Edwards On Track in Iowa
From TIME:
A new TIME poll of likely Iowa caucus goers . . . gives Edwards 29% of the vote, five points ahead of Hillary Clinton and seven ahead of Barack Obama.
With the field limited to the top four candidates, Edwards's lead over Clinton widens, to 32% to 24%. Obama was at 22%, with Bill Richardson at 13%.
For Edwards, the poll has some less welcome news as well. So far, at least, his attempts to portray himself as the real change agent in the race — the one who wants to slam the door on lobbyists and other "Washington insiders" — isn't paying off. . . . Iowa Democrats seem to like Edwards more for who he is than for what he says; they call him the "most likable" and the one who best understands their concerns, but his toss-out-the-insiders message hasn't stuck.
_______________
A 7-17-07 post entitled "Populist John Edwards needs to recall Bill Clinton's emphasis on 'the forgotten middle class'" reads:
[After the 1992 campaign when] Bill Clinton directed much of his attention to what he termed "the forgotten middle class," the party has largely avoided making explicit political appeals to the poor.
Middle-class voters may care about poverty, but they list education, health care and the economy as their most important priorities.
And in 7-3-07 post I wrote:
My present concern with Edwards is that he is running too much as a populist. Although whatever he is doing seems to be working in Iowa (as noted in the preceding post of today), I don't think this strategy will end up carrying the day.
Also, maybe it is part of the role of running as a populist, but I do not get motivated seeing Edwards working himself into a lather at the most recent presidential debates, whether it is expressing outrage at the current Administration or those in his own party (although this did appeal to many in the audience at the YearlyKos debate).
Time will tell whether Edwards's 2004 positive message approach or his 2007 anger approach will carry the day. I do recall that the former approach and not running as a populist did serve him well in the 2004 elections when he almost won in Iowa.
A new TIME poll of likely Iowa caucus goers . . . gives Edwards 29% of the vote, five points ahead of Hillary Clinton and seven ahead of Barack Obama.
With the field limited to the top four candidates, Edwards's lead over Clinton widens, to 32% to 24%. Obama was at 22%, with Bill Richardson at 13%.
For Edwards, the poll has some less welcome news as well. So far, at least, his attempts to portray himself as the real change agent in the race — the one who wants to slam the door on lobbyists and other "Washington insiders" — isn't paying off. . . . Iowa Democrats seem to like Edwards more for who he is than for what he says; they call him the "most likable" and the one who best understands their concerns, but his toss-out-the-insiders message hasn't stuck.
_______________
A 7-17-07 post entitled "Populist John Edwards needs to recall Bill Clinton's emphasis on 'the forgotten middle class'" reads:
[After the 1992 campaign when] Bill Clinton directed much of his attention to what he termed "the forgotten middle class," the party has largely avoided making explicit political appeals to the poor.
Middle-class voters may care about poverty, but they list education, health care and the economy as their most important priorities.
And in 7-3-07 post I wrote:
My present concern with Edwards is that he is running too much as a populist. Although whatever he is doing seems to be working in Iowa (as noted in the preceding post of today), I don't think this strategy will end up carrying the day.
Also, maybe it is part of the role of running as a populist, but I do not get motivated seeing Edwards working himself into a lather at the most recent presidential debates, whether it is expressing outrage at the current Administration or those in his own party (although this did appeal to many in the audience at the YearlyKos debate).
Time will tell whether Edwards's 2004 positive message approach or his 2007 anger approach will carry the day. I do recall that the former approach and not running as a populist did serve him well in the 2004 elections when he almost won in Iowa.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 12:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home