What Edwards Didn’t Say

Others have noticed this as well, but perhaps the most significant thing about John Edwards’ speech to supporters in Des Moines late Thursday was what he didn’t say. It’s standard, after a contest like the Iowa caucuses, for the non-winning candidates to congratulate the winner and concede that night’s battle (before offering plentiful reasons why the war isn’t over). Hillary Clinton, for instance, congratulated Obama and Edwards right at the outset of her speech.

Not so for Edwards. He offered nothing close to a concession, instead delivering a repackaged version of his stump speech in which he rails against “corporate greed.” It was almost indistinguishable from a victory speech — until the very last moment when, after Edwards seemed to have finished, his wife, Elizabeth, whispered something into his ear. That’s when Edwards stepped back to the microphone and said, “Thank you for second place.“

I asked Ed Turlington about this. Turlington, the national chairman of Edwards’ 2004 campaign who is advising the current campaign, said he hadn’t noticed it and wouldn’t conclude too much from it. But it certainly does fit with the pugnacious style of Edwards, who often brags that he will never “give in” during a fight. It also harkens back to the 2004 general election, when Edwards, as the running mate to John Kerry, urged Kerry not to concede the election to George W. Bush but to challenge the results in Ohio. Kerry did not take Edwards’ advice.