WASHINGTON, 7 July 2004 — John Kerry’s choice Tuesday of the energetic, photogenic John Edwards as his running mate provides vigor to the Massachusetts senator’s sometimes lackluster presidential campaign, political pundits say.
Analysts said Kerry, who sometimes comes across as dour and wooden, will get an immediate shot in the arm from giving the North Carolina senator the No. 2 spot on the Democratic ticket. “Politically he is a nice balance to Kerry’s very stiff manner. Edwards is charismatic and excites the Democratic base in the way Kerry really does not,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Edwards is a natural campaigner blessed with a high-voltage smile and an “American Dream” biography that underscores the view that even the humblest worker can attain success and fortune through hard work and ingenuity. Kerry, viewed with slight distaste by some Americans as a child of the privileged elite, is clearly hoping to benefit from the popular appeal of Edwards, a self-made millionaire who was the son of a blue-collar textile mill worker and the first in his family to go to college. “He made his money the honest way. He didn’t inherit the money. Here’s a guy who made it from hard work. He’s the real deal,” said Duke University political science professor Kerry Haynie.
Edwards was the favorite pick among Democratic voters.
Detractors point out that Edwards has served just one term in the US Senate — the only time he has held elective office — and that even there he has a thin legislative record. “It is impossible to make the argument that after one Senate term and no other public office he is ready at the moment noticed to become president,” Sabato said. “The Kerry people ... are hoping that Edwards’ charisma will overwhelm people so that they would never get to the experience question.”
Other pundits insisted that Edwards’ paltry political resume poses no major problem, and may even be preferable over a running mate with a long and possibly more controversial legislative history. “Frankly, I would choose one term in the Senate, not four terms in the Senate,” said Stephen Hess, political analyst with the Brookings Institution. “I think his experience is quite sufficient to the job.”
Some experts also touted Edwards as the best choice to make the Democratic ticket more appealing in the South, where Northern candidates usually fare poorly. “I think he will help him in a lot of southern and border states to be a more competitive candidate,” former President Bill Clinton said in an interview on National Public Radio. “He will appeal culturally to some people who feel that they don’t know John Kerry as well yet.”
Other analysts said Edwards may not help Kerry win the South outright, but helps bolster Democrats’ fortunes in the region in other ways.
“He connects with Southern voters in a way that may make the Bush-Cheney team spend more of their money and time than they might have otherwise,” said Adam Clymer, political director Annenberg Election Survey in Washington. “It probably can also help some of the Democratic Senate candidates in the South,” he said.
The announcement focuses attention on the eventual match-up against Vice President Dick Cheney, against whom Edwards will face off in one televised debate. It should be a hard-fought battle, Sabato said. “Edwards is a trial attorney.... As a debater, he will do fine,” he said. “The problem is going to be substance. He is often accused to be superficial and thin on substance, that is where Cheney will shine.”
