Edwards expected to announce he will not seek re-election to Senate

[CMT]

According to The Hill, Sen. Edwards will announce within two weeks he will not seek re-election to the US Senate and instead concentrate on his presidential run.

Several democrats are expected to join race if this occurs including Erskine Bowles who lost to Elizabeth Dole in 2002.

http://www.hillnews.com/campaign/090303.aspx

[MoonAndSun]

1. I'm suspicious of this news......

why would Edwards drop out of the Senate race at this early date? and if he does, do we really have anyone on the Dem side who would be a shoo-in? I'm not even sure Edwards is a shoo-in for his own Senate seat.

[ButterflyBlood]

3. no shoo-in

but Bowles would make it competetive at least. I think he's our best shot, since he did pretty well against Dole, who's extremely popular in NC and much more moderate than the Republican frontrunner, a Jesse Helms clone.

[HFishbine]

19. The leading republican contender

for Edward's seat is a lying sack of shit. Heard him on the radio the other day telling a caller that he didn't know anything about changes to overtime law, inspite of having voted for same (he's a congressman). Told another caller there is no need to change the law to allow drug pruchases from Canada because one can already get them from Canada if one wants (yes, if you drive there). He has no reservation about lying to his constituents.

Bowles, Blue, or Marshall could wipe the floor with him. Which is why Edwards needs to decide soon, so that the dem challengers can get started if they're needed.

[KoKo]

21. Bowles supported the "Invasion." So, it would be hard......this time to

vote for him.....I know he's the "whisper" choice in NC to run. I voted for him last time....coughing it down .....his view on Iraq. I don't know if I can do it again........But, we probably won't have a choice, anyway.......He will be the only Dem contender......I would think.

[JI7]

5. it's been mentioned before

edwards has been keeping low. he hasn't even made his official announcement. i think he will within the next 2 weeks. his campaign will really start up then. him not running for senate has been mentioned other times though not by him. i personally would like him to run on both seats.

[ButterflyBlood]

6. it's still only a toss up for him to win reelection if he runs

[AP]

15. If he announces withdraw from Senate on the day he does his...

...official announcement of presidential run it will be a pretty clever manipulation of the spin against him all summer.

The Republicans have assumed that he wasn't going to announce until January, so they've been playing up this one issue against him all summer. If he takes all that energy and turns into publicity in his favor, then he will have done something pretty clever.

[AP]

23. or this story is lie, trying to create expectation that he'll

withdraw from teh senate race, and when he doesn't, it will intensify criticism.

[HFishbine]

22. Not Both

North Carolinians wouldn't cotton to that. He's not so popular here that his reelection to the senate is guaranteed. Tarheels are already grumbling that he's paying more attention to his presidential campaign than to representing his people.

If he sticks to his presidential race, he should not run also for the senate seat (legal under NC law), but let someone who can campaign for the seat fulltime have at it.

[AP]

14. Because he must have decided that his August in IA and NH

showed promise, and he might be getting some positive behind-the-scenes promises and feedback from powerful people within the party.

[Trickster]

17. Ulterior motive?

I suspect (and hope) Edwards is putting out this drop-out-of-the-Senate-race trial balloon to try to convince people he is still taking the Presidential race seriously. When potential backers are choosing from a full menu of candidates, it doesn't take much to lose the potential support of an important donor or activist, and the fear that JE might drop out of the race to focus on his Senate seat might be enough to cost him a shot at crucial support. Hopefully, he is just putting off the decision as long as possible, and if he doesn't see some movement somewhere in some poll he will drop out of the current race and run for Senate.

Yes, Skip Bowles would be a strong candidate but I would prefer to see him keeping his powder dry to take on Libby in '06--she has never impressed me and I suspect she will be vulnerable on her 1st re-elect.

[newyawker99]

27. Hi Trickster!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[JI7]

2. edwards has a chance

i think edwards has a chance to come out ahead like bill clinton did. anyone who has seen him, especially his town hall meetings knows he is a great candidate.

[demnan]

4. I hope he reconsiders

it would be a shame to lose his Senate seat on a long shot for President. He's young. He can try again.

[JI7]

9. he is older now than clinton was in 92

i think edwards is 50 right now. he would be close to 52 when the next presidential term begins in 2005. bill clinton was 46 when he became president.

[ComerPerro]

7. "Oh yeah, him"

With all the Kucinich, Kerry, Dean talk here (and even Lieberman) its easy to forget about Grahm, Gephardt, Sharpton, Mosely-Braun, and Edwards.

I really hope he decides not to do this. I haven't heard much about him, and think that he could be giving up his seat for nothing.

[Flying_Pig]

8. What is this knucklehead doing???

He's got a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination, and I sincerely doubt he's even on anyone else's V.P. list, so he announces he going to give up a desperately needed Dem held seat in the Senate!!!! I knew there was a reason I didn't like this guy...
:mad:
Grrr!

[ButterflyBlood]

10. even if he runs though, it's still a toss up

Bowles might actually be a stronger candidate than him.

[JI7]

12. have you seen edwards ?

he is very good in those town hall meetings. he doesn't get much attention by the media, and he himself has kept low for a while. he will officially announce his run soon. lets see what happens then. i certainly would NOT bet on him losing.

[Bombtrack]

16. His campaign has been stifled by the Rove-machine from day one

they don't control the media, but they do control parts of it.

NO positive Edwards news has been reported widely, and every possible chance to report negatively on his campaign has been taken.

There is hard tangable evidence that he is the candidate they don't want to face.

Compare Edwards surprise fundraising victory(no coverage) to Dean's surprise victory (complete saturation). Compare Dean and Kerry's exploratory committee anouncement(republican glee) to Edwards(huge reaction smear memo, accompanied by millionaire trial-lawyer, running for veep, talking points

they also put up anti-edwards billboards in Iowa and have sent disruptors to his townhalls and fundraisers, both through front-groups

[HFishbine]

26. Don't know about that pig

I think he's very much an option for VP. Don't forget, he was on Gore's short list (of three) and he's one of only two candidates from the south (some say that matters) -- not that another southerner couldn't be tapped, but Edwards will have some excellent name recognition.

[Avalux]

11. We Need Him

in the Senate. I wish he wouldn't do this; doubtful he'll get the nom and knock off chimpy.

[Bombtrack]

13. we have a better chance at keeping the seat if he's the pres. nominee

than if he was running for reelection under Dean or Kerry who would lose the state by 10-15 points easily.

Coattails do matter. Edwards has a great chance of winning NC in the general, and even if he doesn't, the state GOP party would not likely be able to both take the state for Bush and elect a republican to the senate. It would put to much strain on them.

He's winning in SC polling, he can win most of the other Febuary 3 primary's or come in second. He can get 3rd in NH, and 4th in IO, which is all he needs in those states.

The media has spun it that he's lagging, whenever possible, because he is now and has always been the biggest, and perhaps only, threat to Bush's reelection.

[CMT]

18. I'm not convinced that Dean or Kerry

would lose the state by the percentages you predict, but I do think it makes sence that Edwards might do best since he is from North Carolina--even though he has been lagging behind Bush in statewide polls by 14-19 points as well.

[Bombtrack]

20. Clinton had worse numbers in Arkansas

Kerry and especially Dean would do alot worse than Gore did in NC, who lost it by 13 points. Dean would probably lose it by 20 points

[KoKo]

25. He doesn't need to win Presidency.....he could do VP.........That may

be his calculation for staying in. I also know that at a town meeting my Congressman said Edwards was getting heavy pressure to decide about holding onto his Senate seat. The Dems want to start preparing.......and need time to do it.......

[realFedUp]

24. What a mistake

He isn't going to be President and he should keep his
day job.

[mlawson]

28. Edwards can run for both in 2004!

There is nothing in the NC Constitution that prohibits him from running for Prez, VP, or Senate simultaneously.

I CERTAINLY hope that this is only a rumor!!!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. A Case Can Be Made That Edwards Is Poised To Run The Best Race

against*. His two liabilities are being a trial lawyer and having a relatively thin resume... I think the former is easier to overcome than the latter...

[blm]

30. I don't believe Bowles really lost to Dole.

BBV in NC, imo.

[tjdee]

31. Good, now people can hush about "he won't even say if he's blah blah blah"

Good for him.

I'm so sick of hearing that he's dropping out of the pres. race, that he's somehow doing a disservice by not saying if he'll run for the Senate, blah blah blah.

GOOD for him!