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Johnny Be Bad
February 05, 2007 9:38 AM
"You know what I liked about this guy last time he ran?" Jay Leno ASKED HIS BANDLEADER before introducing former Sen. Johnny Reid Edwards, D- NC. "No negative stuff."
Well, as even Edwards acknowledges, that "no negative stuff" idea has changed since Edwards' 2004 race. 
"Do you believe that Senator Clinton has been open and honest about her support of the war in Iraq?" Tim Russert asked Edwards YESTERDAY.
"I don’t know the answer to that question, honestly," Edwards said, "I, I can’t—I can’t—I don’t know what’s inside her, her head and her heart about this. I can’t tell whether there are political calculations going on. I just don’t know."
For a contrast in how that question can be answered, WATCH THIS CLIP OF SEN. JOE BIDEN, D-DEL., ON THE DAILY SHOW. Biden shoots down the notion that he thinks Clinton is too calculating -- a meme that is emerging in this race, the notion that Clinton is a cool, calculating pol driven by a hunger for power. (As opposed to the other 300 politicians running for President, of course)
"You feel that she's too political?" Jon Stewart asked Biden of Clinton's Iraq plan.
"No, no," said Biden. "I don't think she's too political. I think the idea's wrong."
Russert also asked Edwards about how he told Leno that he -- as opposed to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. - could have beaten President Bush in 2004. Edwards told Leno not to take too seriously anything said on The Tonight Show, but if you watch the tape, Edwards looks pretty serious -- it's not a line played for laughs.
Today Edwards will introduce his health care proposal to provide health insurance for every American….No doubt he will keep the message more positive. But he's already made a clear tactical change, choosing to be a combative candidate not a sweet-talkin' one. His push for Congress to use the power of the purse to stop the war in Iraq -- "silence is betrayal" -- merited A RESPONSE from Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson that "In 2004, John Edwards used to constantly brag about running a positive campaign. Today, he has unfortunately chosen to open his campaign with political attacks on Democrats who are fighting the Bush administration's Iraq policy."
Moreover, on NBC yesterday, Edwards seemed to imply that one of the reasons he cast his vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq -- a vote he now calls "wrong -- was because of Clinton. "I went back to former Clinton administration officials who gave me sort of independent information about what they believed about what was happening with Saddam's weapons programs," he said. "They were also wrong. And based on that, I made the wrong judgment."
Very interesting --
What do you think?
-- jt
February 5, 2007 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (4)
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Calling someone on their vote is not what I call negative...those stupid ads in TN against Harold Ford and the ones here about 'Liberal Lois' - THAT'S negative campaigning
cordelia - I beg to differ; no one, especially at this stage of the game, is unbeatable...
Posted by: phillygirl64 | Feb 5, 2007 1:44:50 PM
I don't see anything negative from Edwards in this post. And if it's negative to say that someone else was incorrect to support this debacle in Iraq, then I'm all for negative.
Posted by: DKNY | Feb 5, 2007 11:04:20 AM
way to deflect blame...klassy!This is why Obama is unbeatable; he opposed the war from the beginning. He didn't follow the herd, which took courage given the political climate at the time. So Obama doesn't have to come up with some BS after-the-fact reason for being a sheep.
Posted by: cordelia525 | Feb 5, 2007 10:26:24 AM
Until Sens. Clinton and Obama entered the race for the Democratic nomination for President, former Sen. Edwards was the leading candidate--witness his work in Iowa. Now, with his campaign eclipsed by the "star power" of the two front-runners, Sen. Edwards obviously feels he has to differentiate and distance himself from them, and what better way to do that than to call into question their judgments and actions? He probably thinks that if it means that he has to go negative in his message, so be it. But by doing so, Edwards forfeits the most important and most distinctive factor in his campaign, and simply becomes a part of the pack of other candidates. Johnny, we hardly knew ye!
Posted by: chuck | Feb 5, 2007 10:19:58 AM
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