I still don't know that much about Edwards. The possibility that an opportunistic trial lawyer might gain the Democratic nomination and perhaps the Presidency used to disturb me a lot. But measured against a borderline mental case like Dean, an over-the-line mental case like Clark, and an all-sides-of-the-line resort-to-anything-to-get-elected case like Kerry, Edwards looks sane and middling-honest by comparison. That's how bad things have gotten.
I know I'm not going to like the policies of any Democrat, but some Democrat is going to get the nomination, and that Democrat could win the election (even though the odds remain heavily in Bush's favor). I prefer a sane alternative to Bush as the Democratic nominee. I think the country could survive an Edwards Presidency, even if I didn't like the direction it took. I think the country could have survived a Gephardt or Lieberman Presidency. But I'm not so sure about a Kerry or Dean or Clark Presidency.
So at this point, for the sake of the country, I'm kind of hoping that Edwards will overtake Kerry. Yes, Edwards will be a tougher opponent for Bush, but Bush needs a tough opponent. Bush has some failures of his own to answer for, and he shouldn't get a free pass.
I like the fact that Edwards has so far run a relatively clean and upbeat campaign, with no vicious attacks on his opponents. He'll be tough for the Republicans to demonize, and he may find it politically advantageous to not demonize Bush. I would dearly love to see a contest in which the candidates are forced to debate real issues instead of spending all their time mudslinging. If Bush can't beat Edwards based on the issues, then he doesn't deserve to be President.
But he hasn't run a clean campaign...that's all media spin. Unless you think a white candidate standing in a room full of black people telling them that they live in a racist country is a clean campaign. Unless you think that the constant drumbeat from him about the economic disparities in his "two Americas" is clean. It's a damned lie, exactly the kind of thing one should expect from a smarmy ambulance chaser. Edwards is a very dangerous candidate. An Edwards presidency would be a disaster.