) That he was a martial cheat on a loyal wife who had cancer was creepy, and that he had an affair and a child with a New Age type was creepy as well (at least to some people), but he'd have had the creepy side regardless of whether or not these things happen.
The other off-putting thing about Edwards was that he came off as a phony. I remember watching the VP debate, thinking that Edwards would have trashed Cheney, but by the end of the debate, I thought that Cheney actually got the better of him. Cheney came off decisive and genuine (even if he was a genuine neocon warmonger) whereas Edwards came off a bit weak in the end. (I actually think Cheney would have been a strong candidate in 2008 if he had not needed a heart transplant.)
Are you sure? Cheney is policy guru with decades of Washington experience, and Edwards is... what he is.
I mean, Cheney's an evil genius, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't want to face him in any kind of debate setting.
