Opposite of Cliffhanger

7 July 2004



Kerry Picks Edwards

The Kerry campaign teased the American media and the small fraction of the electorate that is paying attention with names like McCain, Gephardt and Graham. In the end, though, the second man on the ticket is the second man in the delegate count. Senator John Edwards was a solid choice, and Senator Kerry has made a good decision. What Mr. Edwards brings to the ticket is something Mr. Kerry lacks, the common touch.

Actually, the common touch is a bit of a stretch for a millionaire lawyer. Rather, Senator Edwards has the ability to reach the average person, much as he reached the average juror in his courtroom days. This is far more important than any ideological or regional balance on which the pundits will focus -- important as those factors might be.

The significance of the Edwards choice arises from his counterpart on the Republican ticket. Vice President Dick Cheney is loathed by the Democratic party and its stalwarts. He serves the same function that Speaker Newt Gingrich used to play, the man the rank-and-file Democrats love to hate. The Vice President is divisive, abusive ("Go fuck yourself" as he told Senator Leahy and unrepentant about Iraq. He has his Republican supporters, but in essence, he is the GOP hardman.

Senator Edwards is the ideal fellow to contrast with the Vice President. The Senator said it best himself. “I’d walk into courtrooms, it would be me on one side, and on the other side would be all those armies of lawyers from the big corporations. They had the best lawyers money could buy, older, experienced. They looked over at me and kind of said, ‘What is he doing here? He thinks he belongs in this courtroom with us?’ –- and I beat ’em and then I beat ’em again and then I beat ’em again.” It is just that sort of attitude and approach that will give Mr. Cheney's hatchet-man act such trouble.

Senator Edwards has some weaknesses (after all, he lost repeatedly to John Kerry), and the GOP loves to hate trial lawyers. He won't get a free ride from the research people on the right, who will find enough liberal votes in the Senate to make some trouble for him. However, the choice is a good one. And if nothing else, it puts paid to the nonsense of getting Senator McCain to switch parties and run as a second combat vet on the Democratic ticket.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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