JOHN EDWARDS ECHOES HIS WIFE. On Hardball last night John Edwards defended his wife's criticisms of Hillary Clinton:
On Elizabeth saying he is a better advocate for women than HRC: "It is not shocking that my wife is for me. I am proud to have her support. I hope I get her vote too. ... I actually talked to Elizabeth this afternoon about this. I think the point she was making is that if you look at things like poverty, there are more women in poverty than there are men. ... And in these kinds of substantive areas that have a direct impact on the lives of women, I have been very aggressive. I have been out front and lead a on those issues" (MSNBC, 7/17).
I can only imagine that Barack Obama must be sitting in a high-backed armchair next to a fire while stroking a kitten and gently murmuring "good... good." An attack by Edwards on Clinton hurts both of them and thereby strengthens Obama. It's also not a terrible idea for Edwards since he's got to do something to revitalize his campaign. For Clinton there's no upside that I can see. Edwards also managed to embrace the substantive part of his wife's criticism while sliding past her less coherent criticisms that I highlighted in my last post. --Sam Boyd
