Yesterday the Democratic presidential field was trimmed to six–well, four really. In the NCAA basketball tournament coaches say the object is to “survive and advance.” By that measure, both Clark and Edwards can claim victory. Both came through in their “must win” state. [Due to his national base, Dean continues to survive, though he has yet to advance anywhere.]
It’s no secret I’m pulling for Senator Edwards in this fight. I still see an window of opportunity for Edwards, but a couple things must fall in line:
(1) The field must narrow. I’m confident Edwards can beat Kerry on an even, one-on-one playing field. But he can’t take on Clark and Kerry. If all three are running next week in Tennessee and Virginia, I fear it’s going to split the “southern” vote and Kerry will win by default. Moreover, the more candidates that remain in the race, the less an opportunity Edwards will have to get his message out–the message that’s been winning over Republican and independent voters.
(2) A friendly media. Good luck here. It hasn’t appeared thus far. I was watching election coverage last night–mostly MSNBC–and if I care to document the pro-Kerry bias I literally could have written all night. Sure he’s the frontrunner and all, but this is ridiculous. A few examples:
- Chris Matthews once described Edwards as “delusional” if he thought he could really win the nomination.
- Lawrence O’Donnell insisted that “100%” of Liberman’s supporters would hope aboard the Kerry juggernaut.
- The network repeatedly referred to an exit poll showing a majority of voters would be “satisfied” if Kerry won the nomination as proof that Democrats are “rallying behind Kerry” as the most “electable” candidate. Turns out the pollsters didn’t even ask this question of Senator Edwards, despite the fact that Edwards had the highest favorability marks in New Hampshire. This is pure journalistic garbage.
Of course this could all change. Should Kerry stumble or the media adopt the “two man race” storyline, things could turn around real quickly. Just ask Governor Dean.