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.<\/p>\n
1. It makes the grassroots Dems<\/a> very happy.<\/p>\n 2. It makes House<\/a> and Senate<\/a> Dems very happy.<\/p>\n 3. Edwards has broad appeal among the various center-left factions (DLC<\/a>, Unions<\/a>, and even a certain former consumer advocate<\/a> like him).<\/p>\n 4. Edwards will boost the ticket’s prospects in the Midwest<\/a>.<\/p>\n 5. North Carolina — and its 15 electoral votes — is now very<\/i> much in play<\/a>.<\/p>\n 6. Edwards is an excellent fundraiser<\/a>.<\/p>\n 7. Edwards, a seasoned campaigner after the presidential primaries, can and will hit the ground running<\/a>.<\/p>\n 8. Edwards has tremendous skill in crafting a persuasive message<\/a> that resonates with a variety of voters.<\/p>\n 9. Edwards can and will campaign well in the South and help give a boost to candidates<\/a> like Inez Tenenbaum in South Carolina and Erskine Bowles in North Carolina.<\/p>\n