Dan Conley raises some serious issues about the effect of Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer on John Edwards’ presidential campaign not the least of which is who will fund John Edwards third place campaign with this major an impediment? I imagine at first there may be sympathy money and calling of IOUs and friends - but once that’s tapped it’s going to be tough going for Edwards getting big donors I’d suspect. The only answer I see is even more of a grassroots fundraising effort - but given the money needed for a serious primary run this time, the number of top contenders and Barack Obama seriously contesting Edwards for grassroots fundraising dollars, it’s going to be tough going for Edwards. Insurmountable? I won’t go that far. Highly unlikely to succeed - I think we may be there barring Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer going into remission (which we all have in our wishes).
WurfWhile
Insight - Foresight - Hindsight
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Edwards is a mediocre candidate even at best case scenario. He’s facing 1 great candidate and 1 good candidate. He has to gamble no matter what. The question is whether or not those gambles will work, or whether those gambles will backfire like the Marcotte incident.
Is he out? I’ll put it this way: He’s had one foot in the grave since he announced. This development only makes him slightly worse off. Out entirely? Not yet.
Posted 25 Mar 2007 at 11:45 am ¶Hi dan I,
Thanks for popping by again. I’ve never been overly excited by Edwards and consider him alone in the second tier in this race. Clearly Edwards has been trying to do two basic things:
- Run to the left and pick up the liberals and through a popular approach the Dean campaign remnants and
- Hope that Clinton and Obama beat each other up enough to let him squeak by (see 2004’s approach).
I think it’s always been a gamble - but this has to make it (in my judgment) much harder for him to attract the bigger dollar donors who are looking at viability. If he “had one foot in the grave since he announced” it’s hard to see that this doesn’t hurt him bad. I agree he isn’t out entirely - but I tend to think he’s out in practical terms because unlike 2004 there won’t be one candidate walking away with the grassroots activist volunteers and donors (see Obama) and Edwards needs all he can get and then some.
Take care.
Posted 28 Mar 2007 at 10:22 pm ¶Post a Comment