Paint stripper
In case you haven't noticed, this blog occasionally strays from the state capital here in Raleigh to folks who are in that other capital up I-95, or just want to be. And no, I'm not talking about Richmond.
In the race for the White House, I try to keep loose tabs on John Edwards, the former North Carolina Senator who has pretty much taken up permanent residence at third in the polls for the Democratic primaries.
Slate columnist John Dickerson has a piece up right now called "Time To Panic?" In it, he asks if Barack Obama should be worried that he's loosing ground in the polls to Hillary Clinton. In it, he offers Obama several pieces of advice on bouncing back. Among them is this bit regarding Edwards:
Let John Edwards tear down Clinton. Edwards is the Democratic candidate who looks the most like an insurgent. His strategy may seem frantic at times (no SUVs one day, no congressional health care the next), but at least he looks passionate.On the same day Obama was giving his low-key tax speech, John Edwards' senior adviser Joe Trippi was going after Hillary Clinton with a meat hook over a fund-raiser she was holding. "That no one in the Clinton campaign—including the candidate—found anything wrong with holding this fundraiser is an indication of just how bad things have gotten in Washington—because there isn't an American outside of Washington who would not be sickened by it," he wrote.
Perhaps Obama can benefit from whatever paint Edwards can strip from Clinton, as Edwards benefited in 2004 from the fight between Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt. But so far, Edwards' attacks haven't worked against Clinton, and there's also no guarantee that the votes would go to Obama even if Edwards were effective.
Click here for the full story.
This notion that "Edwards' attacks haven't worked against Clinton" got me to thinking. Why not? As many strategic advantages (lots of money from powerful contributors, married to the former president, experience in the health care arena, etc...) Clinton brings to the table, she also brings a host of liabilities (lots of money from powerful contributors, married to the former president, experience in the health care arena, etc...).
That which makes here strong also makes her eminently attackable. So what gives?
It may be because Edwards is not only battling his own opponents. Check out this AP column headlined: Is Edwards Real or a Phony?" Edwards is still battling back at the demons of his own campaigns slipups. And that's pretty much a full month after the hedge fund story has been out of the news cycle.
In order to break through the noise, Edwards needs to keep his campaign's house in order.
If Edwards can keep the stories about his campaign from being "here's how bubba shot himself in the foot today" and more about his plans and policies, his critique of Clinton might begin to gain a little more traction. Of course, if that doesn't begin to happen by, say, December or very early January, it may be time for Obama and Edwards to panic.