The Edwards Effect by Krugman. Edwards lost. His ideas triumphed

[jackson_dem]

-snip-

But Mr. Edwards, far more than is usual in modern politics, ran a campaign based on ideas. And even as his personal quest for the White House faltered, his ideas triumphed: both candidates left standing are, to a large extent, running on the platform Mr. Edwards built.

-snip-

At the beginning of 2007, it seemed likely that the Democratic nominee would run a cautious campaign, without strong, distinctive policy ideas. That, after all, is what John Kerry did in 2004.

If 2008 is different, it will be largely thanks to Mr. Edwards. He made a habit of introducing bold policy proposals — and they were met with such enthusiasm among Democrats that his rivals were more or less forced to follow suit.

-snip-



One thing is clear, however: whichever candidate does get the nomination, his or her chance of victory will rest largely on the ideas Mr. Edwards brought to the campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/opinion/01krugman.html?hp

[ursi]

1. fecking sad ...but he will always be my hero ...

[jackson_dem]

3. Mine too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FcNVQqlK8g

Go to about the 24:45 mark. The song playing? "My Hero." :(

[saracat]

2. Edwards is still the very best candidate we had. Vote for him on tues, and support his ideas by

getting him some delegates!

[OzarkDem]

5. Will do, but Edwards didn't lose

We lost.

[jackson_dem]

7. Edwards' ideas won

All is not lost. We are much better off now than we would be if John never ran and pushed the celebrity candidates to the left and forced them to offer more substantive policies.

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. The American people, those desperately needing his voice, his Leadership and his message,

lost the most.

[AdHocSolver]

12. I am an Edwards supporter who is going to vote for Obama to offset the corporate Clinton vote.

Bill Clinton's policies were pro-corporate, and I have no doubt that Hillary Clinton is also pro-corporate.

My thinking is that Edwards waited until after the South Carolina primary to see how Obama would do in the voting. If Obama had not done well, he would have stayed in the race. However, Obama's good showing means that he CAN beat Clinton, and that is why John is suspending his campaign.

From this logic as well as other clues, I feel that Edwards is more comfortable with Obama as our nominee, rather than corporate Clinton. I am going to vote for Obama to keep him viable. This approach supports Edwards' platform and his reasons for getting into the contest in the first place. John said that it isn't about him, it is about what is best for the country.

Don't help Hillary by voting for John in the primaries. Vote Obama to help secure Edward's vision.

[usregimechange]

4. Well said

[avaistheone1]

6. Edwards sure turned it up more than a notch in forwarding important issues in this campaign.

I think both the tone and quality of Obama's and Hillary's campaigns improved as a result of John Edwards contributions.

[jackson_dem]

8. Yup. Edwards lost, his ideas won. America will be a better place because of his candidacy

[hfojvt]

9. now that he's gone, I look for the nominee to drop his ideas

as they move to the right for the GE. Actually for both GEs. The General Election and the General Electric.

[Meshuga]

10. Kudos to Edwards!

He left but his influence still remains as Obama and Clinton are trying to grab as many of his supporters as they can.

[Mark Twain Girl]

11. I'm still hurting from what I feel was lost for the country, but this helps

And that was the point Edwards wanted to make, anyway, and that's why I was inspired.

I do believe I will always remember the Edwards movement from this primary season. It was, in a weird way, a victory, because it's so rare that anything real gets through the theatrical political process. I very much hope that these ideas aren't too quickly abandoned.

[eridani]

14. Lots of them borrowed from Kucinich n/t

[Seabiscuit]

15. John Edwards is a pure original. Any future democratic adminstration should be honored to have him.

nt