I’ve come full circle — a couple of times — about John Edwards. As of today, I’d be more than pleased to see him join John Kerry’s ticket.
But he may want to be careful in the way he’s playing the game. If Cincinnatus taught us anything, it’s that people are more likely to give you power when you pretend you don’t want it.
In contrast, Edwards’ interest in the VP job is about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
He lost his presidential bid and decided against seeking reelection this fall, so the energetic operation that Senator John Edwards has set up in an office just five blocks from the White House is not, technically, a political campaign.
Amid the moving boxes, secondhand furniture, and computers, Sky Gallegos runs the North Carolina senator’s newly formed One America Committee. Aaron Pickerell handles political affairs. Jennifer Swanson raises money as she did during Edwards’s presidential campaign. Kim Rubey is the spokeswoman, fielding media inquiries on the phone, or via her BlackBerry handheld e-mail device when traveling with the senator to Ohio, Minnesota, and other battleground states. Nick Baldick, who ran Edwards’s presidential campaign, checks in regularly.
The committee’s stated purpose is to provide money and logistical support as Edwards stumps for Democratic candidates for Senate across the country, and for John F. Kerry, the party’s presumptive nominee for president.
But there’s another, unstated mission: to help Edwards emerge as the most attractive choice for vice president, and to have a campaign up and running should Kerry select him to be his running mate. More than any other potential number two, Edwards is waging a passive-aggressive bid for the vice presidency.
It may not be subtle, but it may be effective. Kerry may see great utility in picking a running mate who can hit the campaign trail running. Edwards, with his office, newly-formed committee, professional staff, and demonstrated campaign abilities, has proven he can do just that.
It’s clear that Edwards is under very serious consideration.
Edwards has already been scrutinized by Kerry campaign lawyers, a process shortened because he had already been vetted in 2000 by Gore. Aides say Edwards has also spoken at least twice with James A. Johnson, the Washington banker heading Kerry’s search, including once at the Edwardses’ home in Georgetown, which is a block away from Kerry’s.
It may also improve Edwards’ standing that he continues to be a major draw nationwide.
In a sign of his enduring popularity with party activists, Edwards is often the second choice of speakers after Kerry himself.
”There are few national surrogates who are automatic draws and John Edwards is one of the them,” said Mike Erlandson, chairman of Minnesota’s Democratic Party. ”There’s no question that the energy that he brings to the campaign trail would be a good addition to a presidential campaign that’s already being well-received around the country.”
And as long as we’re on the subject, let’s not forget that just two weeks ago we learned that a Kerry-Edwards ticket is even in the polls with Bush-Cheney in North Carolina, a state that few have considered competitive and which Al Gore lost by 13 points in 2000.
The Boston Globe spoke to top Kerry advisors who said the ticket would be announced “a week or two” before the DNC, which begins on July 26. Stay tuned.