If Florida had no meaning, why did Edwards drop out after Florida?

[HughMoran]

Something to ponder...

[Prefer]

1. Someone made him a deal...

Can I get my donation money back?

[neutron]

24. Florida existed to give Chris Matthews the finger

[saltpoint]

2. Classic misread.

[HughMoran]

9. Then explain the timing of it..

Please feel free to explain Edwards timing...

[mrmx9]

3. No money for Super Tuesday - plus he may want to influence Super Tuesday by endorsing by the weekend

[wndycty]

4. Well guess what he could have dropped out Saturday. . .

. . .but by dropping out today who is talking about Clinton's FAUX victory in Florida.

[Scurrilous]

11. Exactly.

:thumbsup:

[HughMoran]

17. So only 14% in a state with 1.6 million votes cast had no influence on his decision

Do you really expect me to believe that?

[MyNameGoesHere]

34. you n/t

[kennetha]

5. Very Good Question

So what changed between South Carolina and now? Oh, I got it a million and a half democrats voted in a "meaningless" beauty contest and Edwards came in a distant third in a state that's extremely representative of the democratic electorate. That helped Edwards see the writing on the wall.

Oh, but I forgot, those 1.5 million voting democrats don't really count for anything whatsoever.

Except now we'll hear from the media how good Florida turned out to be for Obama, since they will spin that the Edwards vote will all go to Obama -- although I think there's no evidence for that, especially since Edwards voters are more downscale than Obama's core voters and Clinton has been doing better with more downscale voters.
Alert | Add to my Journal

[Coexist]

6. NO dammit - please keep the vultures off for at least an hour

and give us a little time to mourn.

[cali]

7. I think it couldn't be clearer that he'd been thinking about doing this

for a while. And what I'm concerned about is that it he did it for family reasons.

[adabfree]

8. We don't know why yet

Let's hear what the man has to say this afternoon...could be his wife's health has gotten much worse (if you think about it, we haven't seen her).

It could be finances, maybe he reassessed them.

It could be pressure from the Kennedy/Kerry wing of the party..

It could be because he's decided the Clintons need to be stopped

It could be because the sun rises in east and sets in the west..

It could be because Michael Jackson is working on a new CD

It could a host of reasons...

so let's just wait

[my3boyz]

12. I don't think he did it for a specific person...

I think perhaps he did not want to feel like he was splitting the vote and causing someone the election when there was a small chance that he could win any of the remaining states. Or it could have been money. It is expensive to run a campaign in that many states when you are low on money. If that is the case then this is so wrong. Choosing our president should not be about how much money a person can raise but who would be the best president.

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. It's not that Florida has no meaning...it's that it has no delegates

Nice try, though.

[HughMoran]

13. I'm not sure what the strawman is about

What point was I trying to make?

I implied that it did have meaning, you confirmed that. Thanks.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Since denying its meaning is not a reasonable argument in the first place

You've knocked down an argument that makes no sense. Congrats on the knock out. Of the strawman.

[HughMoran]

27. Hundreds of posts were discounting Florida as having no meaning

I assume you're just being pissy because you can - that's fine :)

[alcibiades_mystery]

31. Nice dodge

It has "no meaning" in the context of delegates; it obviously has meaning in the context of raw votes. I understand why you would have to pretend not to understand this to build your petty strawman, though. Cheers. :hi:

[HughMoran]

32. You contradicted yourself and then are too stubborn to admit it

:hi:

[alcibiades_mystery]

33. Er, no I didn't

I pointed out your deliberate confusion. Thus the quotation marks. Learn to read.

[HughMoran]

35. Sorry, you're spinning now

Something you're good at

[alcibiades_mystery]

36. Whatever

You had a little argument you thought was good, and it just turns out to be sad confusion on your part. Solution? Post a baby crying, the oldest cliche in the history of the message board. Bad argument + Complete lack of originality = dumbshit.

[HughMoran]

38. Obviously got under your skin

You started it by childishly posting a straw man whilst never contending my point other than to cast dispersions.

I win.

[robcon]

14. I think it may be his wife's condition.

Maybe his heart is no longer in it. (Just speculating.)

[islandmkl]

15. one thing to keep track of about florida

even though not all Edwards supporters will go to Obama...the math says HRC's margin just shrunk....'Poof...and like that, it was gone.'

[HughMoran]

20. Yes, that is where the conversation will be going from here...

This is a HUGE potential change in the Super Tuesday outcome...

[RichGirl]

26. Actually....

Hillary got more votes than Obama and Edwards together. But, who's counting.....

At any rate, the Florida primary did matter. When a million people come out to vote...it matters, delegates or not. All those who stood in line to vote for Hillary, got their victory. They deserved the celebration and thank you from her. In Iowa Obama's win was played up as HUGE, while poor Hillary came in way, way back in third place. Yet, in Iowa, Obama only has ONE more delegate than Hillary. If you base primaries only on delegates, then Obama's win in Iowa is tiny.

I'm sad and I hope that Edwards didn't do this for personal reasons.

[goodhue]

16. coincidence

[HughMoran]

21. No such thing

...in politics.

[Renew Deal]

18. Because he wanted to?

:shrug:

[Armstead]

19. Ted Kennedy and Super Tuesday

And possibly (I hope not) his wife

[Occam Bandage]

22. Because he wanted to affect Super Tuesday, and not have FL take him off the headlines.

[HughMoran]

23. Sounds logical to me

I think this is as good an explanation as any. Doing "par for the course" in Florida surely helped to cement his decision.

[H2O Man]

28. Timing is everything.

I do not believe that the non-contest in Florida played any role, however. It seems more likely that this is an expected action that has much more to do with John Edwards determining at what point he can most effect the primary. There have been reports, largely ignored, about contacts between his campaign and another candidate's. John Edwards is doing what he thinks is best for advancing his cause.

[Coexist]

29. Edwards also cancelled his appearances a couple days ago

opting for a Message on Poverty in New Oreans, this is now where he will announce he is dropping out, so I think that he had this planned before Florida.

*sigh*

[H2O Man]

30. Yes.

I think that people have had a pretty good idea since Friday.

[redqueen]

37. "Who's afraid of John Edwards?"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4285825

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4286520

Nothing to ponder, really.