Edwards Makes A Move

If I got in the mail an 80-page mailer filled with every policy prescription that the potential next President of the United States would enact, I'd read it. But I'm a politics junkie. Does this really work?

Unfortunately, what's probably far more powerful is a 30-second ad like this.



Edwards is offering a very strident progressive populism that upsets elites but may be right for the times. People are angry, they're nervous and they want something that will shake up the status quo. The problem is that they're not really willing to sit down with an 80-page book and really study the full impacts. I wish they would - it would move us in the right direction. But ours is a soundbite culture, alas.

But if we have to deal with 30-second ads, this one is pretty powerful. I've seen Edwards deliver this pledge live, to eliminate health coverage for Congress and the cabinet if they don't pass a universal health care bill, and it gets the most thunderous applause you've ever seen. There are legal questions about it, but it's a great position for a populist to argue from.

UPDATE: The press has been trying to make the Democratic nomination a two-horse race for a long time. Edwards has pretty much been pushed to the side after the haircut fiasco. This is shortsighted. Edwards is definitely in the race in Iowa, and beyond that, all bets are off.