Reply #8: There's a compelling slurry of Mudcat (JRE's accent and background) and

[saltpoint]

David Bonior (his white-hot command of domestic issues and pro-labor position) that lower the threshold of resistance among red-state voters.

I think those voters are short-changing all our people by assuming Republicans and not our Democrats have citizens' best interests in mind, but among the Democrats so wronged by those voters Edwards does appear to bear up quite well in those town-hall-type gatherings.

If you watch some of those appearances on C-Span, the Democrats seem to approach our candidates differently. They seem to know Biden for ages, even having never met him for one second. He's another one who breaks down barriers.

Obama breaks them also -- not so much when he holds back what he knows (and he knows a lot) but when he uses his remarkable gift of speech to lift hearts. It is the public servants' privilege to do that. Not many can. Obama certainly has the gift.

Edwards is not the linguistic master Obama is but voters are sensing that they might well prefer to live in John Edwards' America as opposed to Mitt Romney's America, or even fellow Southerner Mike "Flog that Bible" Huckabee.

Some voters won't vote for anyone "back east." Some back-easters won't support anybody from down south.

Edwards consistently demonstrates an ability to establish rapport with different kinds of Democratic audiences, and a great deal of that rapport spills over happily into those red voters we need.

No question about it IMO Edwards enhances our odds of winning disaffected red voters who these past 7 years have watched their mean-spirited little cowboy abandon New Orleans, gut federal programs, opt for senseless war, and embarrass all of us in the world community.