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Kerry: Going All Soft?

Edwards gives good exit polling

But is it too little too late?
(from Edwards campaign website)

It's only a single day's tidings, but Democrat watchers in search of something interesting to talk about are making a fuss over John Edwards's late surge in Wisconsin. William Saletan at Slate has a detailed breakdown of how Kerry and Edwards have performed with independents and crossover Republicans in states whose primaries let them participate.

A couple of things seem evident. One, John Kerry has imbued Democratic regulars with the mystical faith that he is the most "presidential" and "electable" (scroll down to yesterday's post for a note on the latter) candidate of the lot. Yet many of them are not all that keen on him themselves. Saletan writes, "the exit polls show that, by and large, Democrats aren't voting for Kerry because they prefer him on the issues. They're voting for him because they think he's the Democrat most likely to beat Bush. What happens if they find out he isn't? What happens if they realize that Edwards is doing as well as Kerry among independents and is doing better than Kerry among crossover Republicans?"

Two, in states where Edwards has spent serious face time, he seems to have broader appeal outside the Democrats' core. He connects better on issues surrounding the economy, which will come more prominently to the fore after the fervor to find a candidate to beat Bush has passed. And his five-year Senate record offers a less sizeable target than Kerry's 19-year file. 

Are the Democrats awakening from their fever dreams of electability? And are they about two weeks too late? Tell me. I'll post some of the responses later.    

Posted by Steve Perry at February 18, 2004 3:57 PM

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