Salon: The undeniable appeal of John Edwards

[kskiska]

The boyish running mate revived his Two Americas speech with surprising verve Wednesday night. Why, he sounded positively Reaganesque -- which is precisely what has Republicans worried.

(snip)

"Together, we will ensure that the image of America -- the image all of us love – America, this great shining light, this beacon of freedom, democracy and human rights that the world looks up to -- that that beacon is always lit."

It sounds Reaganesque, and it is. And that's exactly why Karl Rove and his colleagues in the Bush-Cheney campaign have such a hard time dealing with John Edwards. Out of the box, the Republicans -- aided by media allies like Tucker Carlson -- laid into Edwards as a personal injury trial lawyer who's made millions off the suffering of others. The attack seems to have little traction with voters. While trial lawyers may be the great Satan for Bush's big business supporters, 69 percent of registered voters questioned in an NBC News poll said that Edwards' trial-lawyer past wouldn't influence their vote -- 14 percent said it would make them more likely to vote for him.

The Republicans can't win a popularity contest with Edwards either, at least not when it comes to a head-to-head match-up with Dick Cheney. As he showed Wednesday night, Edwards is an attractive and appealing candidate, one who can reach out to voters -- poor voters, voters in rural areas -- who may have a hard time believing that George Bush or even John Kerry really understands them.

(snip)

Cheney can't compete. He treats campaigning as a chore, and he's not particularly good at it. When he's not warning that the "enemy" is lurking everywhere, he's cackling and smirking like George Costanza's evil twin. Cheney is no help at all with minorities or swing voters; the White House sends him to speak to conservative groups and military audiences. On Tuesday, the vice president was dispatched to California's Camp Pendleton, where, flanked by two 155mm howitzers and 2,500 camouflaged Marines, he defended the administration's Iraq policy and claimed that "the perception of weakness" -- not aggressive U.S. foreign policy -- causes terrorist attacks.

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/07/29/edwards_speech/index.html

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1. "Reaganesque"- first time I had heard that comparison

Nice article- thanks for posting.