What Did the Media See in Edwards?

WASHINGTON (By Marie Cocco, Real Clear Politics) - I never understood John Edwards' appeal. I therefore do not expect that Elizabeth Edwards' new book, or the tiresome media blitz accompanying its publication, will bring a sudden change in my thinking.

I first saw Edwards at one of his early presidential campaign events in New Hampshire during the summer of 2003, and was mystified. He'd pulled up to a small brick plaza in his campaign bus, adorable children in tow, and, as I recall, with John Mellencamp's "Small Town" playing as theme music. The song was meant to resonate with rural voters and it was odd to hear an ode to country life at lunchtime in downtown Manchester, which is not particularly small, nor rural nor Southern. But son-of-a-poor-millworker was Edwards' shtick for the 2004 campaign, and he was sticking to it.

Not much distinguished Edwards from the rest of the Democratic pack, except that he had less experience in office than did his chief rivals, John Kerry and Howard Dean. He wasn't associated with a cause, as was Dean with opposition to the Iraq War, or Kerry, who started his political career as a military man who opposed the Vietnam conflict. Edwards hadn't authored an important piece of legislation, and he didn't push a campaign proposal that was anything but generically Democratic.

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• (Washington Examiner) - John Edwards was never an appealing candidate