Sen. John Edwards has conceeded the Democratic nomination for president to Sen. John Kerry. Rumors swirl that Edwards may still be seeking to be Kerry's choice for vice president. But Edwards has stopped seeking the delegates needed to win the top slot on the ticket. It is unknown at press time whether Edwards has run out of money or simply sees no point in continuing because of his dim prospects.
John Edwards is not doing the things his campaign needs to do to win.
We have seen momentum and electability are everything in this campaign and in the Super tuesday and Southern Tuesday states where free media is more important than ever, the importance of those two factors will only grow.
This week we will have a primary in Utah as they hold caucuses in Idaho and Hawai'i. The momentum heading into Super Tuesday will be determined in those states. John Kerry is acutely aware of the situation and has sent five paid staff to Utah to campaign and hired robocallers to pitch himself to voters.
But John Edwards is nowhere to be seen and has no organizations here. In spite of the ability of momentum to make $50,000 spent here worth more than $500,000 spent in Super Tuesday states, Edwards has declined to do the work.
And Edwards has not sought the support of the core Deaniacs. The remaining Dean supporters make up about 10% to 15% of the electorate and Dean is still telling them to vote Dean, though he is unlikely to win delegates now. An endorsement for Edwards, whom Dean thinks is more electable, would be enough to close the gap that Edwards faced in Wisconsin.
But even if Dean is firmly against an endorsement the Dean voters can still be won. The President will decide who is the next chairman of the DNC. Though the delegates and committeemen are technically the electors, they will not defy a sitting president and they matter only in the party without the White House. Edwards could win over the Deaniacs without Dean's help by simply promising to appoint Dean to run the DNC, which is a fine choice anyway. DNC is about raising money and party organization and does not require much public exposure and Dean would do a fine job.
But Edwards has not made any moves to woo the Dean core.
So has Edwards simply chosen to run for veep? Or is he totally incompetent? It's hard to tell, but one thing is for certain, Edwards has quit and this primary is over.