Sure, Bob Shrum's book is doubtless tendentious and self-serving, but Michael Crowley's excerpts only confirm my abiding distaste for John Edwards, and my abiding mystification at his appeal. I understand that he's made himself over as the standard-bearer for smart lefty ideas of the sort that haven't had many standard-bearers of late, and I suppose that if a Republican candidate went around calling himself the Sam's Club candidate and talking up policies I favor I'd be willing to overlook a lot . But even so, every time I hear him speak I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of smarm - and I don't care whether he told John Kerry about crawling up on the slab with his dead son and vowing to make a difference in the world once, twice, or fifty times; the fact that he would tell the story at all creeps me out. (Particularly since it's of a piece with this bit of repellent mummery.)
But then again, I was also somewhat put off by his decision to stay in the race in spite of his wife's cancer, and the American public decidedly disagrees with me on that score - so maybe my Edwards-hating just shows how out of touch I am. Also, I should note that everyone I've known who's worked on his campaigns says he's the nicest boss imaginable. So maybe it's just a sign of the weird power that Barack Obama exerts over impressionable minds that I can't fathom why any anti-Hillary liberal would opt for Edwards over him.
Update: Speaking of Obama's appeal ...
Edwards is like Romney in this respect-- they each seem like transparent frauds to people in the opposite party (and some in their own party). But others in their own party want to give them the benefit of the doubt, since these partisans believe in the candidates' current positions.
Posted by DB | May 24, 2007 1:35 PM