Edwards may or may not be the nominee in '08, but he'll be excellent bar..

[AP]

...over which the nominee will have to clear if the nominee is someone other than Edwards.

Edwards -- if he runs, which is a big IF -- will set the frame for a debate the outcome of which will be a set of ideas and arguments that are Democratic strengths: jobs, race, class, poverty and middle class opportunity.

The other candidates will have to take on these issues squarely if they want to be the nominee, and I think that's a great thing. If other candidates want to convince Americans that terror and fear is more important, go for it. I don't think they'll succeed, and I'll be glad to see that issue addressed and settled in the primaries.

Another thing to keep in mind is that one of the reasons Edwards ran at all this year is because he knew that he was an excellent antithesis to Bush. Everything about him contrasted with Bush in a way that highlighted what an ass Bush was.

Granted, we won't know who the Republican nominee is in advance, but I highly doubt Edwards will run again if his persona is not appropriate for the historical moment. However, I believe that class an opportunity are going to be a HUGE issue in 2008 -- even bigger than this year. Which will make Edwards perfect if not as a candidate, than as the person the eventual nominee will have to take down first.

I hope people realize how advantageous it is for Democrats to have Edwards as that person.

In fact I sense that a lot of the hating on Edwards (if not the product of complete ignorance) is because people without the Democratic party's best interests in mind know in their heart that what I'm saying is true.