Advice for John Edwards

By Keith Boykin, in politics
Wednesday, October 3 2007, 3:15PM

Indianapolis -- If there is one moment for John Edwards to revitalize his flagging campaign, that moment is now. Earlier today, President Bush vetoed a children's health insurance bill that would provide health care coverage for 10 million American kids. The president says the bill, which would cost $35 billion over five years, is too expensive. At the same time, the President is supporting a brand new Pentagon request to add an additional $42 billion to the Iraq War for this year alone.

Nobody speaks more passionately about the "two Americas" than John Edwards, and today's presidential veto confirms just which America George Bush favors. Now it's time for Edwards to make that case forcefully. With Clinton dominating in the polls and Obama leading in excitement, Edwards is hoping something will happen to shake up the perception of a two-person race. But that won't happen unless he makes it happen. If I were giving advice to John Edwards, I would tell him one thing: No More Mr. Nice Guy.

I like John Edwards. I don't think I've ever met him before, but he seems like a nice guy. But we all know the old adage about nice guys. If Edwards doesn't want to finish last in the race, he's got to step up to the plate and go on the offensive. He's gotta fight and fight hard. After all, who will believe that he can be the champion of the other America if he's not even willing to be the champion of his own campaign?

Up until now, Edwards has allowed his wife Elizabeth to serve as the de facto attack dog for his campaign. Edwards stays above the fray while his wife says the things he wishes he could say. That's great for getting attention for Elizabeth Edwards, but it doesn't translate into support for her husband. Instead it creates the perception that she's the one wearing the proverbial pants in the family.

Edwards has got to let go. He's got to go on the attack and go after his opponents, especially Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Of course there are risks to this strategy, but to be honest, the costs far outweigh the benefits. Edwards has nothing to lose if he tries.

One risk is that Edwards will look divisive if he goes on the attack. He won't be perceived as a uniter if he's criticizing Barack and Hillary all the time. Yes, that may be true, but uniters don't win contested elections. The people who win are the people who draw distinctions between themselves and their opponents. Edwards needs to do this, like yesterday.

Another risk is that Edwards will look desperate if he goes on the attack now after months of running a mostly respectful campaign. That's a good point too. A newly aggressive posture will mark a sharp departure for his campaign, but there's a way to do it without being disrespectful. And more importantly, he is desperate. He won't say it publicly, but he's running out of time. If his campaign doesn't get traction soon, the Hillary bandwagon will stampede him on their way to the nomination.

There's also a risk that Edwards will appear disloyal to the party if he becomes too negative. This is especially likely if Edwards still sounds negative after one of the other candidates becomes the inevitable nominee. At that point, party loyalists like it when the opponents soften the rhetoric so as not to harm the eventual party candidate. But we're not at that point yet. Hillary Clinton hasn't sewn up the election yet, but she will if Edwards doesn't ratchet up the pressure.

And finally there's a risk that Edwards's attacks on Clinton may backfire and help Obama. If Edwards knocks Clinton down a peg, voters may see Obama as the most viable alternative. Thus Edwards's attacks could help Obama more than himself. That's a legitimate concern, but it's also the reason why Edwards has to go after Obama and Clinton. When voters start to reconsider Clinton, they need to consider Edwards as the replacement.

To his credit, Edwards seems to be employing some of these tactics already. Just yesterday his campaign attacked Barack Obama for stealing Edwards's campaign ideas and for his position on the Iraq War. “Sen. Obama likes to talk about his speech on Iraq years ago, but the truth is he did support past funding requests that only helped prolong this war,” an Edwards spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

As negative attacks go, that's not very negative. And it's not coming from Edwards himself, who is still trying to play Mr. Nice Guy. But Mr. Nice Guy won't win the election. Edwards needs to confront Hillary and Barack directly and forcefully from his own mouth. He needs to make himself a contender. He can't rely on his wife or his spokeswoman to do that for him.

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