Media Criticism

I gave some free (and unsolicited) advice to the Romney campaign yesterday that I thought could be helpful in upcoming weeks. I thought I would help a struggling Democratic campaign to maintain a balanced approach to the 2008 presidential election. The campaign by former Senator John Edwards has languished since a close second place finish in Iowa where he spent the last four years building a following. Edwards has to challenge the party establishment in order to excited frustrated rank-and-file members as well as independents.

It sounds antithetical to challenge the party that will provide the nomination Edwards needs to win the presidency. The DLC has made it clear that Edwards is out of the race and talking heads place Edwards in a spot slightly ahead of Dennis Kucinich. John Kerry gave Edwards the snub in favor of Barack Obama which should set Obama in the same establishment camp as Clinton. Edwards needs to point out the directed process of the Democratic primary process while acting as the only true agent of change.

Voters aren’t tiring of the change message which Edwards is dishing out in his campaign speeches. The only problem Edwards faces is the budget crunch from running a national campaign. Edwards will have to settle for second or third in many of the states running up to the February 5th primaries. If Edwards can win a few states in the West on February 5th and finish in a respectable position elsewhere, he has some momentum to stay in the race beyond Super Tuesday.

How will he win these states on February 5th, you ask? He needs to speak out against the hidden Republicanism of the DLC, continue to pound at non-topics on the campaign trail like poverty and demonstrate that his detailed agenda is right for America after the Bush Administration’s failures. A critical eye on the DLC, the Democratic Party establishment and elements of conservatism in the party can go a long way toward cultivating the simmering frustration among Democratic voters. Edwards’ message should be that his election to the presidency would only change the fundamental arrangement of the Democratic Party but the relationship between the executive and Congress.