John Edwards in Perspective

[GOP Tarheel Blitz]

Hello, this is my first post ... excellent board by the way!

John Edwards not only failed to deliver NC for Kerry, he also failed to win his hometown of Robbins, NC.

In 1998, Edwards ran against Lauch Faircloth for the US Senate. In that election, Faircloth was hit with EPA violations for river pollution caused by his Sampson County hog farm. As a result of his pathetic response and the hiring of Art Finkle (?sp) as his campaign manager, an estimated 250,000 Republicans stayed home. That coupled with a large minority turnout, allowed Edwards to win 51-49. Had Edwards run for re-election, I believe he would have been soundly defeated. He was clearly looking toward the White House as early as 2000 when he was a consideration for Gore's VP choice. He was NEVER present for key votes in the Senate whether it be on committee or on the floor. He was a no-show concerning the Tobacco Allotment Buyout (pushed by Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Rep. Richard Burr), which greatly helped  NC Tobacco farmers. In the Spring of 2004, the Democrats in NC were even considering running Bowles or Rep. Bob Etheridge against Edwards in the Dem. primary. Edwards was never about looking after the interests of North Carolinians. He was all about John Edwards. We have a much better man in his place now.

[dazzleman]

Welcome aboard.

Like you, I share a low opinion of John Edwards.  I think he's a snake oil salesman and a phony.  His career as a trial lawyer only reinforces that.

Besides, it's hard to trust a candidate who's prettier than his wife.  (Come to think of it, that's also true of Kerry).

[elcorazon]

Edwards is the George Bush of the democratic party, except he's intelligent and articulate.  The point is he's appealing to the masses and keeps things simple, probably why he's so good at jury trials.  If he'd been at the top of the ticket with Kerry (or somebody else) the dems probably would've pulled this one out. 

[J. J.]

Elisabeth Edwards was just diagnosed with breast cancer.  Before this happend, I expressed on another thread that I was impressed with her; I am equally so now as she delayed treatment for several days to campaign.

While we can keep the remarks about John up; lets keep those about Elizabeth down for now.  Okay.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

John Edwards was not brought on to win in the South or even North Carolina.   He was brought on to win votes of moderates in the Midwest...the same voters he appealed to in the primary, and it worked.

John Kerry did extremely well in the Midwest, relative to his national performance.  He did better than Gore in Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and almost as well in Michigan, Iowa, and Pennsylvania, all while losing about 4% on Gore's national popular vote.  He won Independents in these states by wide margins.

Kerry's problem was that he couldn't counter the Republican turnout effort on a nationwide scale.  He wasn't goint to win over these voters no matter who he chose as a running mate...he lost as soon as they made the decision to vote.

[GOP Tarheel Blitz]

I can tell you that there are many Republicans and Democrats in NC that were more than happy to give him up for the national spotlight. He may attract a new element of voters to the Democratic Part nationwide, but he is not popular at all here in NC.

My best to his wife I wish her a speedy recovery.

I end with some light John Edwards humor:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2108216/slideshow/2108085/entry/2108087/speed/100