Vote for Edwards (2/24/04)
by Dean Hartwell
Though Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts leads in the Democratic presidential primaries, the race is not over yet. And that’s a good thing.
His last main rival, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, trails by over 400 delegates but could make a dent in that margin on Super Tuesday, March 2nd. Then, several states, including California and New York, will hold their primaries.
There’s nothing wrong with Kerry. He has assembled a fine voting record in the United States Senate in voting, for example, against the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states; against the death penalty and for unions.
The real issue is that Democrats have benefited from the publicity generated by the primaries and need to keep the energy going. With all of his other opponents out of the race or marginal candidates, Edwards’ success determines whether the Democrats can continue the good publicity.
How good has this publicity been?
Before the primaries, no Democratic candidate could place higher in the polls than President George W. Bush. Now, after more than a month of primaries, both Kerry and Edwards lead Bush by double digits in recent polls.
Plus, if Kerry were to lock up the necessary delegates, the media might stop covering his candidacy until the Democratic Convention five months away. As a result, voters might lose interest in Kerry’s candidacy.
According to the February 21st – 27th, 2004 The Economist, Edwards can keep the primaries going. He needs to do well in the biggest Super Tuesday states, California and New York, win Ohio and/or Georgia on the same day and then proceed south to Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi and get as many delegates as possible there.
If this scenario takes place, Edwards will significantly close the gap in delegates between Kerry and him. They could then conceivably battle it out until the end of the primaries in June, just the month before the convention in Boston.
A vote for Edwards isn’t really much different in most ways than a vote for Kerry since their ideas on issues are similar. But it is a vote to keep the voter’s spotlight on the Democratic Party for a longer period of time.