EDWARDS GOT SOME 'SPLAINING TO DO It's not much of a secret that I've a lot of sympathy for John Edwards' populist turn. And I've actually argued it's not as much of a stretch from his past as some suggest. The main objection I hear, though, is that the turn isn't genuine -- it's simply a classic primary swerve. And bits and pieces of his past voting record pop up that make that hard to rebut. Here's one: At the Democratic forum today, Edwards spent some time -- as he often does -- lamenting the fact of medical bankruptcies. This is no surprise: Elizabeth Warren, who's done the seminal work in this area, informally advises him. But when the Bankruptcy Bill -- which Edwards voted for -- came up in 2001, then-Senator Paul Wellstone offered an amendment to "create an exemption for certain debtors that can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court that the reason for the filing was a result of debts incurred through medical expenses." In other words, to prevent medical bankruptcies. The amendment failed, 65-34. Edwards was one of the 65 voting against it (as was Biden -- Clinton and Dodd both voted for, and Obama wasn't yet in the Senate). In doing, he broke with just about every liberal in the Senate. At times, votes like this can be out-of-context, as Senators kill good liberal amendments to get an important progressive bill to the floor. But the Bankruptcy Bill was hardly that. It's a hard vote to explain. But I'd still like to hear what the Edwards camp has to say. --Ezra Klein
