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March 23, 2008

How To Be A Party Elder

Says an unnamed former Edwards operative about the possibility of an endorsement:

"My gut instinct, at this point: He’s probably going to remain neutral and sort of try to play on that Al Gore status as party elder."

The above-the-fray thing is a perfectly reasonable position for a party elder while the nomination is still in doubt.  But very soon (perhaps now) it won't be.  If one candidate's only plan for winning is to cause enough chaos to raise questions about the legitimacy of the nomination, it's proper for party elders to avert such a disastrous outcome.  If you care about the party, that's the proper thing to do.  And as many people have convincingly argued, that's what things look like for the Clinton campaign at this point. 

Comments

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I have trouble thinking of Edwards as an "elder."

But he isn't using party elder status to influence the election, he's using the election to try to attain 'party elder' status.

Me too.

What I'd kinda like to see Edwards do, actually, is jump back into the race. Sure, he can't win, but neither can the other two without some help.

This would be useful in a few ways:

1) Clinton wouldn't be the automatic beneficiary of the 'anyone but Obama' vote. (And vice versa.)

2) It would give Edwards more say in the ultimate choice of nominee.

3) If the superdelegates concluded that both Clinton and Obama were toxic, it would make the argument for Edwards as an alternative to both.

When did Edwards become a party elder? Is he even a superdelegate? He already implicitly endorsed Obama by dropping out of the race before Super Tuesday. That was crucial in helping Barack consolidate the "anybody but Clinton" vote and go on his February winning streak. If Edwards endorses Clinton now, he would become a joke since she represents everything he was running against. It would be hard to avoid the assumption that he did so in return for a position in her administration or even on her ticket. If he endorses Obama, that would be nice but I doubt it would sway many voters.

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