Interesting article in the Times about what a troubled relationship John Kerry and John Edwards had. It's a reminder of the sort of campaigner Edwards was for the ticket: Relentlessly optimistic, scared to go negative, and basically weak. And it bears almost no resemblance to the campaign Edwards is running now.
So, in that way, it's not terribly illuminative. But it's interesting as a cautionary tale on how you pick a VP. In retrospect, Edwards was a terrible choice for Kerry. He highlighted Kerry's absent charisma, his lack of charm, his Massachusetts mannerisms. He was picked for his the qualities that would have made him a good presidential candidate, not qualities that made him a good vice-presidential candidate, or helped make Kerry better nominee.
The eventual nominee needs the VP to do the sort of aggressive campaigning Edwards wouldn't. Which is why I'm increasingly finding myself a big proponent of Biden for vice-president. Biden's long and communicable experience on foreign policy and ability to deride and dismiss Republican claims to expertise on the subject both amplify any argument of experience and demonstrate a bareknuckle tendency that someone on the ticket will need. Right now, he's the only one in the race who seems to have figured out how to puncture the Right's national security pretensions, and so the most useful in the #2 slot. And that is something the Democratic ticket will need to do. So c'mon: Tell me you don't want to see this patter throughout the election:
