DL21C continues its phenomenal Road to the White House series on Thursday with Senator John Edwards, Democrat of North Carolina and the 2004 Vice Presidential nominee.

Thursday, March 22
7:30 pm at
Branch
226 E. 54th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Aves.)
E/V train to Lexington Avenue/ 6 train to 51st St

It's just a guess, and I haven't spoken to anyone at DL21C, but I'd assume this will be a mob scene. Edwards is positioning himself as the most Progressive of the top three contenders. A year ago, Governor Mark Warner - then the Not-Hillary of the day - drew a crowd of roughly four hundred; if I had to lay odds, I'd assume that Edwards will exceed that. So if you're planning to go, you might want to RSVP now, here.

There's probably going to be a Q&A, and I usually get to ask questions; leave suggestions for what you'd like to know from the Senator (and, if I had to lay odds again, the next President of the United States) in the comments.

On the web: John Edwards for President

Via Breaking Blue.

This comes from a brilliant diary on DKos, based on a beautiful column by the late, great Molly Ivins.

I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.

Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.

Preach it, sister, preach it!  read more »

So according to all the media chatter, huge pluralities love Hillary Clinton, can't wait to vote for her in the primaries, and her inauguration a bit less than two years from now is all but assured.

Sorry, but I'm not buying it. The junior Senator leaves me cold on any number of fronts; issues, personality, record (Hillarycare, anyone?), and frankly, I'm beginning to resent all the manufactured hype. Talk to average Democrats, even here, on what The New York Times calls her 'home turf', and you'll not find much excitement, either. Where are all these people I'm always told can't wait to pull that lever?

If anything, there's distrust, apprehension about the electoral fallout (it's taken as a baseline given in most conversations that I've had that she'll lose; people are now worrying about the Congress), and frankly, a deep and growing irritation that she's shoving herself down our throats a year before the first caucus. People are talking, that's clear; but they're not talking about what a great idea it would be to send Hillary Rodham Clinton to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This in part, perhaps, because she doesn't really stand for much of anything but her own advancement, it seems. Sure, she wants to be President, that's no surprise; why, and what she'd do if elected, and how far you could trust her to implement the vision thing, nobody really knows.

If you're looking for Hillary's 'base', or 'home turf', look elsewhere. New York City ain't it.

After the jump: "Hillary" on SNL. Ha!  read more »

The lamestream media are predictably dismissive of today's announcement of a Presidential bid by John Edwards (or so it seems to me), perhaps because they've already decided that Hillary and Obama are the only games in town. My private theory to explain this is simple: journos are lazy, and 'Is the country ready for a black/female President?' stories are so simple they practically write themselves. Hence, they have more time to spend on expense reports and cocktail party chit-chat.

The real news, of course, is that Hillary labors under the widespread perception that she can't win/stands for nothing/will say whatever you want to hear/polarizes (one which I share), and that sheer politeness is all that is keeping the subterranean chatter about Obama's thin résumé quiet, for the moment.

By a simple process of elimination, that leaves Edwards as the guy to beat. Clark never quite caught on with the rank and file (for reasons which elude many), Kerry had his chance (and has that unfortunate foot-in-mouth problem), Gore seems sincere about not running, Vilsack is in fourth place in his native Iowa, and Mark Warner, ah, Mark Warner. Biden and Dodd are lovely Senators; Richardson may be laboring under too-high expectations.  read more »