John Edwards at the Georgia Dem Party annual dinner.

[MGKrebs]

John Edwards spoke at the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Atlanta tonight.

I thought the speech was good. Better than I expected. He started off well with high energy, got a little somber in the middle outlining some of the big problems in the world and the country, and finished up well with repeated applause.

His ideas seem pretty ambitious, but nothing wrong with that. He seemed very comfortable speaking in that large room (about 1700 people I believe), and seemed confident and well prepared. I don't think he brought up any dramatic new ideas, so I won't bother with the details of his agenda since it's on his website. He did give repeated and enthusiastic shout-outs to organized labor, which was good to hear.

We didn't make it to the pre-dinner small-room VIP gathering, and questions weren't feasible in the big room, so we just got the speech.

My apprehension about Edwards has been that maybe he's not a strong enough personality on his own to withstand the constant pressures from all directions and would therefore be too easy to manipulate. He did ease some of that concern for me just from his demeanor, but he's going to have to avoid apologizing for much more stuff if he wants to control how he is defined/perceived.

He did have the wart removed, but he still has a couple of little mannerisms that are annoying which he should try to get control of before the big TV season starts.

Elizabeth wasn't there.

As you may be able to tell, I am much more interested in the candidate than I am the policies. I am comfortable with the policies of all the current front-runners. Within that framework, I am looking for the candidate who will have the best chance of winning, and my attention is mostly on their ability do the things necessary to win. I'm not too impressed with the implementation of his campaign so far, and hiring Joe Trippi didn't help my opinion. It seems they are going to have to do something different to make it to the top, unless they are counting on Obama and Clinton damaging each other... a risky bet.

He does have a strong progressive message and would certainly be an asset as a leader for our country. Whether or not that leadership is best utilized in the Presidency? Possibly.

[UnityDem]

1. Were there any BIG name Georgia Dems there?

Roy Barnes, Max Cleland, John Lewis, Pres.Carter?....others?

[Awsi Dooger]

2. Hey, you left out one

Zell Miller :rofl:

[MGKrebs]

3. Allegedly Gov. Barnes entered with Sen. Edwards, but I never saw him.

Other than that, Mark Taylor (who headed for the door before Edwards was even off the stage), Cathy Cox, Shirley Franklin, Michael Thurmond, Thurbert Baker, John Eaves, and various state legislators. I didn't really head up to the front tables to see all who might have been there.

[UnityDem]

4. AJC has shot of Barnes

introducing Edwards....just saw the story and headline....thanks for the update.

[Casper]

5. Good analysis

I was there last night, as well. I think Krebs makes great points all around.

However, in my opinion, the big news last night was 1700 democrats in Georgia gathered and having a great time. The party honored about a dozen Democrats with Lifetime Achievement Awards. It was a lively, entertaining evening that ended in time for some folks to go to an after party.

There's more reports and links to pictures here: BfD JJ Dinner

BfD Live-Blogging the JJ

I think this is a good sign for Democrats in the Peach State!