Here’s the thing. We’re all of us at a disadvantage when it comes to predicting reactions here, because we’re all interested. We really don’t have a clue what the majority of voters know or think. I’ll bet you there’s not a person in this thread who couldn’t ID a pic of Edwards. I’m not sure there’s another person on my block who could - maybe one or two. They’ve probably caught a phrase of two from the scandal this past week or so, maybe saw a picture accompanying it, but unless this Chet Edwards is 5’3" and built like a linebacker, or is black, very blond, or bald or has a beard, I’m guessing people won’t have a clue that it’s not the same Edwards who’s being ground into dust this week.
If I had money, I’d bet you $50 that Obama would not risk this. He’s confident, but he’s also a very pragmatic man.
I don’t know what he’s going to do. But the idea that after a week of talking about John Edwards’ love affair (and it’s not done yet), a big chunk of the public is suddenly going to confuse him with Chet Edwards is pretty silly.
Here’s my wild-ass prediction - Colin Powell. This is a longshot, but it is an interesting choice: For one thing, it completely neutralizes McCain’s ‘military cred’. It gives an Obama administration gravitas. Powell still has high approval ratings, and it would be a bold choice.
The Drudge blurb about Kerry uses as partial ‘evidence’ the fact that the VP nominee’s speech is slated for the night dedicated to ‘a salute to our veterans’. Who better to keynote that night than Powell? Also, Powell just endorsed Obama last week - a move that put him back in the public eye again just before the convention.
As I said, a long shot. But it’d be an intriguing pick, and a possibly successful one.
Colin Powell’s speech before the UN justifying the Iraq invasion puts him right out of contention, even if he does officially endorse Obama – and he hasn’t actually done that yet.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see Wesley Clark get the nod, especially with the Georgia crisis erupting.
As much of a longshot as this is (and it’s almost impossible to overstate how long a shot it is), it’s seductive enough to ponder for at least a few entertaining minutes.
And there’s an easy way for Powell to get out from under that grotesque display of political dishonesty: crumple it up and piss on it. Powell has not hidden his displeasure with that episode, but he’s done it in the abstract; he has not directly pointed the finger at his former masters. If he were to do that, and say baldly that he was ordered to bullshit the world and he followed orders but he knows now he made a mistake and he is making it his mission to put things right, he would be forgiven in a single fluttering heartbeat.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this scenario sits anywhere near the Land of Probable. It’s pretty much a fantasy, equal parts glib Hollywood and political idealism. But on the million-to-one chance Powell were to choose such a course, I do believe that he would be granted an immediate national bear hug of gratitude and absolution — and, moreover, McCain would shit himself so hard he’d become briefly airborne. Which is what makes it fun to think about.
As much of a longshot as this is (and it’s almost impossible to overstate how long a shot it is), it’s seductive enough to ponder for at least a few entertaining minutes.
And there’s an easy way for Powell to get out from under that grotesque display of political dishonesty: crumple it up and piss on it. Powell has not hidden his displeasure with that episode, but he’s done it in the abstract; he has not directly pointed the finger at his former masters. If he were to do that, and say baldly that he was ordered to bullshit the world and he followed orders but he knows now he made a mistake and he is making it his mission to put things right, he would be forgiven in a single fluttering heartbeat.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this scenario sits anywhere near the Land of Probable. It’s pretty much a fantasy, equal parts glib Hollywood and political idealism. But on the million-to-one chance Powell were to choose such a course, I do believe that he would be granted an immediate national bear hug of gratitude and absolution — and, moreover, McCain would shit himself so hard he’d become briefly airborne. Which is what makes it fun to think about.
Bill Kristol wrote a couple of days ago that he had sources telling him Colin Powell was going to endorse Obama. Powell has said good things about Obama and has not yet endorsed McCain, but I don’t see a Veep spot in the cards for either ticket.
If people can even buy into the idea of somehow reachingly equating an American citizen, now running for president of the United States, who’s named Barack Hussein Obama, with either Islam, Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden, they’re capable of possibly making any lazy association.
I realize there’s slightly more to the Muslim association, but still.
Re: Colin Powell. So, the answer to overcoming the obstacles to electing one brown man is to put another brown man on the ticket? I know, there’s another scenario for that, but Richardson is a horse of a different ethnicity, not altogether acceptable either (but the name helps).
Richardson doesn’t have a chance. He crashed and burned as a Presidential candidate, and he has a habit of being constantly underwhelming in person and in debates. He’s made a few rather large gaffes.
I used to really like Richardson. I thought he was one of the more serious Democrats. But for the past year, every time I’ve seen in in action my opinion of him has gone lower. And I think the average voter shares that, which is why he came into the Presidential race with a fair bit of hype and left it looking like a lightweight.
Sam, Richardson washed out as a Presidential candidate, as did half a dozen other people. How does that translate to crash and burn? And what kind of large gaffes? I’m not picking a fight - I’m honestly asking.
Just last week on ‘This Week’, he was asked about the crisis in Georgia, and he tried to turn it into a criticism of McCain. Asked again about what should be done about it, he brought up McCain’s lobbyist. Asked a third time, he gave some vague non-answer and then turned it into another political diatribe.
Later on, even the Democrats on the weekly panel were saying his answers were tone-deaf and wrong-headed, and he was given several opportunities to give a serious answer to a very serious problem, and refused to do anything but take shots at McCain. It was not his shining moment. He also had a really scruffy-looking beard going, which made him look like a guy you’d see sitting on a corner in a local bar, and not a candidate for high office in the U.S. It was a really underwhelming performance.
What did Richardson say about homosexuality? I mean, it’s a complex question. For some, it’s a choice, for others, it’s innate, and for others still it’s somewhere in between.
It’s not that when people see the name “Chet Edwards” they will be unable to remember that the Edwards whose willy was in the tabloids is named John, not Chet. Although, I think it’s entirely reasonable to believe there will be some people who will automatically connect Democrat + “Edwards” = sex scandal.
But whether or not they remember that the scandal was John Edwards doesn’t matter when it comes to bumper stickers.
An Obama/Chet Edwards ticket will have bumper stickers, campaign buttons, lawn signs, and all kinds of other promotional items that say “Obama/Edwards '08”. When the bumper stickers come out, yes- I think there is a noteworthy chunk of the public who will make the mistaken association.