Edwards Rising?

Did the Edwards campaign get the momentum it needed last night? Edwards pounded Hillary Clinton with greater ferocity than Barack Obama hit the frontrunner, attacking her veracity on this New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer's plan to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. Edwards said that Clinton--for whom my spouse works--answered the question differently within two minutes. Is all this going to dent Clinton's lead? I don't know but flip-flopping and veracity is a tried-and-true political strategy and makes a lot more sense than Obama's recent incantation that she's "Bush-Cheney lite." Arguing that a Hillary Clinton presidency would be an extension of the Bush presidency doesn't pass the smell test but charges of prevarication are more likely to stick. The question that looms is whether Obama will be the anti-Hillary or will it be Edwards. For the moment, I'd put my money on Edwards. He's more aggressive than Obama and Biden's insistence on funding the war in Iraq makes it hard for him to garner support on the left. I'd look for Edwards's poll numbers to rise.

One thing that amazes me about Edwards is how little the 2004 Kerry campaign informs coverage of him or voters opinion of him. From where I sit, he blew it as veep. He gave an okay convention speech but not nearly as good as Obama's. He at best had a draw with Dick Cheney in the debates and couldn't carry his home state. None of that seems to tarnish him. It's like it never happened. Sure, presidential races are overwhelmingly about the presidential nominee and not the veep. But Edwards didn't distinguish himself. Now, it doesn't seem to matter.