A Kerry/Edwards Ticket

Not surprising, but not really all that strong, either. Kerry has finally announced his running mate, John Edwards, and it's the man most of us expected. The two are pretty close on policy issues, and Edwards doesn't bring any big "wow" to the ticket like a McCain or a Hillary would, for instance. In fact, the only thing he really does is up the charisma factor of a ticket that was sorely lacking.

Democratic strategists said Edwards would add energy and excitement to the Democratic campaign, bring southern regional appeal to a ticket headed by a Bostonian and help Kerry woo suburban and swing voters in battleground states in the Midwest and elsewhere.

Edwards lacks extensive foreign policy experience at a time when national security is one of the central issues in the presidential campaign, and his years as a trial lawyer drew criticism from the White House and other Republicans during the Democratic primaries.

As has been noted by others, we'll see the polls swing drastically toward Kerry over the next week. He's had a lot of favorable attention lately and Edwards will make a lot of people happy. The poll bump is probably temporary change, though, and the numbers should smooth out over the next month.

The Kerry campaign is betting that they have the right policies and message to take the election, but that they needed a running mate that people liked more than they liked John Kerry (as a person, not as a candidate).

Let the mudslinging begin, or, at least, continue.

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Posted by zombyboy at July 6, 2004 07:34 AM | TrackBack