Johnny Come Home

Todd Morman offers nine reasons to think John Edwards will drop out of the race before Christmas.

Comments

[Douglas Fletcher]

John who?

[Kevin Carson]

Good bleeping riddance. Edwards is a Clintonesque pretty boy with strong DLC credentials. His MO is to sell himself by turning on the empathy and “feeling our pain,” after which he fulfills his real function as a corporate tool (again, just like Slick Willie).

[John Thacker]

Interesting that “not protectionist enough” is one of those reasons. And, of course, Mr. Morman also criticizes the Bush Administration for being way too pro-free trade– on textiles! Just goes to show you where the Democratic Party stands on trade. He’s correct that a pro-war stance won’t win the Democratic nomination, though I doubt it’s the general election millstone he seems to think.

The rest of his reasons look quite correct to me. Sen. Faircloth did indeed run a terrible campaign, and of course Sen. Edwards’s inability to beat Bush in NC undercuts his own running position. It’s true that Edwards doesn’t appeal to blacks that much; I wonder if Mr. Morman opposes Howard Dean for similar reasons?

[Todd Morman]

I don’t “oppose” Edwards because he doesn’t appeal to blacks that much. What I said was that his attempt to simultaneously appeal to conservative Southern whites and NAACP members isn’t working. I’m also not personally much of a protectionist, although I do object strenuously to the completely undemocratic way decisions are made in bodies like the WTO, and definitely think the U.S. position on awarding “most-favored nation” status should take basic democratic freedoms into account. Those are hardly anti-libertarian positions on their face, are they?

What I was trying to do with the textile part of the post is point out that Edwards’ DLC-approved position on trade makes him incapable of taking advantage of the clearly angry, protectionist mood among the very Southern swing voters he claims he’s courting with his pro-invasion position. I think that also contributes to the crappy chances I see for his campaign.

I’d never claim to be a diehard free marketeer, but I do think my positions are a bit more thought-out than your standard left-leaning capitalist-who-likes-a-social-safety-net.