John Edwards 2008: What’s not to like

snip: I kind of winced when John Edwards, after Hillary’s choked-up moment in a coffee shop, said we need a commander-in-chief who shows “strength” and “resolve.” But my reaction was nothing compared to that of the Nation’s Katha Pollitt:

“John Edwards just lost my vote. How dare he take cheap shots at Hillary Clinton for letting her eyes mist over (not ‘crying’ as was widely reported) at a meeting with voters in Portsmouth N.H.? This is a man who has used his most private tragedies–his wife’s cancer, his son’s fatal accident — in his campaign in a way that had a woman done the same she would surely be accused of ‘oprahfying’ the lofty realm of politics.

“This is also the man who promoted himself early on as the real women’s candidate, and who has repeatedly used his likeable wife to humanize his rather slick and one-dimensional persona. Today he deployed against Hillary the oldest, dumbest canard about women: they’re too emotional to hold power . . .

“Ooh, right, we need a big strong manly finger on that nuclear button! Even if that finger has spent most it its life writing personal injury briefs in North Carolina, which, when you come to think of it, is not an obvious preparation for commander-in-chiefhood.”

The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/09/AR2008010900803_5.html?hpid=topnews

And John Edwards?

Yepsen: “I think if you’re John Edwards, you’re thankful this is going to be over with on January third. John Edwards has not been doing well lately, he’s slipping a little in these numbers. That’s not a good trend line for him. He’s got to get this thing over with fast.”

Yepsen said he fears Edwards could fall so far that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, currently running fourth, could slip into third place — and would therefore be most thankful for that.

“I think one of the things that could happen is that Edwards could collapse, sag, fall apart, not do well,” Yepsen said. “And that leaves Richardson in real striking distance of third place. Richardson has run a good campaign. He’s got some support here. If I were Edwards I’d be worried about sagging so far it could enable Richardson to take third place.”

Fox News 11/21/07
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312505,00.html

In the latest look from Rasmussen Reports at the Democratic Primary in South Carolina, there has not been much of a change at all. New York Senator Hillary Clinton is still in first place with 43%, the same as last month. Illinois Senator Barack Obama is in second place with 33%, up 3% from last month. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is way back in third place at 11%. None of the rest of the candidates gets more than 2%.Breaking the results down by demographics, Obama has the support of 46% of the black votes and Clinton has 45%. With the white voters, the vote is split 42% for Clinton, 23% for Edwards and 16% for Obama.

snip

Some candidates can count on their supporters to stay with them all the way, and some do not. With those who say they will vote for Clinton, 66% say they are certain that they are going to vote for her. With those who picked Obama it is 63% and with Edwards it is only 44%.

Associated Content 11/23/07
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/456550/poll_sourh_carolina_democratic_race.html

The latest Zogby poll looks at the Democratic and Republican races on a national basis over the course of five polls they have taken: May 20, July 14, Sept. 16, Oct. 14, and the latest one on Nov. 17 and it shows just how much of a roller coaster ride it can be.

Back on May 20, New York Senator Hillary Clinton came in with 39%. In July she slipped down to 37% and then slipped another 2% to 35% in September. Then in October, she saw her highest level of support at 46% and right now, she is just about back where she started at 39%.

Illinois Senator Barack Obama has not had a broad range of differences as has Clintion He has remained in second place all along and has a net gain of 3% Back in May he had 24%, moved up to 25% in July, had his worse level of support in September at 21%, bounced back to 25% in October and is now at his highest at 27%. Since Clinton is back to her beginning figures and there is not much of a change with the rest of the candidates, his 3% gain has come from the voters who were once on the fence, picking him as their candidate.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is the only other candidate who has ever received more than 10% support. He has an overall gain of 2%. In the first and second poll, he had the exact same 11%. In the third one, he dropped down to 10%, dropped again to 9% and has now bounced back to his highest level of support at 13%.

Associated Content 11/23/07
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/456627/poll_hillary_clinton_rudy_giuliani.html

In Des Moines, hours before the boisterous political beauty pageant that precedes the nation’s first nominating vote, every utility pole, every sidewalk crack big enough to jam a spike into, every patch of soil around the trees lining Fifth Avenue sported red, white and blue placards for Hillary Clinton.

The work by thousands of volunteers outside and inside the auditorium was a stunning display of the organizational strength that, beyond money and charisma, really wins in Iowa. But by the time the 9,000 Democrats arrived for the Nov. 10 Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, there were strong signs of — and for — her competitors.

Supporters of Barack Obama were especially “fired up” and “ready to go,” as they would chant all night. The campaign shrewdly used a concert by John Legend as a magnet for thousands who, clad in red T-shirts, then marched noisily to the hall.

John Edwards was at his best, even though his supporters numbered fewer than Obama’s or Clinton’s. His passionate populist appeal eclipsed Clinton’s lower-keyed, broad-themed argument for her candidacy. Then Obama, speaking last by lot, leaped over both of them with a powerful speech that, while not mentioning her by name, skewered Clinton relentlessly.

Most of Iowa’s political and pundit class opined that Obama thus established himself as the guy to beat here. “Clinton opened the door by merely being good,” said state Rep. Dolores Mertz, 82, the grande dame of Iowa’s legislature, who is not supporting any candidate. “Obama walked right through it.”

Daily Press 11/23/07
http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-ed_levy_1123nov23,0,2915836.story

Ernie Schiller isn’t afraid to make the ultimate comparison in the Democratic Party. Sen. Barack Obama, he said, reminds him of President John F. Kennedy.

“I remember as a kid that John F. Kennedy was the first president who kind of brought people to their knees thinking about America,” Schiller said last week. “I do believe Sen. Obama offers that hope.”

Schiller is a Lee County supervisor and retired high school teacher. He’s already signed on to serve as a precinct chair for Obama in the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses.

The campaign keeps pushing him into the limelight, however, because of a past allegiance. It turns out that, until a few weeks ago, he was backing John Edwards.

Schiller broke with the former senator from North Carolina after watching Edwards’ Iowa poll numbers take a hard downward turn. Now he feels it is important to let his neighbors know.

“I had supported Sen. Edwards all along …,” he said, “but I’m looking for somebody who can take our nation to the next level without any cause for not getting elected, and I feel he’s kind of flailing out there right now.”

The Hawk Eye 11/22/07
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/obama_112207

The latest poll on Iowa is devastating for Edwards. But he has no one to blame but himself. His hit job mentality, compliments of a campaign with no compass, has hurt him badly in that state, which was his only hope to start the ball rolling. I don’t think he’ll recover. It’s my belief that the top tier is officially a two person race: Clinton v. Obama.

NET LEANED VOTE: 11/18/07 (compared to) 7/31/07

Barack Obama 30 27
Hillary Clinton 26 26
John Edwards 22 26

also have to agree with BigTentDemocrat over at TalkLeft. Anne Kornblut and company are at it again. The headline says “Clinton Slips in Iowa Poll,” which is hardly the case. Her numbers have stayed the same since July. Edwards is the one slipping.

Edwards is now running the biography ad with which he should have started his campaign. Too little, too late. Last week’s debate was the last straw. He was the clear loser in so many ways.

But don’t forget this is Iowa. Chase Martyn has a whole different perspective. (link)

That said, I believe you’ll see more defections from Edwards. The bottom seems to be falling out.

Taylor Marsh

http://www.taylormarsh.com/

According to the most recent Winthrop/ETV poll, 40 percent of white Democrats in South Carolina who say they are likely to cast a ballot in January’s primary are supporting U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

A distant second is former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina with 17 percent support. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama from Illinois is in third with 11 percent among white Democrats.

-snip

Others attribute Clinton’s S.C. lead among white votes to Edwards’ loss of those voters - a claim Edwards’ campaign denies.

“I find it hard to believe that voters in South Carolina give more of their dollars to John Edwards than any other Democrat, see him campaigning here more than any other Democrat, hear him talk about his life here and the need to reverse decades of poor trade deals that have hurt their state, and then decide to support the senator from New York,” said Teresa Wells, Edward’s spokeswoman. “That is just not happening.”

McClatchy Newspapers 11/19/07
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/politics/story/255090.html

Why did John Edwards act like such a patsy last night? He let Hillary accuse him of “throwing mud” without even offering a response. Even a mediocre trial lawyer would have punched back with something like “how Mrs. Clinton thinks that pointing out inconsistencies in her positions is throwing mud is beyond me. By her own definition, she just threw mud at Senator Obama over his healthcare proposal.” Instead, Edwards took the spanking from Hillary and went and sat in the corner.

RCP Blog 11/16/07
http://www.time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/

Clinton has the support of 45 percent of adult voters in the region. That’s far more than the 17 percent who said they’d vote for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and the 11 percent who support John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator and a native of the region.

The Elon University poll found 19 percent of Democratic voters were undecided.

The survey involved 1,374 adults from households in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. It was conducted over the past two weeks and has a sampling error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

NBC17 11/15/07
http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2007-11-15-0011.html