There's a story from Bob Shrum in the latest Time Magazine about John Kerry's "regret" over picking John Edwards as VP. It's an excerpt from Shrum's soon to be published book, No Excuses.
more below the fold
Kerry talked with several potential picks, including Gephardt and Edwards. He was comfortable after his conversations with Gephardt, but even queasier about Edwards after they met. Edwards had told Kerry he was going to share a story with him that he'd never told anyone else—that after his son Wade had been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's ideals of service. Kerry was stunned, not moved, because, as he told me later, Edwards had recounted the same exact story to him, almost in the exact same words, a year or two before—and with the same preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else. Kerry said he found it chilling, and he decided he couldn't pick Edwards unless he met with him again.
Well, they did meet again and, according to Shrum, Kerry wanted a reassurance that if they lost, Edwards wouldn't run against Kerry in 2008. Again, according to Shrum, Edwards agreed. And so, apparently that was enough to get Edwards on the ticket.
After reading the whole article, it isn't clear to me what the point of all of this is. The last paragraph almost makes it sound a bit like sour grapes on Shrum's part because Edwards didn't keep in touch with him.
On the day the Edwards pick was made public, Edwards and I talked for the first time since I had informed him of our decision to work for Kerry and he had reacted angrily. He said he knew I'd helped get him on the ticket and he was grateful. I told him that I welcomed the possibility that we might be friends again, but that wasn't the reason for my preference. I believed it was the right move for Kerry. Kerry's relationship with Edwards would sour after the election—and mine would simply fade away.
So, is this all sour grapes, a hit piece by the DLC insiders because they see Edwards as a threat, or is it real?
Since Senator Kerry posts here ocassionally, perhaps he could clarify.