Last night Drudge implied that Kerry had selected Indiana Senator Evan Bayh to be his running mate. This morning the New York Post reports that John Kerry has selected Richard Gephardt: “Kerry picks Gephardt.” Fox News, on the other hand, is reporting on-air that Kerry has selected John Edwards, and NRO’s Kerry Spot has an item supporting this report; Edwards indeed appears to be the pick.
I gained respect for Gephardt as a candidate this year. I also thought that Bayh would be an impressive selection; on foreign policy he strikes me as almost a Zell Miller kind of Democrat. Although Edwards brings an excitement to the ticket that Kerry lacks, especially among the Democratic base, I found his “two Americas” stump speech to be weirdly obsolete, a time capsule version of the New Deal Democratic spiel that at least had the advantage of accurately reflecting the economic circumstances of the Depression era. Transposed to 2004 the speech is/was laughably unreal.
As a millionaire personal injury plaintiffs’ lawyer, Edwards perfectly personifies the true message of the Democratic Party: do well for yourself by doing good for others, with both “well” and “good” understood to be the forcible expropriation of resources from third parties who have earned them. I think he is the least serious of the possible selections. He may be good for Kerry, but he’s bad for the country.
HINDROCKET adds: I agree that Edwards is a mediocre choice. It occurs to me that John Kerry never had a period in his life analogous to President Bush’s years in Midland, Texas. Perhaps as a result, he seems to be comfortable only in the company of rich white men. Glenn Reynolds thinks Edwards is a good choice because his “sunny disposition” is consistent with a theme of “return to normalcy” after the craziness of the last year. I see no evidence, however, that the Democrats have any intention of returning to normal. I think the madness will continue.
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