# Kerry chose John Edwards.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 6, 2004, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773 "2004-07-06T12:05:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/1 "2004-07-06T12:05:23Z")
Dang. I was right in the middle of composing this, except the title was “One hour till Kerry’s VP announcement! Places everybody!” Then I doublechecked CNN.
Pretty good call, I think. The obligatory Southern Democrat, finished second in the primary, no scandals or…ah, I’m just gonna post this and hope I’m first.
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### Author:  [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/2 "2004-07-06T12:06:56Z")
Yup, that was who I was betting on as well. Now the question is, does Kerry/Edwards have what it takes to push Bush/Cheney out of office?
We’ll see.
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### Author:  [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/3 "2004-07-06T12:11:24Z")
Well, it seems to me that a vp candidate should be an opposite of the presidential candidate in all ways except issues/policies/etc. Kerry is insider Beltway; Edwards (with one term) isn’t (at least not as much so). Kerry is from the north; Edwards is from the south. Kerry is the serious-looking one, lacking in charisma; Edwards is usually smiling, effusive, and can work a crowd. Sounds like a good choice to me. I’m glad he didn’t choose someone just to cause a stir.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/4 "2004-07-06T13:17:57Z")
Not an unexpected choice, certainly not a bad choice… just not one that will make the slightest difference in the election. Edwards didn’t do well in the South in his own party’s primaries, so there’s no reason to think he can deliver a single Southern state (even his own) in the general election.
Still, a perfectly solid, respectable choice. Kerry was already going to be formidable, and Edwards can’t hurt.
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### Author:  [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/5 "2004-07-06T13:21:13Z")
A bump in the polls is coming, from this and the Democratic convention. However, I believe that Bush will be reelected.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/6 "2004-07-06T13:23:09Z")
> [@Evil One](#):
>
> I believe that Bush will be reelected.
Well of course you do, with a username like that! 😉
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/7 "2004-07-06T13:25:38Z")
So, is Edwards going to have to stop that show where he talks to dead people?
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### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/8 "2004-07-06T13:55:09Z")
> [@Evil One](#):
>
> A bump in the polls is coming, from this and the Democratic convention. However, I believe that Bush will be reelected.
Doesn’t he have to be elected before he can be _re_elected? I just hope that the GOP Court doesn’t pull off another illegal coup this year.
Edwards is a fine choice–he possesses the charisma Kerrey lacks, and despite his lackluster performance in the spring, I think his history of rising from poverty and his symapthy for the poor will resonate with voters disgusted by the fat-cat selfishness of the Pubbie oligarchy.
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### Author:  [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/9 "2004-07-06T14:11:58Z")
> [@astorian](#):
>
> Not an unexpected choice, certainly not a bad choice… just not one that will make the slightest difference in the election. Edwards didn’t do well in the South in his own party’s primaries, so there’s no reason to think he can deliver a single Southern state (even his own) in the general election.
>
> **Still, a perfectly solid, respectable choice. Kerry was already going to be formidable, and Edwards can’t hurt**.
That, I think, is the key phrase. IIRC, it was Richard Nixon (before he knew about Agnew’s business dealings as Baltimore County Executive) who said that your VP running-mate is never going to help you - all you can hope for is that he doesn’t hurt you. And Nixon, for all of his other faults, knew politics.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/10 "2004-07-06T14:28:51Z")
> [@Revtim](#):
>
> So, is Edwards going to have to stop that show where he talks to dead people?
Well, according to one report, Edward **s** has been known to sorta hear from the dead, too.
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### Author:  [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/11 "2004-07-06T14:35:29Z")
Actually, wasn’t he the guy whose 16-year-old son was killed in a traffic accident, or do I have the wrong candidate?
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/12 "2004-07-06T15:56:53Z")
I’m looking forward to the Cheney/Edwards debate.
JE Golly Gee!
DC F#\*@ OFF!
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/13 "2004-07-06T16:03:04Z")
You gullible fools. Don’t you realize that this is simply Kerry’s way of postponing his _real_ choice for VP?
That’s right, it’s still Hillary! 😉
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/14 "2004-07-06T16:15:03Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#):
>
> Actually, wasn’t he the guy whose 16-year-old son was killed in a traffic accident, or do I have the wrong candidate?
That’s him.
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### Author:  [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/15 "2004-07-06T16:39:02Z")
The copy of the New York Post I have on my desk today has this blazing headline:
KERRY’S CHOICE: Dem Picks **Gephardt** As VP Canditate.
The Post took it off their site, but local news staions [won’t let em off that easy](http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/07062004_nw_vp_nypost.html).
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/16 "2004-07-06T16:42:58Z")
I’m glad that he didn’t chose Dick Gephardt. Something about Gephardt just rubs me the wrong way. He looks like a sleazy used car dealer. If Dick Gephardt told me that the sky was blue, I wouldn’t believe him until I looked for myself.
I’d say Edwards is a good, solid choice. He’s a good counterpoint to Kerry who, let’s face it, is rather dull and uninspiring.
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### Author:  [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/17 "2004-07-06T17:12:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Well, it seems to me that a vp candidate should be an opposite of the presidential candidate in all ways except issues/policies/etc. Kerry is insider Beltway; Edwards (with one term) isn’t (at least not as much so). Kerry is from the north; Edwards is from the south. Kerry is the serious-looking one, lacking in charisma; Edwards is usually smiling, effusive, and can work a crowd. Sounds like a good choice to me. I’m glad he didn’t choose someone just to cause a stir.
If these are sound criteria for choosing vice-presidential candidate, then J. Danforth Quayle must also have been an excellent selection - the exception here being that Quayle was elected to the Senate twice rather than just once.
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### Author:  [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/18 "2004-07-06T17:22:52Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#):
>
> If these are sound criteria for choosing vice-presidential candidate, then J. Danforth Quayle must also have been an excellent selection - the exception here being that Quayle was elected to the Senate twice rather than just once.
I don’t think the BushI/Quayle ticket is a good analogy: Bush was either from Texas or New England (depending on the audience) so the geographic distinction can’t be made, and neither Bush nor Quayle were particularly charismatic. For the life of me I haven’t ever been able to figure out the appeal of that ticket, other than they weren’t Dukakis/Bensen (which, evidently, was good enough for 4 years).
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### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/19 "2004-07-06T17:51:31Z")
I mean, this morning at 7:00 AM, my local FOX channel (6-Boston) was saying that Kerry picked Dick Gebheart! I went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, and then I hear that Edwards is the man! Was the firsts report a rumor, or did FOX screw up?
That said, not a bad choice…a southerner rounds out the ticket.
I can’t wait to see the republican pundits: “LURCH teams up with Ambulance Chaser”! 😉
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-chose-john-edwards/253773/20 "2004-07-06T17:57:41Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> I can’t wait to see the republican pundits: “LURCH teams up with Ambulance Chaser”! 😉
This has already started. No sooner than it was announced the GOP site issued a 31-page attack document that basically profiled Edwards as an ambulance chaser.
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