Edwards looks for spotlight by shining one on Katrina
Edwards looks for spotlight by shining one on Katrina
Early focus could resonate in '08 race Wednesday, January 03, 2007
By Bruce AlpertWASHINGTON -- By announcing his presidential candidacy in New Orleans, John Edwards said he was trying to make two points: that the city's slow recovery highlights the "two Americas" of rich and poor that became the symbol of his first run for president in 2004, and that it is important for Americans not to just complain about problems but to "take action" as so many post-Katrina volunteers did.
How the setting for his presidential announcement will affect his candidacy and whether it will refocus national attention on the unfinished business of Katrina remains to be seen. But political pundits agree Katrina is a good issue for Edwards because it fits with one of his campaign's major themes: the need for the next president to address the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots.
"The country as a whole may have put the aftermath of Katrina on the back burner, but Democratic activists will probably respond well to a candidate's emphasis on it both because it relates to race, class and poverty -- a Democratic staple, but also because it is a symbol of the failure of the Bush administration, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Edwards, a former one-term U.S. senator from North Carolina selected as John Kerry's vice presidential running mate in 2004, isn't the first national candidate to bypass the usual presidential announcement setting: the candidate's hometown, complete with adoring family, neighbors, teachers, ministers and a marching band. Kerry, who has indicated he might run again in 2008, announced his 2004 candidacy at Patriot's Point, S.C., to stress his war record.
But announcing in eastern New Orleans, one of the areas of the city hit hardest by Katrina, might have helped Edwards get more news coverage than a more traditional announcement. And as an underdog to the current Democratic front-runners, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, he might need the extra media boost.
Before Obama announced in November that he is considering a run for president, Edwards was widely seen as the Democrat with the best chance to challenge Clinton for the party's nomination. Now, Obama runs ahead of Edwards in recent polls.
Others may follow lead
Edwards' early discussions of Katrina could affect other campaigns, according to James Thurber, director of congressional and political studies at American University in Washington, D.C.
"The gap between the rich and poor as it relates to Katrina will certainly be on Edwards' agenda, and since it's on his agenda, other candidates may want to talk about it," Thurber said.
Leanne Doherty, a political scientist from Simmons College in Boston, said Katrina might also be a good issue for Clinton and Obama, who as candidates from the Northeast and Midwest, respectively, will be looking for ways to reach out to Southern voters without dealing with divisive issues like abortion, gay marriage and gun control that often spell problems for Democrats in the South.
After a Christmas trip to New Orleans to visit in-laws, Doherty said she thinks every presidential candidate should visit the city because it is the only way to fully appreciate how much still needs to be done for recovery.
Among Democrats, Edwards, Clinton and Obama all have visited the city. Among likely Republican candidates, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani have been to New Orleans since the storm, while Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have not.
Soothing 'a cultural sore'
During his campaign announcement, Edwards offered few specifics about how he would help New Orleans rebuild, other than saying that he would have demanded daily updates from his key staffers on progress in the days and weeks after the hurricane hit Aug. 29, 2005.
With or without specifics, there are pitfalls for a candidate putting so much emphasis on the poor, such as those who lost what little they had in Hurricane Katrina, said Bruce Altschuler, a political science professor at the State University of New York at Oswego.
"The issue of poverty hasn't resonated in the past and has not been the way to get nominated, even as a Democrat," Altschuler said. "Poor people tend not to vote in primaries."
But Bruce Gronbeck, a political scientist at the University of Iowa, said Katrina represents more than an issue about a city's recovery or the problems of the poor.
"I think that voters still care about Katrina -- especially for what Katrina stands for by now," Gronbeck said. "It's not just a natural disaster. It's a political disaster and a cultural sore."
Gronbeck noted that while Edwards declared his candidacy in an unconventional spot, he wasted little time traveling to Iowa, home of the first presidential caucus on Jan. 14, 2008.
. . . . . . .
Bruce Alpert can be reached at bruce.alpert@newhouse.com or (202) 383-7861.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/washington/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1167806681232110.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
Early focus could resonate in '08 race Wednesday, January 03, 2007
By Bruce AlpertWASHINGTON -- By announcing his presidential candidacy in New Orleans, John Edwards said he was trying to make two points: that the city's slow recovery highlights the "two Americas" of rich and poor that became the symbol of his first run for president in 2004, and that it is important for Americans not to just complain about problems but to "take action" as so many post-Katrina volunteers did.
How the setting for his presidential announcement will affect his candidacy and whether it will refocus national attention on the unfinished business of Katrina remains to be seen. But political pundits agree Katrina is a good issue for Edwards because it fits with one of his campaign's major themes: the need for the next president to address the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots.
"The country as a whole may have put the aftermath of Katrina on the back burner, but Democratic activists will probably respond well to a candidate's emphasis on it both because it relates to race, class and poverty -- a Democratic staple, but also because it is a symbol of the failure of the Bush administration, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Edwards, a former one-term U.S. senator from North Carolina selected as John Kerry's vice presidential running mate in 2004, isn't the first national candidate to bypass the usual presidential announcement setting: the candidate's hometown, complete with adoring family, neighbors, teachers, ministers and a marching band. Kerry, who has indicated he might run again in 2008, announced his 2004 candidacy at Patriot's Point, S.C., to stress his war record.
But announcing in eastern New Orleans, one of the areas of the city hit hardest by Katrina, might have helped Edwards get more news coverage than a more traditional announcement. And as an underdog to the current Democratic front-runners, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, he might need the extra media boost.
Before Obama announced in November that he is considering a run for president, Edwards was widely seen as the Democrat with the best chance to challenge Clinton for the party's nomination. Now, Obama runs ahead of Edwards in recent polls.
Others may follow lead
Edwards' early discussions of Katrina could affect other campaigns, according to James Thurber, director of congressional and political studies at American University in Washington, D.C.
"The gap between the rich and poor as it relates to Katrina will certainly be on Edwards' agenda, and since it's on his agenda, other candidates may want to talk about it," Thurber said.
Leanne Doherty, a political scientist from Simmons College in Boston, said Katrina might also be a good issue for Clinton and Obama, who as candidates from the Northeast and Midwest, respectively, will be looking for ways to reach out to Southern voters without dealing with divisive issues like abortion, gay marriage and gun control that often spell problems for Democrats in the South.
After a Christmas trip to New Orleans to visit in-laws, Doherty said she thinks every presidential candidate should visit the city because it is the only way to fully appreciate how much still needs to be done for recovery.
Among Democrats, Edwards, Clinton and Obama all have visited the city. Among likely Republican candidates, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani have been to New Orleans since the storm, while Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have not.
Soothing 'a cultural sore'
During his campaign announcement, Edwards offered few specifics about how he would help New Orleans rebuild, other than saying that he would have demanded daily updates from his key staffers on progress in the days and weeks after the hurricane hit Aug. 29, 2005.
With or without specifics, there are pitfalls for a candidate putting so much emphasis on the poor, such as those who lost what little they had in Hurricane Katrina, said Bruce Altschuler, a political science professor at the State University of New York at Oswego.
"The issue of poverty hasn't resonated in the past and has not been the way to get nominated, even as a Democrat," Altschuler said. "Poor people tend not to vote in primaries."
But Bruce Gronbeck, a political scientist at the University of Iowa, said Katrina represents more than an issue about a city's recovery or the problems of the poor.
"I think that voters still care about Katrina -- especially for what Katrina stands for by now," Gronbeck said. "It's not just a natural disaster. It's a political disaster and a cultural sore."
Gronbeck noted that while Edwards declared his candidacy in an unconventional spot, he wasted little time traveling to Iowa, home of the first presidential caucus on Jan. 14, 2008.
. . . . . . .
Bruce Alpert can be reached at bruce.alpert@newhouse.com or (202) 383-7861.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/washington/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1167806681232110.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
posted by presgore19 at 12:01 PM
<< Home