First Things First

By Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff

Has even John Edwards fallen for the claims of Hillary Clinton's inevitability?

In a statement released today challenging her to join him in opposing a congressional vote on a new free-trade agreement, Edwards pressed his case that there's little difference between the Clinton and Bush administrations. In making his case, Edwards said "the fact that the Peru trade deal is supported by a bipartisan group of insiders, including George Bush and senior officials from the first Clinton Administration…should be proof-positive of why members of Congress should join with me and oppose this deal."

The first Clinton administration? Has Edwards assumed a second is yet to come? After all, no one called it the First Battle of Bull Run -- or the first Bush administration -- at the time.