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Posted on 02/25/2004 8:18:58 PM PST by Theodore R.
Texas could still play role for Edwards
Thursday, February 26, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. — A few weeks ago, this state's senior senator was considered a true long shot for the Democratic presidential nomination. But John Edwards may still have a shot when the primary marathon reaches Texas on March 9.
Edwards has become the last man standing against front-runner and fellow Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Edwards has stayed up not by winning but, in the expectations-happy media battle that characterizes nomination fights, by repeatedly doing better than anticipated.
His surprise second-place finish in Iowa killed off Dick Gephardt. And Edwards even outlasted Howard Dean, the front-runner before voting started in January.
Edwards' populist "I'm-One-of-You" message, including references to going to court for little folks against big insurance companies, turns back the Republican attack on plaintiffs' lawyers like himself better than just about anybody in politics these days.
"I will fight for you every day that I'm president," Edwards told locked-out titanium workers in Ohio recently. "I understand what you are going through. My own father worked in a mill, and I saw with my own eyes what happened when that mill closed."
Edwards, however, is far from winning. Kerry's bandwagon has steadily grown, with 18 victories in the 20 contests so far. Edwards' lone first-place finish was in North Carolina. He has 199 delegates to Kerry's 663.
Now the contest moves into a 10-state donnybrook Super Tuesday, March 2, when 1,151 delegates are up, more than half the 2,162 needed to win the nomination.
Kerry, whose speeches are considered wooden beside Edwards, has passed on all but two debates on the same stage, to avoid giving Edwards equal footing. But because the Super Tuesday contests include New York and California, Edwards will have a free spotlight when he needs it most.
Edwards and Kerry agree on many things, although Edwards' trade attitude pleases organized labor more. He says he would have voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993. Kerry voted for it. Even so, several major unions that supported Dean and Gephardt have endorsed Kerry, hoping to unite the drive to unseat President Bush.
But as Republican TV pundit Tucker Carlson said recently in Austin, continuing the contests for a while lets Democrats keep bashing Bush for free on the nation's news outlets. Kerry and Edwards criticize Bush much more than each other.
In fact, these two could emulate what happened on the Republican side in 1980, when Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, the first and second place finishers, became the ticket.
Edwards could help Kerry in the South. And if Edwards comes out on top, Kerry, a genuine Vietnam war hero, is well-positioned to respond to President Bush's claim he's a "war president."
Stay tuned, Texas Democrats. Your 127 delegates up for grabs on March 9 (of 231 total) may be worth something after all.
Dave McNeely's column appears Thursdays. Contact him at (512) 445-3644 or dmcneely@statesman.com.
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