There’s a lot of excitement this morning about John Edwards’ addition to John Kerry’s ticket and with good reason. Putting aside some of the obvious benefits — Edwards’ career of fighting for working families, his ability to assume the presidency should the need arise, etc. — I thought of about 10 reasons off the top of my head why this is a great choice.
1. It makes the grassroots Dems very happy.
2. It makes House and Senate Dems very happy.
3. Edwards has broad appeal among the various center-left factions (DLC, Unions, and even a certain former consumer advocate like him).
4. Edwards will boost the ticket’s prospects in the Midwest.
5. North Carolina — and its 15 electoral votes — is now very much in play.
6. Edwards is an excellent fundraiser.
7. Edwards, a seasoned campaigner after the presidential primaries, can and will hit the ground running.
8. Edwards has tremendous skill in crafting a persuasive message that resonates with a variety of voters.
9. Edwards can and will campaign well in the South and help give a boost to candidates like Inez Tenenbaum in South Carolina and Erskine Bowles in North Carolina.
10. With six years on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Edwards already has more foreign policy experience than Bush has in his entire political career.