John Edwards has always been my favorite for the nomination. I voted for him in '98, and long considered him a hero of the little man in the mold of a modern day Clarence Darrow. After Iowa, I held a longshot hope that JE would carry enough delegates into the Convention to be a kingmaker. But this weekend's results are unequivocal - for all practical purposes, JE's out of the race.
As we say in the Great State of North Carolina - "It's all over but the shoutin'".
So now we Edwards supporters have to ask the question that Obama/Hillary partisans will be facing- where do we shift our support?
All 3 major Dem candidates are good. Without question. What follows are stream-of-consciousness opinions from a life long Yellow-Dog Democrat:
Obama: Good Lord, can that man talk. I mean, Damn. His delivery, tone, and positioning are unbelievably smooth. I'll step out on a limb and say that if Obama were white, he would have the nomination in his pocket right now. Hands down.
Hillary: Her tone/demeanor is showing some Combat fatigue. More of an idealist than I think she's given credit for.
For myself, I lean towards Hillary.
Obama is flawless in composure and message management - which is precisely why I have trouble trusting what I see. He is so perfectly composed that I'm not sure if I'm seeing a real person, or a finely crafted talking head.
With Hillary, I feel I'm seeing the real deal - warts and all. Which makes her more Human to me. Say what you will, but she was working the Health care issue before Edwards or Obama even entered Politics. Also, the length of her political record makes her more of a target than her competitors. Yes, she can be cold, ruthless, and ambitious. But this ain't Bean-Bag we're playin' here...
To loosely paraphrase Lincoln: "Folks with few vices have few virtues.."