Why Did Edwards Speak First Thursday Night?

[THUNDER HANDS]

Is anyone else as curious about that move as I am?

You have what essentially amounted to a three-person race in Iowa - Obama, Edwards and Clinton - all finishing in that order.

Yet when it came time to give their respective speeches as the night was winding down, Edwards, who finished second, went first.

By doing that, he ceeded the media attention to Cliton, who went after him - and ultimately Obama, who followed her.

Why didn't he wait for Clinton to go first, since she finished behind him?

By doing that, he would have taken the media attention away from her, put it on him, at least for a few moments, before Obama spoke.

Instead, he chose to go first, which made HIM feel like the third-place finisher.

It was an odd choice of positioning. And if I were running the Edwards campaign, I would have been pissed at whoever decided to go before Clinton.

[Honeycombe8]

1. No big deal. Could be the Edwards family wanted to go home and go to bed.

While the Clinton team hadn't pulled together their speech and their grooming yet. It was probably a practical consideration thing. No big deal. And you say it made HIM feel like third placer, when he was second place. Did he say that?

In any case, the candidates and their teams are in TOTAL control of when they speak and to whom. If you didn't care for when he spoke, you need to look to Edwards for why he made that decision.

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. made him feel like a third place finisher....to those watching

maybe I should have put it like that.

[Honeycombe8]

7. It made YOU feel like he was 3rd place. But I watched it, and it never crossed my...

mind that he seemed to be a loser or 3rd place winner. I just figured Clinton needed more time to pull herself together after what, to her, must have been a huge unexpected loss.

[Ninga]

2. Because he gave the media a 10 minute that he was ready to speak. He was first because he was first

He was able to frame his message in his words first which was very very important. And in my book, it was a good move.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. well, judging by the lack of attention he's getting

I'd say calling it a "good move" is a stretch.

[Ninga]

5. Excuse me, and I do now wish to be unpolite. But what world do you live in? Edwards

could stand on his head in the middle of Times Sq. and the M$M would pass right by him.

To try an attribute some meaning to his speech being first, and then asserting that his speech being first is the cause of what ever you think the result is....is specious and out of context.

Just trying to stir up what ever ca-ca is going on in you little head today will not be productive.

[Ineedchange]

6. I Can't Comment On Why He Went First But

I do beleive he is the victim of the big shut down by M$M. M$M realize that they failed to keep him out of the running.

[Perky]

8. The sequence was not as important as the length

Edwards and Clinton's speechees were both quitelong as compared to Huckabee's....It was clearly deigned to push Obama out of primetime coverage.