Legal XXX is a weblog that I often find worth reading. I've attempted to comment on one of its entries, but the weblog denied me with the excuse that my comment was too long. Well, then...I'll just have to post it here....
Now I don't believe Edwards will really HURT Kerry per se, but I don't think the bounce from his perfectly coifed hair and Lionel Hutz-like smile will HELP Kerry all that much.
He is probably right that Edwards neither helps nor hurts Kerry. But what's missed from that analysis is that no plausible running mate would likely help or hurt Kerry.
The Democratic party has no platform this election, they've no central philosophy which they can point to in order to explain their actions, save one: Be angered by and opposed to anything and everything President Bush says or does. The defacto Democratic platform is, therefore: Anybody but Bush!!!
To them, the major problem to solve is George Bush. It's not the economy, it's not Iraq, it's not the war on terror, it's not health. It's George Bush. They don't need to have cogent answers for solving the terrorism problem. They don't require a tenable strategy for the economy. For them the major issue is getting rid of George Bush, and only after that's accomplished will they be interested in expending energy to solve the other issues.
George Bush is running against himself, not against John Kerry; John Kerry doesn't matter, regardless of his running mate. George Bush is what matters, and if he loses the election it's because he's inspired the ire of too many American citizens, and not because of anything John Kerry does.
That's my central position, but I'm not absolutely stuck to it. When I force myself out of that chair by asking questions such as, Well, if someone COULD help Kerry, how would they do it?, I find myself with some answers.
Posted by Jeff at July 6, 2004 10:47 AMI don't know if NO candidate could have an appeciable positive impact on the kerry campaign--McCain certainly would have been a coup for Kerry.
Heck, even Hillary would probably have resulted in a net positive (even with the polarizing effect of her mere presence)--she would've ginned up the base something fierce.
But basically I think you're right, of the VIABLE VP candidates, they were all pretty much a wash insofar as their ability to help/hurt Kerry.
Posted by: Christopher Cross at July 6, 2004 03:55 PM. Original Copyright, May 2004. All Rights Reserved.
