Edwards' ghost still haunts Democrats
A spectre is haunting American politics -- the spectre of John Edwards. A week after "suspending" his campaign, the former North Carolina Senator received over 380,000 votes in super Tuesday primaries.
A spectre is haunting American politics -- the spectre of John Edwards. A week after "suspending" his campaign, the former North Carolina Senator received over 380,000 votes in super Tuesday primaries.
The withdrawal of John Edwards from the contest for the Democratic Presidential nomination on Wednesday has made the race suddenly less interesting. Like many other progressives, I was fascinated by the Edwards candidacy and by its promise to put radical ideas on the national agenda.
The arrest this week by FBI agents of Chicago real estate developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko made headlines for only one reason. Rezko is Barack Obama's slum landlord best mate, according to Hillary Clinton. According to Obama, Rezko is "a friend of mine, a supporter, who I've known for 20 years."
With the non-primary in Florida behind them, Democratic Presidential candidates have less than a week to prepare for what some are calling Tsunami Tuesday, when 22 states will hold primaries. A few weeks ago, the conventional wisdom was that the selection process for the Democrats would essentially end on this day with Hillary Clinton's coronation.
Florida is the fourth largest state in the US, with 27 electoral votes and 210 delegates to the Democratic national convention. It's where George Bush (or Al Gore) won the 2000 elections. And depending on your point of view, it either is or is not holding a Democratic primary today.
Dick Morris knows something about the way Bill and Hillary Clinton think. In 1996, he managed Clinton's successful campaign for re-election. After having fallen from grace, he's turned against the Clintons and is no longer close to them. Still, people pay attention to things he says. And three days before the South Carolina primary, Morris said something that made people sit up and pay attention.
Voters in today's South Carolina Democratic primary are not following the script. They're not playing their part. And it's confusing pundits and pollsters to no end.
Much of the debate between the presidential candidates will reflect uniquely American issues. But sometimes the arguments will be instantly recognizable to people in Britain. This was certainly the case with Senator Obama's recent comments regarding Ronald Reagan and the Republicans.
The South Carolina Democratic primary, due to be held on Saturday, is the first in which race matters. The first states to vote in the year-long battle to choose the party's presidential candidate were the overwhelmingly white (and rural) Iowa and New Hampshire. But nearly 30% of South Carolina's voters are African-American.