Real Kato Blog: Kerry-Edwards 2004

It's official!

John Kerry has selected John Edwards as his running mate for the 2004 election. This was, for many reasons, a sound decision.

Without Edwards, it would be unlikely that we would even see the word "charismatic" in the same paragraph as John Kerry. Edwards brings youthful energy and populist appeal to a campaign that sorely needs it. Thank God the New York Post (that bastion of high-minded journalism) got it wrong when they reported that Gephardt had been selected. Folks might have labeled Kerry-Gephardt the "Boring and Boringer" ticket. It would have been Dukakis-Bentsen all over again.

Now, John & John have a real chance of giving Bush a run for his money in North Carolina. At the minimum, Bush will have to spend some campaign dollars here and in South Carolina, two states that have historically been solidly Republican.

Recent polls have shown Dick Cheney's approval rating at 22%. Um, that's about one out of five, for those of you who weren't math majors. (Wait a second... the only person who reads my blog is a math major.) In comparison, it would have been hard to pick a bad VP candidate. But still, most Democrats seem to believe that Edwards is the best choice available.

John Edwards, more than most other Democrats, has a way of communicating the Democratic message to ordinary people. His "Two Americas" message was something everyone could understand, and the ideal weapon against Republican propaganda. Conventional wisdom says that simply denouncing the "upper class" doesn't work, because everyone would like to think of themselves as in the upper class. But when you draw a clear line between middle America and stock-option-cashing, retirement-fund-robbing, war-industry-profiting fat cats, that's a message that sticks. If there's one thing that Americans hate, it's the feeling that we're being cheated. For years, Republicans were able to make the case that "welfare moms" (code words for "black people") were stealing away our tax dollars. Edwards is finally making the case that it's the rich oil-industry-affiliated Republicans who are actually profiting from all of our hardship.

I just have to wonder: why has it taken this long for a Democrat like Edwards to come along? (And, um, why isn't he the Presidential candidate instead of Kerry?)

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