The primary campaigns are well into the Antagonist stage where candidates identify and exploit their opponents’ weaknesses. No party can afford a long love fest focused on only one candidate. That happened to the Dems with John Kerry and when he was eventually – and inevitably - swift boated he was predictably caught flat-footed.
But you don’t want the intramural shoving to draw so much
blood that come November it’s hard for everyone to be on the same team. Last
night’s Dem debate in Myrtle Beach came very close to crossing that line. It was John Edwards that saved the day.
To recap the key moment: Obama was jabbing at Hillary for “not telling the truth.” Hillary ducked her head slightly to the left then neatly reached around and rabbit punched Obama by bringing up the fact that he once worked for a Chicago slumlord. It brought an audible gasp from the crowd. We tend to think of Hillary as the Senator from New York, or the First Lady from Arkansas, but she comes out of the Windy City and is still a die-hard Cubs fan. The rules of Chicago political debate start in the gutter and don’t get much higher. Obama comes from the same streets - he shouldn’t have been surprised. The press loved it. Nothing like the scent of blood for hot headlines.
But before lasting damage to party unity could occur John E. demanded the floor and hit hard with two questions: One – “Are there three candidates up here or just two?” which forced the MSM narrative of “the showdown in South Carolina” to be opened up to include both him and the policy issues he raises. Two “Just how many children are going to get the health care they desperately need because of this squabbling?” bringing the debate back to real problems and the real obstacles ahead.
With this courtroom experience John E. knows you can win the argument and still lose the jury - and in this election the jury is still out. Like many I give this debate to John Edwards. If he drops out, we all lose.
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