John Edwards: ‘Rivals Are Full Of Themselves, I Wasn’t Calling Them Corporate Democrats’

Yesterday, we discussed John Edwards’ New Hampshire speech where he seemed to have attacked his Democratic rivals:

The choice for our party could not be more clear. We cannot replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats, just swapping the Washington insiders of one party for the Washington insiders of the other.

After some heavy questioning from reporters and a strong response from the Clinton campaign, John Edwards insists
that the comments were not about his Democratic rivals:

“Nothing I said yesterday has to do with other presidential candidates. They need to move on from thinking about themselves and think about what’s important to the country.”

Often times the media can gin up a controversy by reading far too deeply into remarks from a campaign, like what they did with Michelle Obama recently. However, this instance is simply not one of those situations. Consider the speech in the larger context of Edwards’ political strategy.

If the remarks had absolutely nothing to do with Clinton, then perhaps Edwards would kindly explain who he he was referring to when he said:

“The American people deserve to know that their presidency is not for sale, the Lincoln Bedroom is not for rent, and lobbyist money can no longer influence policy in the House or the Senate.”

Edwards has been attacking Clinton for weeks over lobbyist money and the juxtaposition of this topic with the quip about the Lincoln bedroom seems to be a strong reference to Hillary Clinton.

My frustration is less with the fact that he called his rivals “corporate Democrats” and more with the fact that he’s backing away from the statement today in order to prevent a backlash and maintain the “nice guy” image. As noted yesterday, the speech was primed to maximize media coverage. The simple reality is that scuffles get more coverage than even the very best substance. Now that the Edwards campaign has the attention they want, they’ll back away from the remarks. In my opinion, Edwards should just own up to the fact that he thinks his rivals are corporate Democrats. He said it. The charge really isn’t worse than anything else he’s said about his rivals, so he may as well make his case with maximum media exposure. Now, he’s precluded himself from making the charge in the future and as usual stuck himself in a “Kucinich lite” position.

[Photo Credit: Flickr user John Edwards 2008]

Related At 2008Central.net:

• John Edwards: I’m a Populist and Clinton is a Corporate Democrat (8/23/07)
• Editorial: Gore’s Shadow Organization Or Edwards’ Secret Attack On Hillary?
• A Historical Perspective On The Continuing Edwards/Coulter Clash
• Elizabeth Edwards Questions Hillary Clinton’s Strength On Women’s Issues
• Edwards Continues Attacks on Clintons in Trade Speech