Edwards Hints at Future in Farewell Speech

[Florida_Geek]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Edwards-Farewell.html

November 29, 2004
Edwards Hints at Future in Farewell Speech
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 2:28 p.m. ET

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Greeted by an enthusiastic crowd, John Edwards kicked off a farewell tour as U.S. senator Monday but left little doubt he wasn't saying goodbye to politics.

``One thing you can count on is that this fight is not over,'' the former vice presidential candidate told supporters. The visit to western North Carolina's largest city was the first of six stops Edwards plans across the state over three days.

``It's just good to be home,'' Edwards said after arriving more than an hour late for the rally. ``My blood pressure goes down when I cross the line into North Carolina.''

Edwards, 51, had given up a bid for a second Senate seat when he sought the Democratic presidential nomination himself, before becoming Kerry's running mate. He will leave the Senate in early January. Republican Richard Burr won the election for Edwards' seat earlier this month, defeating Democrat Erskine Bowles.

..more at AP

[leftchick]

1. Sadly he can forget winning anything in NC or elswhere...

until we get rid of the black boxes. I swear these Dems live in La La land... :argh:

[Liberaltarian]

2. He's one of FOUR people I don't want anywhere NEAR the 2008 ticket

the other 3:

John Kerry
Al Gore
Hillary Clinton

none of them stand a chance in hell, and all of the men on the list have already had their shot, and FUCKED UP....BIG TIME.

as for hillary- a lightning rod for right-wing hate, she'd get more freepers to the polls than gay marriage.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Let's finish the 2004 election first

before we pass judgement on who should be the candidate in 2008.

[jdj]

5. I really like the quote

"this fight is not over"

that rocks

[ClarkStalker]

4. exactly, forget john kerry, al gore and hillary and JOHN EDWARDS

my NAME says it all
CLARK CLARK CLARK CLARK CLARK CLARK!!!!!!!!!!

if not for the rigged elections, Clark would for sure win

[mac56]

6. Welcome to DU

but saying this:

"If not for the rigged elections, Clark would for sure win."

is like saying this:

"If not for the law of gravity, bowling balls would for sure float."

[Dem2theMax]

7. "If not for the law of gravity, bowling balls would for sure float."

LOL. That almost made me pee my pants. Maybe I should get up and head to the bathroom. TMI? lol. :)

[chimpymustgo]

8. So would Kerry and/or Edwards. And Gore, for that matter.

if not for rigged elections they all would have won - and could win in the future.

[AP]

9. Here's why it might not be a good idea to give up on Edwards:

This Deliberative Poll suggests why you'd want John Edwards or someone very similar to John Edwards on the ticket.


A national experiment in citizen deliberation took place on line with scientific random samples from Jan 19 until February 26, 2004. 266 eligible voters deliberated online about the candidates and the issues in the presidential primary season. Their views were compared to two "control groups," scientific random samples who did not deliberate but answered the same questions. These control groups numbered 346 and 546. Altogether more than 1158 eligible voters participated in this experiment which will continue until the general election this fall.

...


In contrast to conventional polls and the primaries to date, where Kerry has maintained a wide lead over Edwards, our participants came to like Edwards as well or better. After deliberating, on a "feeling thermometer" (scored from 0 to 100) they rated Kerry at just over 55 degrees and Edwards at just over 56. On another set of questions asking how well the traits “sincere,” “intelligent” and “thinks like I do” describe each candidate (a scale also scored from 0 to 100), Edwards was perceived significantly more positively than Kerry, averaging 66 versus 61.


Edwards' strength vis-à-vis Kerry appears to stem from a greater appeal to Republicans and Independents. Post-deliberation, our Republican participants rated Kerry's traits at about 43 (somewhat to the negative side of the neutral point of 50) but Edwards' at 57, a statistically significant difference. Our Independent participants rated Kerry at 61 but Edwards at 66, a close to statistically significant difference. (Our Democratic participants rated the two about the same.) Among both Republicans and independents, these ratings are significantly more positive among the participants than in the control group for Edwards but not Kerry, indicating that deliberation increased Edwards' advantage.


Furthermore, in a hypothetical November matchup against President Bush, Edwards fared significantly better than Kerry. While Kerry and Bush were tied at 47%, roughly a quarter of the participants favoring Bush in that matchup said they would be undecided or would prefer Edwards if the choice were instead between Bush and Edwards. In all, 48% said they would vote for Edwards and only 37% for Bush, if Edwards were the Democratic nominee. The contrast with the control group, which showed a similar but significantly weaker pattern, was highly significant statistically (26% of Bush supporters defected in the experimental group while only 12% defected in the control group). These results suggest a strong appeal of Edwards among Independents and Republicans.


http://www.pbs.org/newshour/btp/march04-poll.html

[ecoalex]

10. Funny things went on in Nc. Bowles may have won

The vote difference in Nc. was close. Their returns are being looked into. Maybe Bowles did win.