“It bothers and worries me to see how enamored you have become of John Edwards’ candidacy. I live in North Carolina, and having witnessed his rapid rise to national prominence I feel I should hold up a sign that says, “Warning, Turn Back NOW!” Edwards does have skill and charisma, but his primary skill is the ability to convince a jury (and an electorate) that he has substance. There is no evidence that he knows how to govern. He has never done it, at any level.
And remember, Edwards has also never been re-elected to any political office, has never been reaffirmed at the polls by those he represents. There are plenty of Carolinians who are convinced he decided to run for President only because he would be unlikely to be re-elected as Senator based on his performance in office so far. He began running for President less than half way through his first term in Washington, and consequently has done nothing for his constituents, unless one considers his actual constituency to be the trial lawyers lobby and those few who had the opportunity to give him 35% of the proceeds of their litigation.
For all the concern about other politicians’ ties to ‘special interests’, here we have a candidate who is financed by and is running for the trial lawyers, the richest and most entrenched special interest of all. It boggles the mind to realize that someone with no experience in government, no demonstrated understanding of international relations and no meaningful record in domestic affairs is being touted so highly for the most important job in the world, simply because he is a pretty face with the backing of serious money. And because he is not Kerry, Dean, or a Republican.” – more feedback on the Letters Page.
BETTER: Bush’s opening campaign salvo was a lot better than his recent performances. His best lines were the following:
“The other party’s nomination battle is still playing out. The candidates are an interesting group with diverse opinions: for tax cuts and against them; for NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement] and against NAFTA; for the Patriot Act and against the Patriot Act; in favor of liberating Iraq and opposed to it. And that’s just one senator from Massachusetts.”
Far more effective to target Kerry’s fundamental weakness – that he has said everything and anything over the years – than to engage in the culture war of attrition over Vietnam. But Bush’s attempts to talk about himself as a president expanding choice and limiting government just don’t ring true. You cannot expand government and increase public debt at the rate Bush has and then turn around and say that you’re a small government conservative. You cannot ignore the future fiscal crisis that will come when the boomers retire and say the following: “It’s the President’s job to confront problems, not to pass them on to future Presidents and future generations.” On the most basic issue of the government’s solvency, this president has indeed passed on huge and mounting problems to the next generation. In this respect, he is, sad to say, the living refutation of the “responsibility society” he says he believes in. I wonder if this has even occurred to him.
The Dish 