Why Edwards Hurts Kerry

National Review Online ^ | 7-6-04 | Byron York

[webheart]

So will this CIVIL lawyer consider the war on terrorism, a "war" on terrorism which is really a law enforcement issue for the courts?

He probably has a very good plan for dealing with terrorism: He will simply sue them. Hit al Quaida where it hurts them the most, in their wallets. Everyone knows that the fear of lawsuits is paralyzing in itself, so the fear of being sued will certainly get the terrorists to get honest jobs and stop trying to blow everything up.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He just after his 30 percent, afterall...

[sharktrager]

Almost all class action suits are loony. They generally rely on junk science.

But the jury system makes it so easy because lots of "good" jurors are excused from the pool, just don't show or play the system to guarantee they won't be chosen. Then guys like Edwards disqualify as many intelligent jurors as possible. Finally, the quality of judges has dropped so much that lawyers are able to get away with an awful lot, which makes it easy to paint the defendant as an evil company that, given the opportunity, would kick your dog, slap your child and rape your grandma.

[bobjam]

Let the Democrats play the economic populism card all they want. This is 2004, not 1932. More and more Americans are realizing that economic policies that benefit investors and stock holders benefit them because through their 401k's, IRA's and pension plans, they are investors and stock holders.

[randog]

You're comments reflect my opinion to the 't'. If he's even a factor in people's voting decision then men won't vote for him because he's a shyster lawyer and he's cute and women will vote for him because he's cute.

[GraniteStateConservative]

York is wrong. First, Kerry is the nominee. Edwards will repeat Kerry rhetoric not the other way around. Second, VP only help at the margins. In this case, Kerry thinks it might help secure his base of single women (millions of which didn't vote in 2000) and steal some married women votes from Bush.

[familyofman]

"...if you read the court transcripts of his arguments you get the impression that you're dealing with a loony-tune."

Looney-tune or not, did he win the case? Underestimating a foe - thinking he's looney tune' is a great way to end up a loser.

[Mr. Bird]

If Kerry continues to back away from outsourcing he will lose big. I used to think this was a partisan issue. It isn't. It splits both parties between nationalists and globalists.

I would suppose those concerned about protectionism/outsourcing as their primary voting issue have made up their minds. Those opposing outsourcing/free trade will vote against Bush, so why expend energy on an automatic win?

Outsourcing elicits a very personal political view when it directly affects someone. Part of that political view is the supposition that the issue should be at the forefront of the presidential debate. Unfortunately for those people, I do not believe it will get a big role in the campaign.

[rudypoot]

Edwards was picked based on two factors: a) his physical appearance; b) controllability. Edwards is a political lightweight with no depth whatsoever. All of his speeches in the primaries were based on emotion without substance.

Besides, no one votes for a presidential ticket based the running mate. Kerry is still a screaming Massachusetts liberal. He can't change that.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Party strategists will undoubtedly answer that in the general election it is the presidential candidate who really matters, and that in the area of national security, voters placed much more trust in John Kerry. That's true. But given that the war in Iraq, and to some extent the larger issue of national security, will likely dominate the fall campaign, it's also true that Kerry has chosen a running mate who is extraordinarily weak on those issues that matter most.

And on this, Edwards merely has to handle the single VP debate to not hurt the ticket on national security. Voters won't decide on Edwards' strength on national security until then. It doesn't matter what the issue, in a re-election year, voting is a two-step process: do I like the current guy's policy; if not, is the other guy's okay. So, if voters are even considering Kerry-Edwards, they've already got them half-way where they want them. Kerry-Edwards will run untited on the notion that everything wrong with Bush's policies on national security can be fixed with being more friendly toward our allies in Europe, and less like a shoot-first cowboy. That utopian garbage will sell with plenty of voters.

[Ciexyz]

I'm looking forward to reading transcripts from the trials that garnered Edwards $152 million.

Hope to see them posted online soon.

[KC_Conspirator]

What is amazing to me is that if you look on DU they are passionate about Iraq and gay marriage. Not a word about outsourcing and globalism.

I totally agree with you. Its the one winning issue they have and since their primaries some months ago, I can't figure out why they are not attacking from that angle. My only guess is that both Kerry and Edwards must have personal wealth or their donors have business ties to outsourcing projects. For the life of me I can't understand. Instead they are focusing on issues they lose hands down.

[gswilder]

Being from the south and being a southerner are two different things. Even NC would be more of a border state. I think Edwards was basically to add some "spice" to the ticket. However, I may be wrong. I do suspect CBS or NBC will have a poll by end of day Wednesday showing a big bump for Kerry overall, and that they are now leading in NC and possibly some other states.

[WHBates]

Question?? Which southern states does this put in play?

[Mr. Bird]

Question for both of you: are you against outsourcing, and if so, will you vote for Kerry if he opposes it?

[longtermmemmory]

It would be wise to paint smilin' edwards as the same as smilin' jimmy carter.

[longtermmemmory]

true, those in miami FL are not "the south".

[Alberta's Child]

I'm sure he won the case, and I understand your concern about underestimating people.

Keep in mind, though, that in a courtroom he is not dealing with your average person . . . he's dealing with twelve jurors who have been selected from a large pool of "average people" -- and the lawyers themselves were part of the selection process that reduced the pool from 100 or so down to 12.

You'd probably find that a typical "summation" or "closing argument" is aimed at someone with an eighth-grade education and an IQ of 85.

[ER_in_OC,CA]

Turn the tables on the dems' quips from 88 thru 92 and put it into a sound bite for your dem-leaning friends:

"Wow, the Democrats were so critical of Dan Quayle and now they've got a VP candidate with LESS experience in elected office than him. Guess Kerry flip-flopped on that one too."

[familyofman]

"Which southern states does this put in play?"

Those that wee already closer than expected - Virginia, for one. There are also a couple of the 'battleground' states where Edwards could make a difference; WV, MO, OH, PA, WI.