Edwards Likely to Endorse Hillary, Out of Self-Interest

Posted by Schul , Open Left at 4:23 AM on February 14, 2008.

ABC news reports: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Poli...

"As he weighs a possible endorsement in the Democratic race, former Sen. John Edwards is as split as the party he once hoped to lead - and is seriously considering supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, despite the sharp criticism he leveled at her on the campaign trail, according to former aides and advisers."

Unfortunately, this is not much of a surprise. John Edwards' one consistent record is doing what is best for John Edwards.

Here are the facts as I see them:

1. According to Newsweek's Howard Fineman, prior to Edwards dropping out of the race, "[h]is representatives had been reaching out to Obama's high command for weeks, but I am told that they rebuffed him." http://www.newsweek.com/id/106153

2. John Edwards ran in 2004 as a pro-Iraq War moderate, which was consistent with his Senate voting record. By 2008, he had reinvented himself as a populist leader in the fight against poverty, with positions that were often inconsistent with his Senate voting record.

3. Prior to running for the Senate in 1998, John Edwards had worked as a plaintiff's litigator and made himself tens of millions of dollars.

4. Prior to running for the Senate in 1998, John Edwards only voted 50% of the time.

Now, Edwards is refusing to endorse the candidate he believes will be the best nominee of the Democratic party, and, instead, endorsing the candidate who promises to lavish him with the most flattery and who knows what else.

I'm not arguing that Edwards does not believe that the candidate he endorses will make the best President, I am arguing that we cannot know that because of the way he has gone about seeking to make that endorsement.

Edwards debated Clinton and Obama 17 times. He has had ample opportunity to speak with them and size up their strengths and weaknesses. And yet, he is still demanding meetings and phone calls before making an endorsement? His representatives approached Obama about a deal, which Obama nobly declined, and now he expects us to believe that he thinks Clinton is the better candidate?

News flash to the remaining Edwards supporters: Poverty has not been the cause of his life. Edwards spent the first 20 years of his career making as much money for himself as he possibly could. After, and only after, his fortune was secure, did Edwards run for a high profile public office, which he used as a stepping stone to run for President. After leaving the Senate, Edwards "devoted" himself to the cause of poverty in a highly public manner, which he immediately used as a stepping stone to run for President.

Now, let's look at Barack Obama's career as a comparison. When Obama left Harvard Law School, he could have had a job at any of the most highly paid, most prestigious law firms in the country. Instead, he worked as a civil rights lawyer/community organizer in the inner-city of Chicago. Obama was helping poor folks without any publicity because it is the passion of his life.

Tagged as: clinton, obama, edwards

Schul graduated from Hamilton College '99 and the University of Virginia School of Law '04. He currently practices entertainment law in Los Angeles.