Monday, July 10, 2006

John Edwards Seeks Role as Rebel Outsider

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MSNBC/Newsweek has a story on John Edward's attempts to recast himself as a rebel outsider fighting for the poor.
"Thirty-seven million of our people, worried about feeding and clothing their children," he said to his audience. "Aren't we better than that?" It's not the stuff of great sound bites, but it's part of Edwards's new political plan: a presidential campaign with fighting poverty as a central plank. It's a risky strategy in today's Democratic Party—Edwards may be the most viable national candidate since Bobby Kennedy to tie his destiny to a fight for the destitute. "Yeah, I heard all that stuff: 'Who cares?' or 'It's a dead end'," Edwards tells NEWSWEEK. "Well, it's what I want to do."
But can Edwards really change his image? Can he shake off the Republican charges of being anti-business and still run a campaign to fight poverty? Will anyone take him seriously?

Edwards is counting on the fact that Americans have very short attention spans and that no one ever remembers the bench warmer on a losing team.

But is this really a new Edwards? Can a politician change his stripes in just under two years? Or is this just a ploy to set himself apart from Kerry and Clinton, two of the biggest names who will seek the Democratic nomination.

I'm skeptical at best. I never saw Edwards as a viable candidate.


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1 comment:

Steve said...

I was never impressed with Edwards either. But if his concern for the poor is genuine, I say let him take it as far as he can. God knows that the poor need a voice to speak for them, and we aren't going to see it on the Republican side. Their solution to everything seems to be: "Slash taxes, especially on those who are so rich that they don't need them slashed, so that the rich can get even richer and "trickle" down on the poor."

Namaste,
Steve