Suppose John Edwards wins the nomination.

[pnwmom]

Hasn't he already handicapped himself against his Rethug opponent by agreeing to limit himself to Federal funding?

[geek tragedy]

1. Absolutely, yes.,

He'd be broke between March and August, while the Republicans could beat the piss out of him.

[jmp]

2. Not with the trouble Republicans are having raising money.

...

[pnwmom]

7. Mitt Romney won't have any trouble and, if worst comes to worst,

can lend himself as much as he needs.

Ghouli won't have any trouble either if he wins the nomination.

[AndyA]

3. It's my understanding if he gets the nomination, he won't use public funding. n/m

[skipos]

6. I hope you are right. nt

[geek tragedy]

13. The problem is that the primary phase

lasts until August. Between now and then, he has to stretch $25 Million.

[mmonk]

4. The media will cover him when it's down

to the general election.

[pnwmom]

8. Why? They never did that for Dems before. When the Dems had less money

to spend, they suffered while the Rethugs swamped the airwaves.

[mmonk]

14. The money concerns ads.

The media will have no choice but to cover the general election though.

[pnwmom]

16. But ads can be key, especially if one side greatly outspends the other.

And we can't count on a fair MSM, can we? We have to be able to put our own message out there.

[Ninga]

5. We will be able to contribute to the DNC and the DNC will be able to run ads, etc.

So would the groups that endorsed Edwards.

It would be a wonderful thing if a candidate overcame the enormous and bloated coffers of his opponts....and blew past them.....and won the nomination.

It would return hope to those who want to run for office in the future.

Thay maybe it takes more than money to win a nomination.

[pnwmom]

9. And it would be a terrible thing if our candidate lost simply because

the other side had no funding limits and we did.

[freestyle]

10. No. That's what friends, and 527's are for.

Democrats can exploit campaign finance loopholes every bit as well as republicans, and we should be fully prepared to do that if necessary. Whoever the nominee is should not have to worry about financial support.

[rinsd]

11. That didn't work out so well in 2004

The inability to coordinate counterattacks is a huge hinderance.

[ddeclue]

12. No...

He's the only Democratic candidate from the South and he will appeal to Southerners in a way Hillary or Barack can't.

Every election the Dems have won since 1964 has had a Southerner as the candidate: Johnson, Carter, Bill Clinton.

Doug D.

[calimary]

15. I would be concerned. I LOVE John Edwards. Please don't get me wrong!

And I think Elizabeth would be a MAGNIFICENT First Lady.

But I was deeply disappointed in 2004 when he made his acceptance speech AND when he debated cheney. Both performances were seriously underwhelming. Nothing hit out of the ballpark, and he certainly had material and the ability to do so. Furthermore, when he debated cheney, Darth Vader left him all kinds of openings that Britney Spears could have safely driven a truck through. And he didn't seize the advantage. I don't know whether it was because he decided to be a gentleman and not play rough, or if he was so caught up in remembering his talking points that he wasn't listening to cheney's responses carefully enough. 'Cause you REALLY need to be able to pounce on stuff like that and toss your notes aside and react like an NBA champion.

Like - he could have eviscerated that bastard over the lesbian daughter thing. I was praying that when the subject came up, instead of just intoning how noble and somber it was and being supportive of another father - FUCK IT! What he should have said was:

"I fully support you, as a father, standing by your daughter and her partner and what she was born to be without any choice on her part. And I just think it's a disgrace - a REAL SHAME - that, on the last night of your convention, mr. cheney, when you had your big moment getting your party's nomination and all your family members were up on stage in the spotlight to share that huge honor in front of the eyes of the entire nation - YOUR OWN DAUGHTER, WHOM YOU LOVE SO MUCH, wasn't able to go up on stage WITH THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY to share in that, too - for fear you would anger a bunch of intolerant, judgmental, religious extremists and hate-mongers who've hijacked your party and don't follow Our Savior's teachings of love and compassion. I feel terrible about that because I know as a father myself that must have been painful for you - that your affection and loyalty toward your own precious daughter has to take a back seat to a small but abnormally loud minority of holier-than-thou latter-day Pharisees who somehow wound up with a lot more political clout than they deserve. It's unfair, it's wrong, and it's none of their business in the first place."

What I would have given to see Edwards step up and hit one outta the park like that. And he demurred. He had a chance to score MAJOR points and turn the whole political dialogue on its ear and cast these sanctimonious bastards in the harsh light in which they deserve to be shoved.

Please don't misunderstand. I love and admire John Edwards. Last night, in fact, I thought he made some damned good points. But I was seriously underwhelmed by his performance during the last campaign. Because someone of his caliber, character, and intellect should have been so much stronger. You HAVE TO be able to go for the jugular because if you can't pound a frickin' stake in the hearts of some of these monsters, they will be unstoppable. And he really didn't.