Edwards 2008

[Reaganfan]

I tried to rally my Republican friends to hope for an Edwards nomination as early as 2006, with most of them seeming to be most fearful of him.

I degraded his campaign as a "poverty/aww shucks" laughable race by an empty suit who cried about poverty while living in a mansion. I said he wouldn't have won his homestate and was the least electable Democrat. My friends thought I was crazy.

Indeed, I think regardless of his sex scandal, Edwards would have lost. However, the scandal was just the icing on the cake.

Does anybody believe that he could have recovered from the scandal in August 2008 just as he selected a running mate? The scandal would have broke just as the DNC was about to or was occurring, and right before the RNC.

How would the polls have looked in September 2008? If I recall, most of September, McCain held a small to at times large lead against Obama. That was just a post-Palin/RNC bump. How would polls have looked for a McCain/Edwards race following Edwards sex scandal in August?

[Thomas D]

He couldn't have recovered. He would have been down 10-12 points after the GOP convention.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Edwards wouldn't have garnered 100 EVs.

[Mr. Morden]

The party would have dumped him, even though he had "clinched" the nomination by winning all those primaries.  His delegates would have abandoned him, and voted for Clinton or Obama.  The news that you cheated on your terminally ill wife coming out just days before you accept the party nomination.....that would be just too damaging, and the party would have pushed him out over it.

That would be an interesting "what if" timeline for someone to do.  A blow-by-blow of the Dem. convention just as this news is coming out.

[Liberalrocks]

The party would have dumped him, even though he had "clinched" the nomination by winning all those primaries.  His delegates would have abandoned him, and voted for Clinton or Obama.  The news that you cheated on your terminally ill wife coming out just days before you accept the party nomination.....that would be just too damaging, and the party would have pushed him out over it.

That would be an interesting "what if" timeline for someone to do.  A blow-by-blow of the Dem. convention just as this news is coming out.

I agree but believe the democratic nominee would be hurt by this distraction from the economic message that McCain would have slipped in to victory in November. It would likely have resulted in a narrow Republican win regardless of whom the replacement nominee could have been.

[Liberalrocks]

John Edwards...America's Top....Douchebag!

RIP Elizabeth she left with grace and dignity in the wake of all that she went through. A tireless champion for those struggling without a voice.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Without the sex scandal, he would have easily won.

[Mr. Taft Republican]

Without the sex scandal, he would have easily won.

How? He doesn't have the charisma of Obama, and I don't see anyone getting that excited about Edwards, so a low voter turn out in general and from black people in particular. I don't think he could've won the primary, much less the general election.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Without the sex scandal, he would have easily won.

How? He doesn't have the charisma of Obama, and I don't see anyone getting that excited about Edwards, so a low voter turn out in general and from black people in particular. I don't think he could've won the primary, much less the general election.

1) The economic crisis made it impossible for a republican to win.
2) I think Edwards actually had some charisma, and with the crisis his populist rhetoric would have played very well.

[Mr. Taft Republican]

Without the sex scandal, he would have easily won.

How? He doesn't have the charisma of Obama, and I don't see anyone getting that excited about Edwards, so a low voter turn out in general and from black people in particular. I don't think he could've won the primary, much less the general election.

1) The economic crisis made it impossible for a republican to win.
2) I think Edwards actually had some charisma, and with the crisis his populist rhetoric would have played very well.

I think the affair would've thrown it over to McCain either way, its just too big a factor, just look at the hell Clinton went through. I mean, its entirely possible, i just don't think it very likely, especially since Edward's wasn't even Obama's main competitor.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Without the sex scandal, he would have easily won.

How? He doesn't have the charisma of Obama, and I don't see anyone getting that excited about Edwards, so a low voter turn out in general and from black people in particular. I don't think he could've won the primary, much less the general election.

1) The economic crisis made it impossible for a republican to win.
2) I think Edwards actually had some charisma, and with the crisis his populist rhetoric would have played very well.

I think the affair would've thrown it over to McCain either way, its just too big a factor, just look at the hell Clinton went through. I mean, its entirely possible, i just don't think it very likely, especially since Edward's wasn't even Obama's main competitor.

[Mr. Taft Republican]

Without the sex scandal, he would have easily won.

How? He doesn't have the charisma of Obama, and I don't see anyone getting that excited about Edwards, so a low voter turn out in general and from black people in particular. I don't think he could've won the primary, much less the general election.

1) The economic crisis made it impossible for a republican to win.
2) I think Edwards actually had some charisma, and with the crisis his populist rhetoric would have played very well.

I think the affair would've thrown it over to McCain either way, its just too big a factor, just look at the hell Clinton went through. I mean, its entirely possible, i just don't think it very likely, especially since Edward's wasn't even Obama's main competitor.

Sorry, slipped my mind. Yeah, no contest.

[DS0816]

Indeed, I think regardless of his sex scandal, Edwards would have lost. However, the scandal was just the icing on the cake.

John Edwards would've been decisively elected. The White House was clearly going to flip in Election 2008 to the Democratic Party. President George W. Bush's job-approval ratings were in the 20s% and 30s% his final two years. Voting patterns were historically against the incumbent White House party. And Bush was narrowly re-elected in 2004 by 2.46% (nationally). When you consider the financial meltdown in September 2008, the only question is: Would John Edwards have won traditional routes with the electoral map (along with his North Carolina, West Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia to go with Virginia and Florida)?

[Liberalrocks]

Without the sex scandal, he would have easily won.

How? He doesn't have the charisma of Obama, and I don't see anyone getting that excited about Edwards, so a low voter turn out in general and from black people in particular. I don't think he could've won the primary, much less the general election.

In a Clinton vs Edwards primary she would have crushed him without Obama's presence. She would have recieved a large majority of the African American vote that otherwise went to Obama in 08. He would have been competitive early but blown away on Super Tuesday.

[All Along The Watchtower]

The Democrats until recently refused to nominate economically populist candidates. In 2008, Obama had some economically populist rhetoric-and he got more votes than any Democrat in a Presidential election since LBJ in 1964.

He's abandoned a lot of economic populism (Bush tax cuts, public option) and his approval ratings have gone down. Go figure.

[senor]

Even John Kerry grew to dislike him. Really.

Edwards did not run for a second term because he wasn't going to be re-elected.

I feel sorry for his "love child". One day she is going to read about what her father did and I don't think she is going to be a very happy person because of it. Edwards wanted the mistress (named Rielle) to get an abortion. Then Edwards tried to disown parentage of the child (that's evil). Then to have an affair with this woman while being married to a terminally ill woman who was more or less duped who spent the remaining months of her life in a broken marriage. Even if Elizabeth was healthy, Edwards would have done the same thing. Sorry folks, I really dislike men who cheat on their wives. If you are not happy with your spouse, man up and ask for a divorce. Or else, man up and be a husband (and father).

The guy also lost me when it was reported that his haircuts cost $400. Who in the hell (I don't care what your wealth status is) pays 400 freaking dollars for a haircut? Anyone who spends that much money on a trivial expense like that has no business with the public purse. Since the USA is 13 trillion dollars in debt, there are a lot of members of Congress doing the same thing.

McCain basically dumped his wife whwn he came back from Vietnam. She was crippled in a car accident and gained weight. Mrs. McCain number one waited 5 1/2 years for word on her husband, just to be dumped in the end.