Reply #20: Wrong.

[lumberjack_jeff]

Research bears this out:
People don't vote on the basis of the issues, they vote on the basis of how the candidate makes them feel. As a trial lawyer, Edwards is successfully enabling people to feel that he is empathetic to their situations.

Also, people aren't really abandoning Republicans for Democrats, per se. They are abandoning Republicans for change. Anyone who is associated too closely with the status quo, and can't articulate a desire for change is doomed. We Democrats need to create a brand identity to retake dominance, and now is the last and best opportunity.

We're not like the general voting public. We care about issues, but they don't.

I recommend the book "Being right isn't enough" by Paul Waldman.