Townhall.com The Blogspot for Political, Conservative and Republican Blogs and Bloggers

Monday, August 11, 2008

Edwards Fallout

Posted by: Amanda Carpenter at 9:37 AM

If John Edwards had dropped out of the Democratic primaries because of his affair with Rielle Hunter earlier, or never ran at all out of shame, would Hillary had a better chance of winning the nomination?

It wouldn't be the first time a cheating man has blunted her political ambitions.

Edwards ended up endorsing Obama, but what if he never ran? Would Hillary have gotten more of his poor, working class voters? I think she would have. I'm think the question is worth putting out there. Open thread, curious to know what Townhall readers think.

Update: Former Clinton campaign manager Howard Wolfson says "YES."
Had Edwards been out of the picture, "I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," he told ABCNews.com.

"Our voters and Edwards' voters were the same people," Wolfson said. "They were older, pro-union. Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us and we would have barely beaten Obam

(6) |

(0)

View in ascending order

View in descending order

Joe, Don't Hate Me 'Cause I'm Right writes:	Monday, August, 11, 2008 10:15 AM
Interesting thought experiment
Did Edwards cost Hillary the nomination? I would say...perhaps. Without Edwards, Hillary would have gained momentum quicker (and had she done so she would have been the nominee with presumably Obama as her Veep). Later on...no. Edwards was irrelevant at that point.
Email It \| Print It \| Flag as Offensive

Royinoslo writes:	Monday, August, 11, 2008 10:16 AM
Pipe dream for Hillary
This line is being fed by Clinton supporters (not to mention TH bloggers) who want to make Obama's claim to the nomination less legitimate, but the fact is that the top tier of Dems had room for three; therefore it's likely that without Edwards another candidate such as Richardson or Biden may have emerged. The Clintons faced considerable opposition to creating a dynasty in the party, enough so that someone else along with Obama would have blocked her path.
Email It \| Print It \| Flag as Offensive

Brianbnc writes:	Monday, August, 11, 2008 10:16 AM
Absolutely
And let's give this a GOP analogy. It would be akin to McShame touting the Huckster (and promising backroom deals to him) to keep Romney out of contention. Sound familiar?
Email It \| Print It \| Flag as Offensive

dawndawn writes:	Monday, August, 11, 2008 10:22 AM
Silky
Hard to imagine with the political heavyweights on Obama`s and Clinton`s campaigns, Silky`s pecadillos were not common knowledge -- He did out after Super Tuesday -- Maybe someone encouraged him --
Email It \| Print It \| Flag as Offensive

RASHUM writes:	Monday, August, 11, 2008 10:46 AM
YES!
They should ask that question. Lets keep the Clinton supporters upset! Although I do not think it Edwards cost Clinton the nomination.
Email It \| Print It \| Flag as Offensive

Moonkeeper writes:	Monday, August, 11, 2008 1:02 PM
No.
Among the 36 trillion polls out there pertaining to this election are ones asking about second choices. I'm pretty sure Obama did better among Edwards' supporters.
Email It \| Print It \| Flag as Offensive

Please take a few seconds to sign up, then you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, create your own blog and more! If you are already registered, click here.

Townhall.com The Blogspot for Political, Conservative and Republican Blogs and Bloggers

Townhall Blog, Breaking News & Commentary from the Townhall Crew

Archives of our Conservative, Republican, Political Blogs

Comments Comments

The Latest on Town HallThe Latest on Town Hall

Blog Roll Blog Roll