Reply #223: If it was, it was Shelton's decision, and not Edwards's.

[AP]

Shelton was at a tiny college in CA giving a talk and a student in the audience asked a question about Clark. Shelton anwered the question and then refused to clarify for weeks.

It's hard to imagine that the question was planted by Edwards, and it's hard to imagine that Edwards and Shelton planned this and then waited patiently until some student at some obscure event asked the question.

The media jumped on this because at the same time the neoliberal gang of four generals were going around the media saying nasty things about Clark ad nauseum. Shelton didn't jump on that bandwagon. He just shut up. But the media loved the idea that they had a corrroborating witness (no matter how silent) for the obviously biased bullshitting of the four generals.

Shelton later tacitly endorsed Kerry during the primaries after saying he wouldn't endorse anyone, which makes it hard to imagine that he and Edwards planned this whole thing. Unless someone was putting someon on double secret probation.

What Edwards didn't do was distance himself from Shelton after Shelton made the statement. But who could blame him? He and Shelton had been friends for something like 20 years -- they first met at alumni events at NC State. Long before Shelton made any comment about Clark, Shelton had been discussing FP matters with Edwards, and he continued to do so afterwards.

So Clark took the opportunity to bitch out Edwards about who his friends were. (Any opportunity to take down Edwards a notch, I guess -- announcing on Edwards official announcement day; not dropping out after Oklahoma, which took votes away from Edwards in the south, but dropping out before WI were Clark was taking votes from Kerry; and then ignoring the gang of four, but blaming Edwards for his association with Shelton).