Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Clean Sweep

Kerry, Edwards hit campaign trail

I don't need to tell anyone here how I feel about Kerry's choice of Edwards as his VP. Like the majority of Democrats, this is what I wanted to see happen.

The instant poll from NBC News confirms that Edwards is a popular choice: the two Johns have an eight point lead nationwide over Team "Go F*** Yourself."

By the way, did anyone else find it amusing that the 2004 ticket is made up of the leftovers from Al Gore's VP selection process in 2000? At least that will give the new team something to bond over as they patch up their lingering differences from the primaries. I bet Joe Lieberman wishes he'd been the one passed over.

Anyhow, my thoughts: I think the initial media reports that this is the start of a Southern strategy are wrong, but also helpful to Kerry; they misdirect people away from what's really going on, which is that Edwards will play well in places around the Midwest where Kerry seems too aloof: rural Ohio and Missouri. And the infectious Edwards optimism will play well everywhere. It will make North Carolina a bit more competitive, turn Arkansas and Louisiana into battlegrounds, make Florida a good deal friendlier, and turn the Pennsylvania-Michigan-Ohio trifecta blue. In short, I think it's possible for Kerry-Edwards to not only win, but to get more than 300 Electoral Votes. To see how, visit here, give Kerry Florida, Ohio, and Missouri, and try to find a feasible way for Bush to get past 250.

Four months to go and things are looking up!

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