Legal Commentary

What Edwards Did In Iowa

By Big Tent Democrat

I have avoided like the plague the discussion of John Edwards' private life. But I am interested in the argument about the effect of John Edwards' campaign in Iowa. Howard Wolfson argued that if Edwards had not been in the race, Hillary would have won Iowa. Chris Bowers and Clinton hater Poblano say it would not have made a difference. I have no idea what would have happened the night of January 3, 2008 if Edwards had not been in the race, but to ignore the fact that John Edwards served as Obama's attack dog in Iowa, as Bowers and the Clinton hating Poblano do, when discussing his effect on the race, is absurd.

I always argued that the most important night of the campaign came on October 30, 2007, when Jack Welch's NBC boys Tim Russert and Brian Williams teed it up against Hillary Clinton. To wonder what would have happened in the campaign if Edwards had been out is like wondering what would have happened if Russert had not been at the October 30, 2007 debate. They both were there. Silly to pretend that we would have known what would have happened otherwise. But we are nothing if not silly sometimes.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 11, 2008 (boomark / email).