Since Kos has apparently turned into Diaries of the Kerry-o-phobes, I thought we could use a little criticism of Edwards, just for balance.
I'll just plain admit it: I am not impressed with Edwards. I know, he is supposed to have killer political talents and his stump speeches just really knock 'em out. But, to be blunt...no, just let me say I am not impressed.
This column captures something of my disatisfaction:
John Edwards: The candidate working 4 YOU!
By the time he reaches the end of his now-famous "Two Americas" stump speech, Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) has told crowds about an America in which a small group of rich people enjoys lives of untold luxury while everybody else can't get healthcare, can't pay the rent, can't buy a house and in many cases, can't get enough to eat.
It's an ugly picture. But Edwards offers hope. And the hope is this:
"I can't change this country alone, but I know that you and I can change this country together. The reason I know that you and I can change America together is I believe in you, and you deserve a president who actually believes in YOU!"
As Edwards speaks, members of the audience might reasonably be expected to turn to one another and say, "What the hell does that mean?"
But they don't. In fact, Edwards' crowds, from Iowa to New Hampshire to South Carolina to Virginia, love it. "I believe in you" is one of the candidate's biggest applause lines.
The point is not to make sense but to show audiences that Edwards cares deeply about them.
In the same way that television consultants advise local news departments to put the words "you" or "your" in every promotion -- "Working 4 You!" or "Seven On Your Side!" -- so Edwards wants you to know that he is working for you.
At one event in South Carolina, after a TV anchorman asked whether Edwards had become so rich and successful as a trial lawyer that he might find it difficult to relate to poor people, Edwards turned to the audience -- made up of, among others, poverty activists from around the country -- and said, "I grew up the way you grew up. I come from the same place. I spent 20 years in courtrooms fighting for YOU!"
He fought against big corporations, Edwards said, against big insurance companies, against the powerful -- all for YOU.
But therein lies Edwards' appeal as Kerry's running mate:
But Edwards's "I care" appeal is the real secret of his value as a possible running mate for presumptive Democratic nominee Kerry.
Of course, Edwards would give the ticket some regional balance. But the most important thing he would give Kerry is emotional balance.
Kerry could tell you until he is blue in the face that he cares about you and you'd still find it hard to believe him. Do a Nexis database search for "John Kerry" and "aloof" and you'll get hundreds of hits.
That's where Edwards comes in.
Kerry could handle the actual issues -- his stump speech is far more detailed and specific than Edwards's -- and Edwards could handle the emotions.
Edwards could tell crowds, in a way that Kerry could not, that "John Kerry believes in you, and you deserve a president who actually believes in YOU!"
Who wouldn't believe that?