In case we don’t already know it, John Edwards isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
I was a little late to this Allen Johnson post on the Wal-Mart controversy as it was, and I had to read it twice to pick up on Johnson’s sarcasm. So I decided to just drop yet another post on the subject, figuring the story was dead. But now Edwards seems to be everywhere.
He showed up the other day in this Cone post on the role of religion in the recent election. Cone concludes by writing “I think John Edwards’ focus on poverty and economic justice may have been the smartest political move he coukld have made after ’04.”
Cone later defines “economic justice” as ” a fuzzy term that I would define as some set of policies that go beyond revering the law of the jungle to recognize and ameliorate some of the structural disadvantages that persist in our economy.” So if economic justice is a fuzzy term, one wonders how smart is it for a politician to make it his focus.
Then Edwards is in yesterday’s N&R:
It’s not so much that Johnny Enloe is hoping former Sen. John Edwards is running for president, but he’d like to see someone like Edwards in the chase.
“I’m not putting anyone down, but the Bushes and John Kerry, they’re not going to be able to relate to somebody like me. They were raised different,” Enloe said. “John (Edwards) and I were raised the same.”
Enloe acknowledged his life as a merchant in downtown Robbins and frontman for the local band Johnny and the Cadillacs is far removed from the life of the trial lawyer turned senator turned once and presumed future Democratic presidential candidate. But Edwards at least shares a common background — his family belonged to the same church Enloe did growing up — and that, he said, would count for a lot with voters like him….
To be clear: Edwards has not said he’s running for president in 2008. But only two years removed from serving as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s running mate in the 2004 campaign against President Bush, Edwards has made a series of moves that signal to political analysts that a campaign announcement is imminent.
When asked at a Greensboro book signing last weekend about his political future, Edwards urged the questioner to check out his Web site. It was the same answer he has given on a bevy of national chat shows such as Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”
“Over the next few weeks, I think they’ll see some interesting things there,” he said. When pressed later in the same appearance, Edwards acknowledges that he is among the small handful of people for whom a serious presidential bid is even possible.
So Edwards is going to run, along with Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and perhaps Barack Obama. But is his focus on economic justice going to get him anywhere? Probably not. As Reason’s Jeff Taylor points out, Edwards “Two Americas” pitch falls flat in a country where $600 toys are in such high demand.
