John Edwards Leads in Head to Head Matchups

A friend pulled the direct head to head matchups (Dems vs Republicans, same order) from the Rasmussen polling statistics recently and sent these quick tables to me:

Dem	%		Rep	%	Margin
Clinton	40		Giuliani	47	-7
Clinton	49		Huckabee	41	8
Clinton	46		McCain	44	2
Clinton	51		Romney	40	11
Clinton	46		Thompson	43	3
	46			43	3
Edwards	46		Giuliani	44	2
Edwards	50		Huckabee	33	17
Edwards	45		McCain	38	7
Edwards	52		Romney	36	16
Edwards	47		Thompson	41	6
	48			38	10
Obama	44		Giuliani	43	1
Obama	48		Huckabee	39	9
Obama	46		McCain	40	6
Obama	47		Romney	38	9
Obama	46		Thompson	39	7
	46			40	6
Richardson	39		Giuliani	47	-8
Richardson	38		McCain	43	-5
Richardson	42		Romney	34	8
Richardson	40		Thompson	41	-1
	40			41	-2

Good mix of potential voters too.

Not bad. Rasmussen tends to poll more conservatives. Good sign for Edwards, but it is early yet.

John Edwards: Time to End the Game

Please watch the video. Later this evening, I will be adding more thoughts (longer response), something I haven't done in some time, about why this video resonates with me.

Meantime, you can read some other good pieces by Neil at Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias at The Atlantic, Todd Beeton at MyDD, and Stirling Newberry at The Agonist and get their take on the full speech.

Oliver Willis and Taylor Marsh have definite opinions too, in which both take an angle that Edwards blasts the Democrats too much, and perhaps Edwards is not going to get out of third place in the national polls with such a speech. One of them believes Edwards borrowed a play out of the wingnut playbook. I don't think so as I've been following Edwards for quite some time, but each good blogger is entitled to her/his opinion.

Do feel free to add to the discussion. Will write more l8tr, but in general, this is about We the People.

John Edwards on the Road and Benson

This is the inspiration (and by Jack Edwards) behind Benny's World and why I try to keep it positive on this blog. This is Benson. He's a lot like the Edwardses.

Speaking of, did you know they are going to NH on a bus tour? And Cate is joining them. Here's a snippet of what she blogged yesterday:

New Hampshire was actually the first place I campaigned by myself for my Dad in 2003. I spoke with a group of high school students before doing an event with the "Students for Edwards" group at Dartmouth College. I still remember how nervous I was that day - it was only through the good graces of my New Hampshire hosts, who were with me, that I got through those first events.

This time around, things are a bit different. Those high school students from 2003 are likely almost college graduates now and they'll all be able to vote in this election. We've had 4 more years of a disastrous Republican administration and the country is ready for change. I think that is why there is already so much excitement around our campaign. Things are already in full-swing in New Hampshire and I'm excited to feel that energy and to meet with the thousands of people who have already come out in support of my Dad, and hopefully, convince a few more of you to join us.

We've certainly got a full schedule. We'll make 15 stops over 4 days. The Fighting for One America bus tour will take us all across the state to talk with voters about some of the most important issues facing our country like how we can work together to achieve energy independence and halt global warming, our need for true universal health care, the importance of rewarding work and strengthening the middle class, and of course, ending the war in Iraq and bringing our troops home.

Sounds great, wish I could be there, but I'll post more once I get more pics.

Update: Check out Chuckles' Mash-up diary at the Daily Kos, which has the tour mapped and pics will be included as added. Diary also includes addies in Facebook for those who wish to gather and discuss their meet-ups with JRE.

More buzz l8tr...

Trippi: John Edwards is Karl Rove's Nightmare

From CNN Political Ticker:

Rove knows that Democrats will rally around whomever he attacks—so he attacks the candidate he thinks Republicans can most easily defeat," Trippi wrote to supporters in a fundraising e-mail. "It may seem backwards, but Rove and his cronies did the same thing last time around. In 2004, they were scared of John Edwards, so they attacked John Kerry."

"Rove is using his sneaky, underhanded tactics to try and trick Democrats into rallying around a candidate who won't be as strong as John in the general election," Trippi added.

I think Trippi is right. Read the rest for yourself here.

Bill Maher on Bill-O's Show is a good example how this may be true.

Iowa Loves John and Elizabeth Edwards

I believe these photos were taken this morning by Inspired from JRE's blog.