Benny's World

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Kitchen Table Politics in a Library: John & Elizabeth Edwards


Something that is missing from the Clintons and the Obamas is their ability to relate to the average voter in their kitchen.

(Picture taken in New Hampshire over the weekend, courtesy of the Edwards campaign).

Update: it appears they are in a library, and it still looks like plain talk to me. I hope they will do another podcast soon.

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posted by benny06 at Tuesday, February 27, 2007

2 Comments:

  • Benny,
    I've been thinking about just this sort of thing lately. My take is that both the Eswardses are excellent one to one with regular working people.

    I had an experience recently where I was listening to these very sort of folk in my area talk politics and the one thing that struck me was that they seemed barely if not at all that John Edwards was in the race.

    I'm not sure how that needs to be fixed, but it seems like a real problem for the campaign. I don't know that they've had their time on 60 Minutes lately a la Obama, but it strikes me that there remain large numbers of people who would vote for JRE if they actually were aware that he's a serious contender.

    I think they know who he is, they're just not yet believing that Californians will get the chance to vote for him.

    By Blogger Chancelucky, at 5:08 PM  

  • CL,

    I'm betting though Californians are more in Gore's camp than anyone else and keep their hopes alive he will run. I do not think he will.

    I think there is a love-dislike and disconnect between the MSM and what the netroots sees. The Edwards were on Nightline last night, but how many people were watching at 11:35 ET or PT? I know I was asleep, so I missed it.

    One of the risks of grassroots campaigning is that the MMSM (major mainstream media) expects the candidates to cozy up to them a little (or in Madam Clinton's position, the other way around). Edwards has more than once side-stepped the MSM, such as the Lamont fundraiser last year. Bloggers/Citizen Journalists were given access first, not the reporters. The NYT got a small piece in, and some coverage in CT papers, but not much. Edwards was the first to announce in the blogosphere, but Clinton and Obama were not far behind in parroting Edwards. But they got more traction, mainly because of their uniqueness to this race: a woman and a face of color who happen to be colleagues in the Senate. Despite their denials, they offer a dynamic that differs from the rest of the lot.

    Edwards was in 22 cities during this month in fundraisers. He will be back in California next week, but he is exploring territories that generally Republicans stop by in campaign and fundraising, but there seems to be some interest in him, which is why I think he is the Renaissance candidate, and one of risk.

    Having said that, the ones who vote though read the local newspapers, and Edwards has had some success with that kind of coverage.

    I agree that more programs that show these two together during prime time would be great exposure and to see them, as many in the Netroots have, as the 21st century WH couple.

    Thanks for stopping by. Always appreciate your thoughtful comments.

    By Blogger benny06, at 6:01 PM  

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