3rd in an occaisional series
Part I: Al Gore for President -- 2008
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/16/194421/475
Part II: John Kerry for President -- 2008
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/5/20305/17007
In many ways, John Edwards was the story of the 2004 Presidential Election. He began the election cycle as a one-term US Senator from North Carolina. When he announced his run for President, he was considered a pie-in-the-sky long shot who would go back to running for re-election to the US Senate. However, he took a chance, decided to not run for re-election as Senator, and plowed ahead with his Presidential campaign.
The result? The long shot candidate considered to be long on style but short on substance caught fire. He finished 2nd in the Democratic primaries, and was selected by John Kerry as his running mate. Not bad for a guy who was a trial lawyer until 1998.
When Kerry narrowly lost on November 2, 2004, thoughts immediately turned to Edwards and his presidential ambitions in 2008. There is no doubt in my mind that John Edwards will be running for President in 2008
With this in mind, I figured it would be interesting to evaluate the pros and cons of an Edwards run in 2008:
Pros:
1. Great speaker on the campaign trail. He tells a good story. Near the level of Bill Clinton, but not quite there.
2. His popularity was high enough to the point where Kerry even bypassed his 1st choice and good friend Dick Gephardt as running mate to pick Edwards.
3. He has 4 years to prepare for a campaign with no other elected office to worry about.
4. His experience in 2004 will serve as a good learning experience in 2008.
5. His background (i.e. not growing up privileged) allows him to relate well with voters.
6. His substance has improved, and exceeded expectations in 2004. Don't know if it makes him a wonk, but it is a good thing.
Cons:
1. Edwards was a Senator. There are limitations to running as a Senator, and the 2004 election bore these out. It may have been the deciding factor in 2004. Governors have real experience developing policies and agendas that Senators don't.
2. Edwards was a one-term Senator. He is still lacking overall political experience
3. Even as a one-term Senator, Edwards' record wasn't very distinguished.
In many ways, Edwards' pros and cons are set in stone. He will have to go with what he has, and continue to hone his message and express his philosophy. In any case, these pros and cons won't affect Edwards' decision. He's running.
Experience is indeed Edwards' biggest hurdle. Yet it may be overrated. George W. Bush had only 6 years in public office before becoming President. This is the same amount of experience that Edwards has. Experience may not issue that it may have been at one time in elections. And Edwards would be a 2-time candidate in 2008, which I think will reduce the experience factor in terms of importance since he will be a far more familiar candidate that he was in 2004.
As I stated earlier, Edwards is a great speaker, perhaps the best of any Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton. Will Edwards be able to take the momentum of 2004 and build on it for victory in 2008? Only time will tell.