The 2004 John Edwards

Outside of Dennis Kucinich, Edwards is the only Democrat who is currently preaching some kind of new economic populism. He said he will not fret over a balanced budget, will raise taxes to provide health care and thinks that it is not time for "baby steps,"
but rather for "transformational change."

This is music to the ears of some of the Party's base. It has prompted Time Magazine to ask: Is Edward's the Howard Dean of 2008? His populist appeal has appealed himself to much of the left -- even Alex Cockburn gave him a passive compliment on C-Span two weeks ago. And on Dailykos, Edward's is dominating the straw polls. (Update: He is also in first place at MYDD.)

However, while Edward's rhetoric has been decent, one has to wonder about his sincerity. Scott Lehigh's op-ed in today's Globe makes a very interesting point about Edward's influence over the 2004 presidential race, when he was John Kerry's running mate.

On a Feb. 4 appearance on "Meet the Press," for example, Edwards said he was very critical of himself for that vote, adding: "Anybody who wants to be president of the United States has got be honest and open, be willing to admit when they've done things wrong." Clinton's refusal to repudiate her vote is "between her and her conscience," he said at Feb. 21 forum.

That confessional stance has won Edwards considerable credit with Democrats.

Yet as John Kerry's 2004 ticketmate, the former North Carolina senator was anything but eager to acknowledge error on Iraq. Instead, according to several Kerry-Edwards campaign aides, Edwards argued repeatedly that the two should stand by their votes, even after it had become apparent that Iraq had neither weapons of mass destruction nor collaborative ties with Al Qaeda.

Edwards on Obama

"This [Iraq legislation] is not a game of Chicken. This is not about making friends or keeping Joe Lieberman happy. This is about life and death," he added.

Edwards to Congress: Send the Bill back to Bush

John Edward's gets it right on how to handle a Bush veto of the Iraq supplemental.

[Edwards] said that if Bush carries through on his threat to veto legislation that funds U.S. troops in Iraq while also calling for withdrawal next year, Congress should “send the bill back to him” as many times as necessary.

As I have already noted, Obama has gotten it wrong.

Shrum & Dumber

Political advisor Bob Shrum says he pushed Edwards to vote to give Bush authority to invade Iraq in 2002, and that he regrets it. Shrum, for those of you who don't know, is best known for his 0-8 record in presidential races. Amazingly, however, he was still widely courted by Democrats in 2004.

From the Post:

[Shrum] is rich, famous and, despite his losing streak, still in great demand -- Kerry, John Edwards and Dick Gephardt all vied for his services in 2004.

I doubt very much, given Shrum's anonymity outside of Beltway news junkies, that this will help or hurt Edwards, who is wisely minimizing Shrum's influence in the decision.

"John Edwards cast his vote based on the advice of national security advisers and the intelligence he was given, not political advisers," [Edwards spokesman David] Ginsberg said. "He got political advice on both sides of the argument, and made his own decision based on what he thought was right, not political calculation."

If there is one lesson worth taking from this story it is this: candidates should spend less time worrying about what political consultants think -- especially in matters of life and death.