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14
May
08

Johnny “Come Lately” Edwards To Endorse Democratic Nominee

By baratunde
Categories: Election 2008 Tags: , , , , .

cross-posted to jack and jill politics

While Politico, TIME and others. are running headlines that say “Edwards Endorses Obama,” I think mine is better.

My initial reaction was:

about friggin time dude. where you waiting for hillary to come out in blackface and campaign for mccain?

There’s nothing particularly impressive about his decision. After all, he’s coming out even after the mainstream media has concluded that the race is over. So it’s not so much an endorsement as it is the only possible thing to do.

I’m a bit harsh on people who lead after the fact. Your decision means more to me when I feel like you made it in a difficult environment. It’s one of the reasons I’m so critical of Hillary’s Iraq War vote. She made the easy decision to go along with a popular president and look “strong.” The truly strong decision would have been to stand up when few others did.

For all John Edwards’s talk of being a fighter and standing up for the little guy, I’ve gone from impatient to furious to bored over his non-endorsement after so many months. When Hillary’s campaign, months ago, started acting the fool, where was this Mr. Edwards? Hiding in North Carolina.

The calculating political side of me understands that he probably wanted to keep as many doors and options open as possible and might have been afraid of the wrath of the Clintons had he miscalculated or endorsed “too soon.” But I have the luxury of not being in that position, and I don’t really care.

That’s my take. I may update it after his speech tonight. And no matter how unimpressed I am with the timing of Johnny Come Lately, it will be good to have him on the campaign trail if only to silence this stupid narrative about Obama and the white vote. Given the thoughtfulness behind many of his policy positions, I also think he has a lot to offer the country.

Viewing 8 Comments

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    At least we know who he voted for in North Carolina. But it was quite telling that in West Virginia he got 7%, his largest percentage in months. I have a feeling both Hillary and Obama would have to write off West Virginia because the voters there seem that unwilling to vote for a Presidential candidate that isn't a white man.

    By the rules Obama has this nomination sewn up, but I'm a little nervous about the popular vote. Based on current polling data combined with the relative size of the next five contests, though he'll win more contests she'll likely net more popular votes (and delegates, but the delegate contest is over). Obama's margin is kind of thin right now. If Hillary overtakes him then the general election campaign is that much tougher.

    Fortunately Obama has been reaching out to Michigan and Florida and other states that haven't been in the Democrats column in years. But yeah, an endorsement from Edwards would have been nice in advance of West Virginia.
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    thanks for the comment, eric.

    just a correction on the popular vote. it doesn't matter. the democratic nominee is determined by delegates. the popular vote is a nice concept but completely beside the point. had the goal been popular vote from the start, all candidates would have campaigned differently, focusing on large states like IL, CA, NY, TX

    so don't believe the hype on that.

    i'd also caution everyone not to believe the hype about dems not supporting obama in november. Democrats are called Democrats for a reason. They vote for Democrats. most people saying they won't support O are talking shit. they're the same folks who threatened to move to canada if bush was electedin 2004.
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    No, I know the popular vote doesn't count. I'm referring more to the spin war that'll follow, especially from the conflict-driven media, the Clinton campaign, and the Republicans.

    Also, I too believe that the Democrats will unite behind Obama. I also think he'll be stronger amongst Independents and Republicans. He has the advantage of money and turnout that McCain doesn't have. I also think that if Obama takes up McCain on the offer to do a joint town meeting tour or some kind of bipartisan campaign tour it'll be good for politics. I hope they both keep on message. If they can dismiss their surrogates and the media, maybe this'll be the most issue oriented campaign ever.
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    the clinton campaign actually over-focused on the big states. good time article on their 5 mistakes.
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    Mate,

    From where I stand on this side of the world, my first reaction to the Edwards endorsement, was, "Sure Dude, that was Genuine" and very politician like, wait till the battle is over and then come over to greet the victor, and state that for the record, you were always there...pathetic
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    I have a feeling that the Edwards endorsement announcement was held until a moment then the Obama campaign really needed something to change the story. Edwards nearly announced his support for "him" a week or so ago, but I think it was a tactical decision on behalf of the Obama campaign to have him keep the actual announcement in his pocket until after the West Virginia primary. I don't think this was a leadership decision- it was a chess move. Check-mate, people.

    That being said, I couldn't be happier that Edwards got off his a$$ and did the right thing.

    I love the blog. Bless you for all that you do.
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    Of course, the other side of the coin is that maybe this announcement will be the killshot on the Clinton campaign, and you gotta love that, B, doncha?
    • ^
    • v
    Edwards has released his delegates and most of them are moving to Obama. I predict he'll clinch before June 3.
 

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