The Most Successful Hopeless Candidate

If the elections were held in the 19th century where the tallest guy with the best looking hair and smile could win an election just by showing up, then John Edwards would win in a landslide. Unfortunately for him, this is two centuries later. (voters are smarter now and less superficial, right?) His second failed bid for the presidential crown has him running against media-ordained political celebrities. To be fair, it’s really bad luck for him to be running against potential history makers of both gender and race. Nonetheless, despite his numerous shortcomings, Edwards steadfastly remains the most successful hopeless candidate.

I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the Johnny Depp of politics. A man who has plenty of adoring fans and is pretty decent at what he does. But in the end, no one who actually matters will show support for him when it counts. As proven in 2004, being the supposed sexiest guy in the room doesn’t get you to the White House. According to a poll conducted by the Reno Gazette-Journal, Edwards is in third place trailing the frontrunner by 5% while national polls show him at a dismal third place with 9% to second-place Obama’s 38%.

In the past, Edwards managed to get elected running as a moderate Democrat in North Carolina, a historically red state but as time went on, Edwards departed from the ideals championed by his original constituents for politically greener pastures.

His most vocal critics point out that because of the problems in North Carolina, many who voted for him feel betrayed by his turnaround on several issues and his ultimate abandoning of them. There was no way Edwards could have been re-elected to his senate seat in NC because of this. In an attempt to save his political career he oscillated conveniently further to the left and launched his presidential campaign.

Joe Trippi, a Edward’s camp senior advisor and well known political consultant is relying on the “slide back and recover” campaign strategy. The reality is that he’s the cool guy that no one will vote for. So instead of dropping out of the race and letting the two frontrunners duke it out, his campaign twiddles its thumbs waiting for either of them to win. Frankly, Edwards has nothing better to do.

“The more the press continues to focus on these people and how it’s all about them, the rest of the country is saying ‘please tell us there is somebody else,’” Trippi wishfully thinks.

Here’s another reality: when your former running mate endorses your competition on the day you arrive to town, a town in your home state, and you’re currently trailing by double digits in this state, your chances of building any sort of momentum to carry to Super Tuesday are pretty much hopeless.

But to hope they desperately cling: many pundits and polls predict that out of all three candidates, Edwards is the most electable, never mind the fact the same polls show that all three candidates could probably win no matter who wins the Republican primary. Democrats are feeling good about their options, but not about Edwards.

If things continue like this for Edwards, he will continue trudging on in this futile pursuit, slowly fading into obscurity as he smiles that charming smile of a man who ultimately stands for nothing. He will be remembered in this historic election as nothing more than a mere footnote, going the way of such names as Kerry, Dukakis, Clay and Calhoun, leaving behind a tattered legacy of politically nihilistic, yet expedient policy shifts.