Here Comes Edwards…




(At full disclosure: I volunteered for the Edwards for President campaign in both Iowa and Missouri during the primaries. So if you feel my views are biased, well they probably are.)

Yesterday, a small story circulated the political bloggers. An unsubstantiated poll found Senator Edwards one percentage point behind Senator Clinton in a poll of New Hampshire voters. So far, no one knows, who did the poll and there is a possibility it could be a fake or just incorrect numbers from another poll. However, if any amount of truth is in this poll then the ballgame has shifted.

It has been widely assumed that Senator Clinton has a near perfect shot at being the Democratic nominee. She has the media attention, money, and a popular former President husband to campaign for her. The only hurdle that stood in her way was the hatred that a percentage of America has for her. The thought being that the only reason the Democrats would not nominate her was that she possessed too high of negatives to win the general election.

The ability of the Democrats to win the general election was a centerpiece of the Kerry primary campaign. A war hero couldn’t loose, could he? Was the question raised by so many ads with the Senator from Massachusetts in full army gear. In 2008, over a half-a-dozen potential Democrats have been mentioned by pundits as possible candidates and their positive has always been they are more electable than Senator Clinton. This list even includes Senator Kerry.

For the most part, Senator Edwards has remained in the pack of possible 2008 candidates. Granted he has always been at the top of the ‘other-than-Hillary’ list, but his two positives of winning ability and popularity with independents was overshadowed by Senator Clinton’s huge lead in the polls. With news of this possible poll out of New Hampshire, things can get interesting. With it gone, is Senator Clinton’s advantage of being able to easily roll past the primaries on the sense of invincibility. Money, media attention, and Bill stay in her corner. However, if viable challengers are found, everything but Bill has the ability to decrease.

So, if it becomes a contest between Clinton and Edwards where does this go and who wins? I have no clue. But what I want to see is a real discussion of what it means to be a Democrat and way we vote the way we do. Both Clinton and Edwards have worked hard towards increasing medical coverage for everyone in the nation. Both have solid defense records and can never be accused of abandoning our troops in the field. However, what Senator Edwards brings to the table is the media spotlight on the ones we so easily forget: those locked into a life of poverty. When Clinton talks, I feel, the media spends an excessive amount of time pondering, ‘what she was really trying to say and to whom’. (See the definition of: triangulation and dog-signal politics.) When Edwards speaks the media focuses in programs designed to help raise those out of poverty: education, health care, job benefits, etc.
A rise in the polls for Senator Edwards should be embraced by all Democrats; he provides a wonderful dialog of why being a Democrat is something to be proud of and what direction the party wants to take the nation. In other words, unlike other candidates, he is not the story the message is.