It's His Call
By MARC ROTTERMAN, Special to the News & Observer
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts announced last Sunday that he is forming an exploratory committee for president, and Sen. John Edwards is said to be thinking of doing the same.
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Should he take the plunge, his record will be fair game, and he will be scrutinized as to whether he is up to the job of being president. To be sure, he is ambitious and knows how to get on TV and in the newspapers. He does make a nice appearance and knows his lines. But is there anything past the sound bites? Does he have the experience to do the job? And does his voting record accurately reflect his 1998 campaign promises?
Consider what Edwards said on CNN's "Inside Politics" on Nov. 2, 1998. In the interview, Edwards said he would vote frequently with Sen. Jesse Helms. Fast-forward to a Washington Times article on Oct. 15, 2002. Asked by columnist Robert P. Novak to recall any conservative position he's taken in the Senate, Edwards said, "I could give you an answer to that question if you give me a little time to think about it."
In fact, Edwards almost never voted with Helms, or for that matter, with any other conservatives. The American Conservative Union gives Edwards a "lifetime rating" of 12 percent and Helms, 99 percent. Clearly, Edwards' vote did cancel out Helms'. Edwards voted against John Ashcroft's nomination for attorney general. He voted against the capital gains tax cut, and on a key Helms amendment to an education bill that would allow federal funds to be withheld from public schools that bar the Boy Scouts from using their facilities, Edwards voted "no."
Neither has Edwards been reluctant to criticize President Bush. The Washington Post reported Oct. 6 that Edwards assailed Bush for using the war on terror to jeopardize Americans' civil liberties. In a speech in Iowa, Edwards said, "It is right to stand up to Saddam Hussein, but it is wrong in the name of the war on terrorism to let this administration take away our rights, take away our liberties, take away the things we believe in."
In the same speech, Edwards suggested that Bush is out of touch with ordinary Americans. "This president comes from a different place. ... He doesn't come from real America. ... He doesn't understand what real people's lives are like."
This from a man who has been fighting for the "little guy" in Hollywood. Numerous Hollywood big shots have donated to Edwards' campaign as well as to his political action committee. Last year, Californians were second only to North Carolinians in campaign donations to Edwards. Moreover, it has been reported that more than four of every five dollars raised for Edwards' hard-money PAC, New American Optimists, came from personal injury trial lawyers. In fact, since being elected in 1998, Edwards has raised nearly half of his money from trial lawyers or their law firms.
Have these contributions affected Edwards' voting record? Some in Washington would say so. Two years into Edwards' Senate term, he sponsored a bill to make it easier to sue HMOs. Terrance Scanlon, president of Capitol Research Center, cynically noted that Edwards "is now sponsoring a bill that would allow for huge lawsuits against health maintenance organizations, directly benefiting trial lawyers."
So what are the odds that John Edwards would get the 2004 Democratic nomination for president? Early polls in key states such as New Hampshire and Iowa show him getting between 1 percent and 3 percent of the vote among probable Democratic presidential contenders.
And how is he faring back home should he decide to run for Senate? A Mason-Dixon poll conducted Oct. 11 tested Edwards against U.S. Reps. Sue Myrick, Walter Jones and Richard Burr. In each case, Edwards got no more than 45 percent of the vote. Not a good sign for a sitting senator.
Should Edwards run for president or for re-election to the Senate?
That's his call. In either case, it appears he would have a tough race on his hands. Clearly, his voting record does not reflect the values and beliefs of middle America or the average North Carolinian.
(Marc Rotterman, a Republican strategist, is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation and treasurer of the American Conservative Union.)