Edwards’ ambitions may hurt him

[Nicholas_J]

Posted on Mon, Jun. 28, 2004





Edwards’ ambitions may hurt him

Kerry must answer whether potential running mate could keep presidential aspirations in check

By CHARLES BABINGTON

The Washington Post


DES MOINES, Iowa — As Sen. John Edwards campaigns nationwide for John Kerry — and for the second spot on his presidential ticket — the North Carolinian’s main strength also is his biggest handicap, a paradox at center stage of Kerry’s narrowing search for a running mate.

Of all the surrogate candidates and vice presidential hopefuls, none can touch Edwards’ ability to electrify crowds and charm voters out of their socks. But Democratic big shots and small-county chairmen alike say there is no question that the charismatic senator still covets the presidency — in 2008, 2012 or whenever the next opportunity arises.

Among the biggest decisions Kerry faces is whether Edwards could check his ego and ambitions for four or eight years and play the loyal, subservient and rarely glamorous role of vice president, whose greatest concern is supposed to be the president’s best interests. Purely in terms of campaigning this fall, the Massachusetts senator also must consider whether Edwards’ sizzle would make his own more prosaic style seem unacceptably wooden by comparison.

This weekend in this Mecca of presidential politics, Edwards’ star qualities were in full glory, delighting hundreds of Iowa Democratic conventiongoers but surely prompting mixed feelings inside the Kerry camp. In speeches Friday night and Saturday morning, Edwards ripped the Bush administration and repeatedly brought the delegates to their feet, whooping, cheering and later mobbing him for photos and autographs as the party convention tried to resume its business.


http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/9028869.htm