blog report

John Edwards, Piñata

February 20, 2004

Yesterday the blogosphere rolled out a coronation ceremony for Edwards’ electability, but today is another day, and everyone brought a baseball bat.

Why is John Edwards going to lose? Because Edwards demonstrated he “doesn’t get it” when he failed to challenge John Kerry to more than two debates says John Ellis. Ellis continues that Kerry wants to shorten the race, while Edwards should want to elongate the race by cramming as many major events (i.e. debates) into the schedule before March 2.

“All Edwards has to do to sell the idea (to a media ready to swoon) is to add some hooey about wanting to debate the key regional issues of the Pacific West in California, the Midwestern issues in Ohio and Northeastern concerns in New York. How, really, could Kerry say no. It would look like he was ducking, which front-runners can’t do. Not when The New York Times says they must (the editorial writes itself!). Democratic presidential candidates cannot afford to alienate their most important megaphone.”

Mickey Kaus agrees with Ellis but tweaks the Edwards bashing: “What he hasn’t done is frame the challenge as a formal debate proposal Kerry would look bad refusing (as opposed to ad hoc pandering that Kerry can more easily ignore).”

While Kaus and Ellis club Edwards for not gunning for more television coverage, Roger L. Simon and Glenn Reynolds take swings at Edward’s failure to jump on a drive-time radio gig offered to him by conservative pundit Hugh Hewitt.

Neither man beats around the bush:

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Roger L. Simon: Edwards would be a fool not to do it. If I were running, I’d jump at the chance. Sure Hugh is a conservative, but he’s a fair one and one of the most intelligent interviewers on the air. Also, he has a huge California listenship. Edwards?

Chiming in, Glenn Reynolds opines, “If Edwards passes on this offer, he deserves to lose.”

Finally, before we sign off this Friday morning and let everyone get back to their plans for a long lunch, we direct you Andrew Sullivan’s way for an “interesting factoid.”

“At this point in the election cycle, only three post-war incumbent presidents have been behind their challengers in the polls: Harry Truman and Gerald Ford. And George W. Bush.”

–Thomas Lang

Thomas Lang was a writer at CJR Daily.