slanted, dishonest, irresponsible journalism... would we expect anything less...?A Contender's Worn-Out Welcome
By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, June 7, 2007; Page A27
The dynamic performance by John Edwards in Sunday's Democratic presidential debate, assailing his competitors for the nomination, got high marks from political reporters, Republican politicians and left-wing activists. But not from the Democratic establishment. Once their great hope for the future, Edwards now is massively unpopular among party regulars, who neither like nor trust him.
"massively unpopular"...? "massively"...?? where the hell are you getting your information, you twit...?Democrats are surprisingly candid about him. Mark Siegel, a 35-year party insider, told me: "He came to Washington as a 'New Democrat,' but he's not that kind of Democrat anymore. He's into class warfare."
Edwards has not worn well with party colleagues. Campaign consultant Bob Shrum was enthusiastic about Edwards after working on his 1998 Senate victory in North Carolina and unsuccessfully advised Gore to make him his 2000 running mate. But Shrum chose Kerry over Edwards as his 2004 presidential client. In his newly published memoir, "No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner," Shrum explains: "I was coming to believe he wasn't ready; he was a Clinton who hadn't read the books."
During the 2004 primaries, Democratic activist James Carville was enchanted when Edwards shifted his centrist posture to a populist depiction of "Two Americas." Carville told me -- and then repeated it on CNN -- that Edwards was the best stump speaker he ever had seen. When I asked him this week whether he still thought that was true, Carville replied: "Maybe he's not as good now."
oh, ok... i've got it now... edwards is "massively unpopular" with the democratic LEADERSHIP, the INSIDERS like siegel, carville, and shrum, three people who certainly don't speak for me, and certainly not, in my opinion, for most grassroots liberals and progressives... and that bit about "class warfare"... feeling threatened, are ya, bob...?
then, in keeping with the unbelievably shallow attacks that have become a staple of the traditional media, novak goes on to babble about edwards' "haircut," his speaking honorarium, and his hedge fund salary...
but it's in the last paragraph that he fully reveals his hand...Iowa Democrats in 2004 pulled back from catastrophe at the 11th hour and abandoned Howard Dean when they contemplated the impact of a Dean victory. Party leaders hope Iowans will take a similarly hard look at John Edwards.
you see, it's all about the PARTY LEADERSHIP, and has nothing to do with folks like US who actually CAST THE VOTES... novak's making the case that it's HIS CLASS, the INSIDER CLASS, who needs to call the shots... god forbid it should be US COMMONERS, or, as they would call us in shakespeare's day, GROUNDLINGS...
it's also very telling that novak should bring up howard dean, the "catastrophe" in novak's twisted world view... howard dean was a phenomenon created and led by the grassroots, a movement that struck such fear into the hearts of the insiders that they had no choice but to destroy both it and dean along with it... and, ironically, horrified as i was by what i was seeing with the bush regime, it was howard dean who brought me out of my shell and into the world of political activism for the first time...
p.s. i am certainly not declaring myself as an edwards supporter... there's way too much time between now and november 2008 for me to be jumping on any candidate's bandwagon... but i simply can't and won't tolerate naked efforts to destroy a candidate on bogus grounds, and that's precisely what novak is attempting to do... of COURSE, he would be more comfortable with hillary (or, should i say, mark penn) and obama too, for that matter... after all, they both support the war, which, by extension, means they support the power structure that keeps a shill like bob novak in good standing with his fellow elites...Labels: 2008 candidates, Barack Obama, Bob Shrum, Democratic debate, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, James Carville, John Edwards, Mark Siegel, Robert Novak, Washington Post
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