John Edwards chose to appear at Blueberry Hill tonight, which actually is a bar named for the song, or the song is named after it, I'm not quite sure which, but Chuck Berry still plays there regularly. For anyone who's been there, this would seem like an odd choice, because although it's a fairly large establishment, it's very separated into separate rooms, and as a result, Edwards spoke in the "Duck" Room I believe, and the remainder of the visitors heard him over the loudspeaker system, which isn't quite the best set-up. This also makes it impossible to estimate the crowd, but there was a line running probably 100 people long outside the place about 30 minutes before he was scheduled to appear. I'd guess 500 people or so all told in the various rooms listening to him, but since I couldn't see all the rooms, I could be wildly off.
From what I understand, it's somewhat of a tradition to appear at Blueberry Hill; at least Bill Bradley spoke there during the 2000 campaign, so perhaps the decision makes more sense in that respect. It was also late in the day (the event was scheduled to start at 9:15pm), and Edwards had a previous appearance downstate at SW Missouri St., so perhaps that played into the plans.
For what its worth, even though its been widely reported, the man has a tongue made out of gold. His accent, tone, delivery are all enthralling, and he is extremely easy to listen to. Comparisons to Bill Clinton are not inappropriate.
The two major differences between this appearance and the one I watched John Kerry give about five hours ago (and wrote about here) is that Edwards really was asking for our support and for our active involvement in his campaign. Kerry seemed to be selling himself and why he is the best option to beat Bush in November; Edwards explicitly told us that he needs our help, and that we need to come to the polls on Tuesday, vote for him, tell our neighbors and friends to do the same, and reach out because he can't do it alone.
This may just be a difference in style, but I think it's symptomatic of a greater difference between the candidates, or perhaps their relative positions in the race. For Kerry to stand up and plead for our votes would seem unpresidential - one of his advantages is that all-illusive presidential gravitas that he carries (the gravitas that others call effete New England liberalism). For Edwards, it's what he's all about. He's been asking juries to help him and his clients out for years, and it not only sounds natural coming out of his mouth, it sounds genuine.
The other major difference was Edwards' emphasis on the South. He almost makes fun of his accent, but he points out that he's going to win in the South, and once again, asks us to give him the chance to take on George Bush, because he promises us he won't let us down. It's the same spiel one could see him making to a somewhat unwilling or cautious plaintiff: "Let me take your case, I'll fight for you, and I'll take on [insert name of big corporation here] and I'll win it for you." Edwards says, "I'll tell you what, George Bush thinks the South is his backyard, but you know what - it isn't. It's my backyard, and he's not going to win in my backyard." He says this without seeming like a bully, but more like a protective older brother that you trust to watch out for you in your backyard.
This populism, for lack of a better word, is undoubtedly one of Edwards' greatest strengths. He talks about real change in Washington and paints himself as an outsider; pointing out that he isn't a career politician. He's also the senior senator from North Carolina as a result of beating the "Jesse Helms political machine," but he's selling himself as a relative newcomer to politics and portraying that as a strength rather than a weakness. Of course, to be fair, Wes Clark or Howard Dean are nothing close to career politicans, but its pretty clear that he's courting likely Kerry voters, or at least, that he thinks he is.
The odd part about that is that the crowd at Blueberry Hill is almost predominantly under 30, whereas the Kerry crowd was significantly older on average, consisting I'd guess of at least half 45 and older. Perhaps this is because it was 10:00 on a Wednesday night, perhaps it's because it was a bar; but this is another strike that Edwards chose the wrong venue - these aren't exactly the voters he needs on Tuesday, though to be fair, perhaps many of them are ex-Deaniacs or wavering Dean supporters, people he could draw to his camp. And again, I should disclaim that I saw only a small portion of the people present, so perhaps there were differences in the people in other rooms.
While John Kerry has the ability to throttle George Bush in a debate; so did Al Gore, and we know what happened. To be fair to Gore, that may have been more a mark of the times; though it was certainly part of his doomed strategy. John Edwards, without a doubt, would be the strongest debater against Bush, and it's not even close.
He's also the regularest American in the bunch of candidates, and attacks on him for being a trial lawyer aren't going far if the media covers it fairly, and I have reason to think they might since the stories of his clients over the years are fairly compelling news in their own right.
I'll be back on Friday to write about Howard Dean's appearance at the Missouri History Museum. I haven't gotten word of a Clark appearance in St. Louis yet, but if someone finds details, please email me, as I'd like to see and write about all four of the major candidates before the primary on Tuesday.
