Edwards: Don't count me out
Wither John Edwards? Not so fast, his campaign says.
In a memo to reporters today entitled "Still not a two-person race," Team Edwards argues that the primary lesson out of Iowa and New Hampshire is that both front-runners, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, are "deeply flawed." Clinton, this argument goes, is "plagued with questions over electablility and continues to defend the status quo in Washington," while Obama is "too weak to stand up to Republicans."
"In Iowa we saw that America is ready for change and prepared to reject the status quo that Senator Clinton defends," Edwards's campaign says. "In New Hampshire we saw the fatal flaw in Senator Obama's approach - if you don't fight for change, you can't win."
To bolster their point, Edwards aides point to a new Nevada poll by the Reno Gazette-Journal showing a tight three-way race. The poll has Obama at 32 percent, Clinton at 30 percent, and Edwards at 27 percent. Nevada's caucuses are Saturday.
A new Rasmussen poll of Democratic voters in South Carolina, meanwhile, has Obama up a few points over Clinton -- 38 percent to 33 percent. Edwards, who won the South Carolina primary in 2004, is third at 17 percent. Among black voters, expected to make up at least half of the Democratic electorate, Rasmussen shows Obama with a 23-percentage-point lead over Clinton. Clinton, however, holds a similarly wide lead among white voters.
Edwards is irrelevant. Thankfully voters have rejected him yet again. The two frontrunners are flawed but he is fatally flawed. We struck out electing a peanut farmer and hit a homerun electing an actor. I fear for the day we elect a personal injury lawyer. I hope I never see it.
I am quite dismayed by how the press is withholding coverage of the Edwards campaign and/or characterizing his run as already over. Why is the mainstream corporate media doing this? I want to see more coverage of Edwards. This is not an Obama-Clinton race, but the press seems bent on making it that way. Wither John Edwards? It's the press that is putting out this story. Why?
ddlang is clearly a partisan Republican who knows what the media knows. Edwards is the only Democrat who beats any Republican challenger. That and Edwards challenge to corporate America is why the media has written him off (prematurely). Go John!
I agree with Nancy, not only is Edwards not out, he is the only truly viable candidate we have and he has "set the agenda" that the celebrity candidates are following. They are running on identity politics which i thought we had left behind. I like Obama better than Hillary. "Elect me, I used to be the First Lady", sorry--NO! I am going to Nevada in between business trips to help Edwards get the numbers he deserves. As far as ddlang: hello they are all lawyers married to lawyers--a personal injury lawyer is who you would like to have on your side if you had to go up against a powerful organization.
As a Democrat supporter, I know only the facts -- that personal injury lawyer Edwards will not be able to compete with Republican challengers. But, I agree with Mike Meade that the other candidates We have, such as HillaryCare Clinton and Barak Hussein Obama are also less than inspiring when compared with Republicans. Even I, must admit to be inspired by their candidates -- Giuliani with his tremendous leadership after the unfortunate events of 9/11, McCain the decorated war veteran with his firm understanding of the best course of action in Iraq, and Huckabee/Romney/Thompson all three with their inspiring moral leadership that just seems absent on Our Democrat side. The media is right to write off Edwards.
ddlang is a "Democrat supporter," eh? Would that explain the rarely employed usage of Obama's villainous sounding middle name and 'HillaryCare'? You can only be one of those lovely 'Reagan Democrats', dd. God rest your miserable souls. And the line "I know only the facts" is pretty revealing as well. Please let us into your pristine and objective world of facts dd so we too will know what the future is like! This is the only time I've actually heard someone claim that the staid and dull GOP lineup of older white guys is actually more inspiring to the nation than say, the first black man or white woman to have a serious shot at the White House. Mitt Romney or John McCain is somehow more inspiring than Barack Obama? To each their own, I suppose. But please stop pretending to be a Democrat, dd.
HAHAHA ddlang. I can see the flags waving, hear the music soaring. Your Republican misty-eyed simplistic view of the candidates is refreshing- just like a sugar-filled soda pop. You- a Democratic supporter? I think not.
Whatever happened in strange Nevada, it was a disaster for the race. No machine made me an Edwards supporter,rather ongoing thought about the candidates over the past years. Hillary: competent but tone deaf and frankly, not very trustworthy given her baggage. Obama: hasn't been around the block and with no thought or preparation for running until others pushed him.
But Edwards, consistently, through two campaign cycles, stands for the working/middle classes at their basic needs and rights levels. And unlike the other two, has rightly singled out China as a tremendous threat to us in the coming years - industrial espionage and government sponsored hacking of our defense and security systemsand enormous market leverage. He should hit foreign policy more in his appearances which can seem single-issue.
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