Edwards leaves no doubt what he's about

John Edwards no doubt benefited in today's debate from being next to last among the six Democratic presidential candidates present in answering what, if elected, he would aim to accomplish in year one. Still, when he got his chance, the son of a mill worker used it to drive home the unvarnished populism that has defined his second White House run.

After noting with a wry grin that those preceding him had made "an awful lot of promises" -- and quickly listing a few of his own -- he homed in on his core message:

"None of those things are going to happen unless we have a president of the United States who calls on the American people to join together to take this democracy and take this country back. Because what's happening in America today is absolutely clear: We have a small group of entrenched interests, corporate powers, corporate greed, the most wealthy people in America who are controlling what's happening in the democracy, and we have to take it back."

Of late, he's been delivering that class manifesto with less anger than previously. But win or lose, Edwards cannot be accused of mincing his words. And somewhere, the ghost of William Jennings Bryan must be smiling.

MSNBC, focusing on Edwards' unswerving adherence to his theme, counted the number of times he mentioned the word "corporate" (as in, "corporate power" or "corporate greed"). The result: 13

The debate was notable for its lack of vitriol, as The Times' Janet Hook and Joe Mathews report. As with the similar forum Wednesday featuring the Republican candidates, it lacked memorable -- or meaningful -- exchanges.

Indeed, the question about first-year goals underscored the coalescence among these six on specifics: All would wind down the war in Iraq, all would strive for sweeping healthcare reforms, all would restore what they decry as infringements on constitutional rights by President Bush.

The absence of the two outliers in the Democratic race -- Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel -- made those similarities all the more evident.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Oscar]

Edwards won the debate, as per the focus groups. He is the most electable.

I pray people realize this, and that he is the best, safest choice for the democrats.

[Patty Morlan]

I agree that Edwards did very well today. Both the CNN & Fox undecided voters focus groups evidently thought so too. Both groups gave the win to Edwards and talked about how impressed they were with his clear message and authenticity. A couple of them said they had Edwards 3rd on their list of candidates when they came in and after the debate he was 1st on their list.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, as Democrats we would be nuts not to nominate this guy. Not only is he progressive on the issues but he connects with voters. He has been outspent by Obama & Clinton and given far less national media coverage and yet he is still tied for 1st. You can't do that without having a message that the voters identify with. In addition, the polls that show that in a head-to-head matchup against the Republicans Edwards has consistently beat every Republican candidate. Heck, he even won an undecided voter in one of the Republican debates!

I know John Edwards is not a favorite among the pundits but he continues to show that when given a chance to talk with voters they like him and they like his vision of taking back America for the little guys. I think he will surprise a lot of pundits when he wins Iowa.

A note to Don Frederick: Hi Don. Finally I can say good things about you. Ha! Ha! Seriously, I liked your piece except for the reference to William Jennings Bryan. I think Huckabee 's brand of populism with his position against evolution is much closer to William Jennings Bryan's brand of populism than Edwards. I don't think Bryan would be any too happy with Edwards position in favor of evolution, do you?