John Edwards is dropping out

[Modelworks]

Just announced on cnn and fox news.
Guess its down to clinton and obama now.

Saying he will make the announcement today at 1pm.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s...=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Shame, he seemed like a nice enough guy.
But nice doesn't get you anywhere in washington.

 

[Farang]

Now it gets interesting.

 

[Deeko]

That's too bad. I liked him in 2004. He turned bitter and aggressive this campaign, when it was clear he didn't have a shot he just spent his time attacking the "status quo *gestures towards Hillary*" in an obvious bid for Obama's VP slot.

 

[mfs378]

So does this benefit Clinton more or Obama? My guess is Obama.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: mfs378
So does this benefit Clinton more or Obama? My guess is Obama.

He is a one-term senator so I imagine those who voted for him didn't buy Clinton's strongest line--that she is the most experienced or that it matters if she is. The only thing that leads me to believe this will benefit Clinton is that his support was mostly white, but I think that matters less in states that aren't South Carolina now that the issue has died down.

 

[Painman]

Dropping out before Super Tuesday seems to me like a strategic anti-Hillary maneuver. I think most Edwards people will huff it over to the Obama camp.

 

[StageLeft]

He was pathetic, seriously, he shouldn't have been here this long anyway. Anybody remember the VP debates? NUFF SAID.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Painman
Dropping out before Super Tuesday seems to me like a strategic anti-Hillary maneuver. I think most Edwards people will huff it over to the Obama camp.

The analyst are already saying they expect it to be a win for Hillary.
I dunno.
Have to wait and see.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
He was pathetic, seriously, he shouldn't have been here this long anyway. Anybody remember the VP debates? NUFF SAID.

I keep seeing them referenced here, I don't remember them being THAT bad. Cheney smacked him pretty good on his Senate attendance record, but otherwise, I thought he held up ok....

 

[daveshel]

Originally posted by: Deeko
in an obvious bid for Obama's VP slot.

Yup.

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Painman
Dropping out before Super Tuesday seems to me like a strategic anti-Hillary maneuver. I think most Edwards people will huff it over to the Obama camp.

The analyst are already saying they expect it to be a win for Hillary.
I dunno.
Have to wait and see.

I kinda agree with the analyst. People supporting Edwards are usually in the older/white group, and that's Hillary's demography. But if Edwards come out and endorse Obama, that may change the whole thing...so who knows.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Would an Obama-Edwards ticket be strong enough to win the votes for the White House?

 

[Painman]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Painman
Dropping out before Super Tuesday seems to me like a strategic anti-Hillary maneuver. I think most Edwards people will huff it over to the Obama camp.

The analyst are already saying they expect it to be a win for Hillary.
I dunno.
Have to wait and see.

You might be right. The supporter demographic does seem to favor Hillary, though Edwards himself was a pretty strong critic... the dust'll have to settle.

 

[Modelworks]

Their saying that he will probably endorse Obama because Hillary is too close to the corporate world that Edwards was against.

 

[Lemon law]

As one comedian quipped, the candidate who talked about two Americas could not get votes from either. But with disappointing results from Southern States which amount to his base, it was apparent that he stood little chance. But I would think that Edwards would at least stay until after Super Tuesday.

Personally, after both Dodd and Kucinich dropped out, Edwards was my preferred choice. I had followed his career after Kerry lost in 04, and Edwards did do a lot to educate himself on the issues facing this country. The issues he championed will now be somewhat muted, but they will come back stronger. And I expect that John Edwards will continue to be a factor in America for a long time to come. And like a phoenix, he may again rise from the ashes.

Sadly, I think Edwards had many of the cures for what ailed us, but America is not yet ready for Edwards. But in politics, timing is everything. And I expect one of the cited reasons will be to stand by his wife who has cancer no longer in remission.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
And I expect one of the cited reasons will be to stand by his wife who has cancer no longer in remission.

Being with his wife may be an effect of him dropping out, but I doubt he'll cite it as a reason. He's already apologized for every vote he made in the Senate, no reason to give more fuel to the flipflop image. As well as it being a lie. He's dropping out because he hasn't won a primary or caucus and his highest finish was 2nd in Iowa.

 

[Lemon law]

In terms of---would an Obama Edwards ticket be a winning combination, I would have to say very likely yes. I think one of Kerry's big mistakes in 04 was in muting Edwards, but wasn't there a previous thread that Edward's would be Obama's AG? Suffice it to say, it changes the democratic nominating calculus now that they are down to two while the republicans are still at four coming into super Tuesday. And while Hillary and Obama can each do a descent job of appealing to most elements of the democratic base, Huckabee appeals to the religious right base, McCain to the strong military elements of the republican base, and Romney appeals more to corporate and business elements of the Republican base. While Ron Paul is simply somewhere else, but like a diaper, its always on their butts as is his polar opposite, GWB, who will also play his role as Republican boat anchor.

Time will tell.

 

[Thump553]

Lemon Law, I certainly don't recall any muting of Edwards by Kerry. They pretty actively campaigned together. Like Skoorb i do recall Edwards being pretty much spanked by Cheney in the VP debates (similar to four years earlier when Lieberman all but rolled over and played subordinate puppy when he "debated" Cheney).

I'm surprised Edwards is dropping out-he said over and over he was in it for the long haul, all the way to the convention no matter what. Hopefully it isn't his wife's condition that caused this change of heart.

I don't see Edwards as VP on anyone's ticket-he'd bring very little benefit and carries a fair amount of baggage.

 

[manowar821]

Edwards for VP!

 

[Capitalizt]

for the love of God he needs to endorse Obama NOW.

Hellary must be defeated. She would be a disaster for this country.

 

[reeserock]

Doing this pre-super Tuesday definitely means something. He's likely got a cabinet position worked out with Obama (or possibly VP) He's young enough to run again in 8 years.

 

[nageov3t]

if Obama seriously picks Edwards as VP, he's too retarded to be president and deserves the Kerry treatment.

 

[RaistlinZ]

How about an Obama/Biden ticket?

 

[Lemon law]

As Thump333 states--Lemon Law, I certainly don't recall any muting of Edwards by Kerry. They pretty actively campaigned together. Like Skoorb i do recall Edwards being pretty much spanked by Cheney in the VP debates.

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I have some mixed feelings about your statement. I do think Kerry did actively decide to soft peddle the Edwards message in 04 and Edwards, as the dutiful VP complied. As we see, the Kerry I am a smarter version of GWB flopped, when IMHO, Kerry should have run as the not GWB and used Edwards more to attack GWB&co. economic policies.

I do however agree that Edward's ignorance of issues showed in the Presidential debates in 04, but as I said, I followed his career, and he spent almost four non stop years better preparing himself on the issues. Edwards is far more knowledgeable now.

However, Obama is now in the Edwards boat, he is more image than substance, and as the New York times pointed out, Hillary has the far greater data base mastery of the issues. In terms of how we ignorant voters think a given candidate should stand on the issues, that is far more debatable

 

[Eeezee]

Obama Edwards '08 ticket!