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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
The evidence for Edwards
From Steve Turnham
CNN Political Unit
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- John Kerry is in Pittsburgh today, with the selection of vice president his most pressing concern.
Aides say he'll be working on his convention acceptance speech (writing longhand a la Clinton) and making phone calls.
But the veepstakes is obviously top of his mind, with evidence mounting for John Edwards as the leading choice.
Edwards' position at the top of the short list was bolstered by a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, which found him the clear pick of voters, and an AP survey of state Democratic party chairs who also put the North Carolina senator on top of the heap. (Edwards tops Kerry veep poll)
It's a familiar position for Edwards, but he has good cause to be a little wary.
One veteran of the 2000 vice presidential selection process tells The Grind that the weekend before Al Gore chose Joe Lieberman, Edwards was told by Gore's campaign chairman Bill Daley that it was down to him and one other candidate.
Back then Edwards' biggest liability was the fact that he'd served just a couple of years in the Senate.
In an interview with The Chicago Tribune, he recalled a tough interview with Gore.
"The first words out of his mouth were, 'How would I explain to the world that I put somebody a heartbeat from the presidency who's been in office for a year and a half?' " Edwards told the Trib's Jeff Zeleny.
This time Edwards is working hard to convince Kerry he's the right man for the job, by effectively carrying the presumed nominee's message to the swing states and beyond, and more importantly, by raising a ton of money.
"What John Edwards has really got going for him is the fact that he's been relentless in fund raising," said one senior Democrat. "He's doing everything he needs to do to put himself in the best light." Next Monday, Edwards is back at it, raising money for Kerry at the Trial Lawyers' convention in Boston.
Gore veterans tell The Grind that in 2000 Edwards had the strong support of top Gore campaign advisers, including Bob Shrum and Tad Devine, and of a relatively junior aide David Ginsberg. All three are now senior operatives in the Kerry campaign. Shrum advised Edwards during his Senate bid and Ginsberg was a top aide to the North Carolina senator during this year's primaries. Edwards' former chief of staff, Miles Lackey, holds a senior policy position with camp Kerry.
But while the evidence on the former trial lawyer's side is strong, the only thing that really matters is what the candidate wants, as Gore's surprise pick proved.
"A number of people were pushing Edwards real hard," said a former close Gore aide. "If this says anything, it says ultimately the one person who knows for sure is the candidate."
Not that it matters much, but Edwards also appears to be the clear choice of his colleagues on Capitol Hill.
Several Democratic senators have publicly argued for his selection, saying he could help break the Republican lock on the South, and perhaps restore the Senate to Democratic control.
And even those senators (many of them in senior positions), who won't say who they like publicly for fear of offending colleagues, reserve their most flattering private comments for Edwards.
Bush not likely Stern's choice
By the time you read this, Howard Stern, no doubt still smarting by being out-smutted by Dick Cheney, will have announced his pick for president. We feel confident in guessing that it wasn't George W. Bush, given Stern's long running blood feud with the Bush administration and the FCC.
If Kerry does indeed win the Stern primary, Republicans will probably slam him for the company he keeps. Democrats can respond that while Stern may have set up his listeners with prostitutes, he never actually said the "f" word on air, at least not without a bleep.
