LIKABILITY. There's this new narrative that's been developing in the press that John Edwards is no longer running as the sunny, bright, optimistic candidate of 2003. I haven't been sure that's entirely correct, because even though he has been running a much more pointed and aggressive campaign than he did in 2003-2004, he never seems to be all that angry when you listen to him lay out his harsh assessments of his opponents. I think it has something to do with the way Southerness plays in non-Southern environments -- Southerners can says any number of things and their words will still fall gently on Northern ears, because of the accent -- but part of it is also that when he delivers words that sound biting and harsh on the page, he often does so in a more low-key manner than you'd expect. Dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, laughing and pointing comfortably, I've seen him in Iowa drop all manner of verbal grenades while maintaining a friendly rapport with his audience. That just doesn't scan as "mad."
Yesterday's LA Times poll (via Kevin Drum) shows that I'm not alone in not getting with the "angry Edwards" narrative, in that Iowa voters still rank him as the most likable of the top three candidates. South Carolinians and New Hampshire voters disagree, however, which makes me wonder what he's doing differently in those two states, and if he's more relaxed in Iowa, because more secure in his position in the state. And also if the absence of what, for lack of a better term, I will call "the Southern accent effect," makes him seem least agreeable in South Carolina, where most people have similar accents to his own, and where his likability ranking is lowest in the Times survey.
--Garance Franke-Ruta
