August 08, 2007
A Stumble For Edwards; Plus: Gravel Returns!
We paid only cursory attention to last night's AFL-CIO debate in Chicago because the pander factor tends to skyrocket during niche forums. But that doesn't mean this meeting, or tomorrow's before a gay issues-oriented crowd, isn't significant. Here are a few takeaway moments that may portend where this race is heading.
Does he really feel your pain? Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards has been working the union vote practically ever since his bid for the vice presidency came up short in 2004. Ahead of the forum, campaign reporters were describing the debate as Edwards' chance to shine. Well, he didn't.
One moment in particular was memorable but not for the reasons the North Carolinian might have intended. A disabled steel worker named Steve Skvara described losing a third of his pension and all his family's health care after the company he'd worked for went under. Choking up, he asked the presidential aspirants before him, "What's wrong with America, and what will you do to change it?"
Hands-down one of the most emotional moments of this entire campaign cycle. (Fast-forward to 7:05.) The audience erupted in cheers of support, and the candidates applauded, Edwards most enthusiastically of all. MSNBC, which was carrying the debate, zoomed in on him first. That was unfortunate: he was clapping his hands above his head -- a gesture normally reserved for Bruce Springsteen, not a struggling everyman. He probably just wanted to ensure that Mr. Skvara -- and the rest of the audience -- saw that he was applauding, but that oughtn't have been the point. Also, Edwards might have something of a smirk problem.
We can't help it if we're white. OK, this is about the Edwards campaign again, but there just might be an implosion happening here. Elizabeth Edwards, his wife, is the closest thing to Laura Bush that Democrats have. The party fell in love with the former lawyer's smarts and feistiness in 2004, and her battle with cancer has only fanned those adoring flames. Maybe that leaves her immune to some criticisms, but this latest comment is something of a doozy.
"We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman," she said in an interview with an online business journal. "Those things get you a lot of press, worth a certain amount of fundraising dollars."
There's nothing wrong with simply pointing out that Edwards' chief rivals, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, are biracial and a woman, respectively. A campaign spokesman later sought to clarify what Mrs. Edwards actually said: Obama and Clinton "deservedly" get tons of press "because of the potential 'firsts' of their candidacies."
Nice try. There's probably a perfectly reasonable point about the media in there somewhere, but what makes her comment such a talker is that is sounds like a complaint. Are we veering into anti-affirmative action territory here? Of course not. But it did sound ungracious -- pretty out of synch with her image.
Hillaryland: Now with more man musk. It's too, too early for predictions of any kind, but Clinton has pleasantly surprised at these debates -- a pretty impressive feat for a woman who's already well known to the point of saturation. Strangely, some in that right-wing conspiracy she sometimes speaks of are warming to her. Either it's a trick to grease her into the nomination for a general-election clobbering, or Clinton's purported discipline on security and domestic issues is winning her some converts.
Of course, her campaign is no different than anyone else's this cycle -- still a house of cards until the primary contests say otherwise. The rigidity with which her machine is run could well be a liability, New York magazine has noted. But as MSNBC's Chuck Todd observed after the forum ended, she is getting more and more help from competitors Joseph Biden and Christopher Dodd. When/if either senator drops out before the nomination is decided, it seems pretty clear whom they'll endorse.
My pet rock ate it. Long-shot candidate and fan favorite Mike Gravel is angry about not having been allowed to join yesterday's debate. He apparently didn't return a questionnaire on time. The former Alaska senator was particularly offended because he's even written books about labor law.
Never fear, Gravel Heads. He's in the lineup for tomorrow's Human Rights Campaign/Logo debate, which will be devoted to gay rights and issues. Of the eight-person Democratic field, only he and Dennis Kucinich support full same-sex marriage rights. And with both Dodd and Biden out due to scheduling conflicts, there will be more time to pressure the top tier to explain why they all more or less support the rights attendant to marriage for gays but not the right to call it "marriage."
The Fix, The Trail and Pure Horserace also saw a little wobbliness in Edwards. Maybe it's because they read this devastating dressdown of the candidate from Brad Warthen, ed-page editor of the ColumbiaState.
Graphic: Reuben Dalke
Posted at 5:50 PM
Posted to:
Barack Obama, Campaigns, Christopher Dodd, Democrats, Dennis Kucinich, Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards, Joseph Biden, Mike Gravel, WH 2008
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