For the second consecutive election, John Edwards is in a precarious position where he commands no where near enough support to actually win the election, but just enough of a following to hold the other two candidates’ futures in the palm of his hand.
He has been anointed the kingmaker of this election, and his every communication with a rival campaign is being scrutinized and hyped as a potential deal breaker for Edwards to drop out of the race and swing his support in a particular direction.
It’s sad that enough people buy his power hungry rhetoric to even let him hold any sway in this presidential campaign. How much can you trust a guy that spent one term serving North Carolina as a Senator only to use it as a platform to run for President? Then, after losing in the primary he became a loving friend to a formerly bitter opponent and sleazed his way into the Vice President’s ticket spot with John Kerry.
After losing in 2004, Edwards spent the next 3 years preparing to run again in 2008. Edwards developed a think tank to study poverty at UNC where he could hone his “two Americas” philosophy, which has become the centerpiece of his populist presidential campaign. He traveled across the country to places like New Hampshire (which just happens to hold the nations first non-caucus primary) to speak at a prominent dinner with top Democrats and released statements to his supporters and the press concerning his thoughts on the Supreme Court Justice nomination procedures for now Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.
Although he preaches about “two Americas” it’s hard to take any of Edwards’ rhetoric seriously considering his actions between the 2004 and 2008 campaign. Since then, Edwards has built one of the largest houses in Orange County, maintained a vacation residence at a gated island community, as well as been an advisor and invested in a firm that’s a player in the current subprime mortgage crisis that’s led to the current economic downturn we’re experiencing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not arguing against capitalism in America and I think his story is a testament to citizens everywhere because it shows that any person anywhere can wake up and work hard enough to be extraordinarily successful — by whatever means you define success.
But I personally believe in one America, where everyone has an opportunity to succeed and do well. An America that is at its strongest when it’s unified as a single nation and not subdivided into two groups by a politician desperate for power.
In a few weeks the Democratic Party will select a candidate for president and chances are it won’t be John Edwards. But, his support may swing the election to two other candidates who are no more qualified or able to lead the United States than Edwards.
Tell Benton what role you think Edwards will play in the upcoming election. E-mail him at [email protected]
