Posted on 02/18/2004 9:09:14 AM PST by yoe
Sure, John Kerry won the Wisconsin Democratic primary, but a day later, everyone's talking about John Edward's strong second-place showing.
Edwards, who received several Wisconsin newspaper endorsements, made it a much closer race than many polls and analysts predicted. In the end, he trailed Kerry by only six percentage points.
On Tuesday night, an enthusiastic Edwards joked that, "Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear."
On Wednesday morning, Edwards called his strong showing "surprising," even to him. "We expected to surge, but the strength of the surge was amazing," he said.
In a Wednesday morning Today show interview, Edwards said his message of jobs finally "got through" to people. He said he thinks he gained the support of voters who are making last-minute decisions, and he thinks he scores well among independents.
'Positive, optimistic message of hope'
"I think people are looking for somebody who has concrete ideas about how to change the country and that gives them some hope about what's possible," Edwards said.
"They want a president and a presidential candidate who makes them believe again that everything is possible in this country."
Going forward, Edwards said, "I'm going to keep talking about the same things I have been talking about. I will talk about jobs. I will talk about fighting for jobs and having a trade policy that protects jobs and creates jobs and a tax policy that does the same thing."
He said he'll focus on what he wants to do for the country, because that's what is working for him.
In response to a question, Edwards said "there's a huge surge" of money coming into his campaign, and he has plenty of cash to campaign in "every state," leading up to the March 2 Super Tuesday primary.
Edwards also said he spoke with Howard Dean, who came in a distant third in Wisconsin on Tuesday. "We said we'd talk again in the next few days," Edwards said, characterizing their Tuesday night conversation as "positive."
Edwards said there was no talk about Dean endorsing him during Tuesday night's conversation. But -- "I would certainly welcome his support," Edwards added.
Would that be a kaiser roll or a bulkie?
Personally, I don't think this is positive development. While it would be nice to see Kerry and Edwards snipe at each and face a wounded Kerry in the fall, I don't want any part or possibility of Edwards.
This guy's stayed more or less out of the fray, he's got charisma, he could energize the "shipping jobs off shore" issue (which isn't a real issue and there's no solution, but it resonates with MANY people) and he could give Dub a run for his money.
Kerry on the other hand has a closet literally BURSTING with skeletons and Theresa hasn't even climbed out of the basement yet...
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Wonder how much of this surge is attributable to GOP mischief-making?!
FReegards...MUD
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