The same media that sets the bar high for some candidates sets the bar low for others. While Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Joe Lieberman are facing high press expectations, Sen. John Edwards is getting off relatively easy.
On last night’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on CNN, the eponymous host asked National Correspondent Bob Franken, “how does [Edwards] look right now in New Hampshire?” Franken replied, “The polls don’t show him looking that he’s very strong. But, of course, he would say that was the case in Iowa. But, really, all he has to do here, as Woody Allen said, is show up.”
Franken continued by qualifying his assertion a bit: “As long as he does fairly well here, that would be enough for him to go to what is going to be his home stomping grounds in the Carolinas and the primaries that come up after that.”
Campaign Desk is left wondering if Franken could set the bar any lower without digging a trench.
–B.K.
Bryan Keefer was CJR Daily’s deputy managing editor.