Edwards and McCain
Does John Edwards want John McCain to win the Republican nomination?
He’s certainly going out of his way to promote an air of inevitability about McCain’s chances. On the campaign trail, Edwards talks frequently about how he is the Democrat best-suited to beat McCain in a general election, and during Monday night’s explosive cage-match of a debate, Edwards declared, “I think that John McCain is gonna be the Republican candidate.“ That set off a breathless exchange among Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama over who could take on McCain. As Trail Mix has noted before, at least one major poll suggests that Edwards would fare best.
So is Edwards rooting for McCain on the GOP side? The two men do have a number of things in common besides their first name. Both have an anti-establishment streak. Both take hard-line positions on campaign finance reform and both have railed against pharmaceutical companies. When they were in the Senate together, they collaborated on a patients’ bill of rights. And in 2004, McCain was famously courted as John Kerry’s potential running mate before the veep nod went to Edwards.
Of course, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani might have something to say about the Democrats’ apparent willingness to crown McCain.
