In Iowa, Edwards Faces His Past and His Future

[Nutmegger]

AMES, Iowa — Ever since his surprise second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses in 2004, John Edwards has staked his future in presidential politics on this state. Since 2005, he has spent more than 100 days in Iowa. He has fiercely courted rural voters in particular, visiting all 99 counties — twice.

But for all that effort, and for all the leads he has held in Iowa opinion polls at times, Mr. Edwards now faces the possibility that this state may not be the launching pad for the White House that he has long imagined.

His advisers expressed surprise on Monday that Mr. Edwards was well behind Senator Barack Obama in the last Des Moines Register poll before Thursday’s caucuses, and cited a different poll on Tuesday showing a dead heat.

The candidate himself tried to put the best face on the numbers as he campaigned Tuesday. “I don’t need a poll to tell me that we’re moving,” Mr. Edwards told a cheering crowd of 500 here. “We’re moving in the right direction in this campaign.”

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/us/politics/02dems.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=login

[Jim Sagle]

1. Big whoop that a corporate whore newspaper shitted out a poll touting a corporate whore Republican

running in a Democratic primary.

[cali]

5. Simplistic and black and white thinking

it's long been reflected in your posts in the I/P forum, and it's unsurprising to see it here.

[Jim Sagle]

7. Dependability RRRRRRAWWWWWXXXX!!!!!

;)

[FrenchieCat]

2. Edwards has not even begun to face his past nor his present......

but he will soon in the near future. That's when it will get ugly. Till then, he should enjoy his tie in Iowa and understand that he could possibly pull an upset, which I believe is why there is a "downplay" of expectation from the Edwards camp at the moment. He will soon learn what hardball politics really means.

[silverojo]

3. He ran in 2004

He knows from personal experience, just how hardball politics can get in the GE. These other candidates are virgins.

[FrenchieCat]

4. I disagree......

by the time Edwards caught fire, it so quickly became a two man race...and with him lagging so far from the rear (I mean the man won one single primary during the crucial time), until no amount of positive press (which is all that Edwards got) could help John Edwards against Kerry.

Then Edwards got all of the good press in the media pushing him onto Kerry to be the Veep Pick. It was night and day, article after article talking about Edwards' optimism, charm, etc..

The Sunshine boys they were called, once Kerry made his choice.

Then during the GE, Edwards inexplicably was made to disappear, and there were not harsh vetting of John Edwards beyond his weakness in responding to Cheney's lies during that one Veep Debate....

Most if not all of the GE Hardball was aimed like a laser on John Kerry, never John Edwards....except for the cracks about them being "lovers".....which was a GOP whisper for laughs campaign.

That's why Edwards could so easily run again for President after being on a losing ticket...because he was never the centerpiece of any real media scrutiny.

I watch intensely what happened during that last election...and this analysis really is how it was.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Have we had a VP nominee that delivered less to a ticket than Edwards?

At least Holy Joe mobilized the little old ladies in Florida. Lloyd Bentsen kicked Dan Quayle's ass in a debate (our one moment of solace in the 1988 campaign). Geraldine Ferraro may have been symbolic, but she energized people in an otherwise hopeless campaign, etc.

[cali]

6. lol. whatever else one may say about Clinton, she has waaay

more experience on this front than Edwards.