Sweet Surrender: When Candidates Pull Out

It's happened again. You couldn't miss it. John Edwards appears before a small crowd back in New Orleans where he began his presidential campaign and withdraws from the race. And, as if released from a puppeteer's string, his right hand is no longer jabbing the air. In addition, his fingers no longer look as if they are gripping a four-seam fastball. Free of these affectations, components of an always-inadvisable homage to John F. Kennedy, Edwards is able to use his arms to lean comfortably on the podium - such a small thing, but it seems to deliver him to connectivity. He delivers his words with inflections entirely absent over the past year. It is, quite simply, a miraculous transformation and allows his concern for the "voiceless" - this "cause of my life" which always rang hollow because it seemed plucked from a multiple-choice playbook, the same playbook that contained the jabbing hand - to ring honest and true.

This is not the first time a Democratic candidate has found his mojo only after leaving the race. Examples include the vanquished Ted Kennedy delivering his "the dream shall never die" speech at the Democratic Convention in 1980 and Bill Bradley's quite personable, almost elegant address at the convention in 2000. More importantly, there are the candidates who won the nomination, but lost in the general election. Fritz Mondale in '84 and Michael Dukakis in '88, both men completely ill at ease for the entirety of their campaigns, but both holding press conferences the day after being trounced that were downright touchy-feely. And finally, the most frustrating example, Al Gore's concession chat with the nation after the Supreme Court decision. Humorous, human, no confusion as to whether to wear a flannel shirt or a tube top. Here was a guy you'd have a beer with even if it was just a quick one. If Fritz, Mike and Al could have spoken with conviction driven by empathy instead of by ambition on the days leading up to Election Day rather than on the day after, by now we'd be living in a Communist country.

But this pattern - call it "Presidential Campaign Withdrawal Syndrome" - is about more than physical affect or being obsessed by the prize. It speaks to the timid campaign manual of the Democratic Party's standard bearers in not just how they talk, but what they say. What is the intersection of the two? Do these candidates lose their way because of the natural discomfort of being relentlessly observed, examined and prodded, evidenced this week by a possible snub that was kept alive for more news cycles than the Enron scandal?

Or, is it in some part the result of refusing to espouse the positions you once believed in, back before focus groups, poll data and triangulating made you faint of heart. Before, as the Colonel said in "Meet John Doe," the "the hee-lots" got you. Would Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton like to say, "I support the national gun licensing plan and, if elected president, I will use the 'bully pulpit' to campaign for it, regardless of the NRA's chokehold on legislators," instead of, respectively, "Yes, I've backed off that" and "I don't think we can get that done"? Hold your tongue long enough and you forget how to speak.

Are there some left of center views that would put Obama and Clinton outside the mainstream of the Democratic Party? Yes. Views that would be unacceptable to the powers that be? Absolutely. But just for arguments sake, where would the Democratic Party be if it climbed out on a limb. It's more than just the noble idea of a leader rousing the citizenry. It might be a winning strategy. Be the "Massachusetts Liberal" in advance of being called one. A possibly counter-intuitive plan of leading with your weaknesses to pre-empt the Swift Boating to come.

And, the courage to speak of unpopular positions would give a candidate bona fides whether the original position is agreed with or not. "Did he really say that about this? Well, than he must be serious when he says this about that." It's what has worked for John McCain. For the most part he has put the Straight Talk Express up on cinderblocks, but even the memory of his obstreperousness continues to warm hearts. "Well, I don't agree with him, but at least I know where he stands." "Well sure," you answer, "but you could say the same for Mussolini." But to no avail. Or Mike Huckabee. Here's a guy who speaks of his concern for the little guy and you believe him because he's so sincere about his appalling lack of concern for women, non-theists or the gay guy.

Of course, with the White House so tantalizingly within reach, maybe this year it would be best to stick with the usual plan of only going with what's safe. After all, it's a time-tested losing strategy.

Comments

[Mariel]

I was depressed by his exit. The end of something important in my life. I will probably not vote again. Those who say it's fixed by the corporate elite may be right. I can't say for sure, as I'm not a member of the corporate elite. They conceal what they do.

Those who think we Christians will knee-jerk vote Republican are wrong. Some will, but probably the majority will refrain. I have letter after letter saying they are all bums.

Was Lou Dobbs right? Maybe.

[Cathexis]

I disagree that Edwards "found his mojo" after he pulled out.

It seems to me that the Press and those factions who ferverently support the other two candidates were finally able to relax and listen to his consistent message ... but only now, that he is not a "threat" or competitor to the other two.

[Sundialsvc4]

As I have said before, I see no candidates here.

What we have is, as you said, a puppet show. It's a show that the media loves to put on, because it nets them hundreds of millions of dollars. Pollsters love them for the same reason.

What we need in this country is a group of candidates, for both Houses of Congress and the White House, that is not affiliated with any political party now existing, and that has about $10 Billion to spend -- which it would spend on the Internet.

We badly need leadership, and as any CEO or board-member knows, you don't get there because you only make popular decisions and say nothing.

We're going to get .. a wheezing war-hawk, "a white woman," and "a black man," and oh yes, Britney Spears. Every one of them debasing themselves.

[sufi0828]

I was life-long Democrat who supported Edwards. He didn't seem contrived to me, unlike today's Democratic party, which (for instance) failed to extend unemployment benefits to the truly needy, thanks to Pelosi and Reid.

I expect the Republicans to hurt the needy, not the Democrats.

I will always support a third party now.

Bye Nancy, Bye Harry!

And bye Obama and Hillary because both of you won't dare to raise hell over the issue. You don't want to rock the boat even when many are being thrown off a cliff.

[CatfishJohn]

..let me get this straight...soem kind of praiseworthy change in body language has freed john edwards inner-mojo, now that he uis no longer a threat to the plutcratic corproate zeitgeist? and the sincerity of his tone when leaving the race frees him...to what? ...be the real, valuable libeal democrat he is instead of the only truly liberal democrat in the race that the corporate meida ignored/ma­rgianlized as outside their criteria of corprate moderate vs. corproate right that is THEIR IMPLICIT BUT OVERRIDING AGENDA in defining a candidates legitimacy? what was once mainstream american politics in the trajectory of fdr's new deal to johnson great society initatives whcih edwards candidacy essentially was an extension of is now too far to the left outside of mainstream american politics as dicated by the corprate media.....so suddenly edwards is legitimate and genuine now that he is safely out of the race...good lord- with oblivious essayssts like this writing at ostensibly liberal sites liek the huff post, we are all in for it...whats next, praise for hillary's body language as a best of compilation of maggie thatcher, golda meir and barbara jordan ????

[LunaLea]

I've never voted for a democrat before. I wanted to vote for John Edwards, but I can't now. I'm so desperate to vote for a Democrat that if the ticket is Clinton/Obama maybe I still will. But I still don't understand why the Demos let the best candidate get away. Can anyone explain it to me and all the other Republicans who WANTED to vote Demo, but you took away our candidate?

[boaz16]

I thought Edwards did give a good valedictory, and did seem relieved, and also not a little torn over whether it was the right decision. But Edwards was not a cadnidate restrained by poll tested excercises. He didn't even employ a speechwriter. While you may have found him insincere over the course of the campaign, many of us did not. Mostly, Edwards campaign failed not because of an overuse of hand gestures bt an nder use of brain cells by media both big and small. In a related development, you butchered your own point by trying to cram Edwards in there and trying to make the shedding of burden/good speech phenomenon an indictment of restrained politicians (Edwards was never that in this campaign).

[Rosanneofpgh]

Bite me, solomon.

[research]

Ain't it weird how when the MSM won't cover a candidate they are pretty much forced out? Only then do the MSM report on them. Also weird how supposedly small independent media outlets seem to follow the MSM lead.

[IntrepidReader]

OMG, Barack Obama practically calls himself the lost Kennedy and you call out Edwards for "copying"? Wow.

I have no idea what candidate you were looking at but it wasn't John Edwards. What a bizarre article.

[factanonverba]

Your an idiot. He had his "mojo" all along. You just didn't notice, or didn't cover him, or just wrote about his haircut or about his home. You never talked about poverty, universal healthcare or his energy proposals. You called him a phony or a hypocrite. And now you want me to believe that he found his voice once he's been silenced. It's more like you opened your eyes and perked your ears. You were blind and deaf and suddenly you're cured. Please as an Edwards supporter don't insult my intelligence.

But now that he's gone he is a saint. Well use those religious metaphors, to me he was the Messiah. Maybe he'll rise again.

http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2008/01/why_john_edward.html

[pithy]

Jonathan Solomon apparently knows very little about John Edwards and his campaign.

Edwards was the only fearless one out there, able to stab his finger in the air and passionately declare that he was not going to sit down and negotiate with an insurance industry that callously denies actual LIFE to Ameican citizens and rewards their employees with bonuses because they sit diligently in their cubicles and garner high "denied" ratios.

Edwards had the courage to be ANGRY at the namby-pamby, witless Democrats in Congress who don't have the balls to stand up to anything the Republicans throw at them.

He was ferocious about the corporate tentacles wrapping relentlessly around our lives and the momentous, obscene greed loose in the halls of power.

Edwards' last speech was as edifying, passionate and true to his beliefs as was his first speech 13 months ago.

I sincerly hope we see John Edwards again, in the role of Attorney General. Seeing him sworn in, and watching the rats run for cover, would be a moment to savor.

In the meantime, Edwards will still get my vote on Tuesday. At least once in my life, I want to vote for somebody who truly spoke for me.

[UNCLEJOE]

"If Obama is nominated he will lose the General election; If Hillary wins the nomination, America loses one way or the other.
I will not vote for stigmata warmonger Hillary even if she were running aginst Attila the Hun.
I'd write-in Kucinich and Edwards. The Democratic Party is rigged by the Neo Cons, let's face reality.

I believe this elerction will be a Change. A Change from an apathetic America to an Activist rebellious America, as soon as this 1929 depression hits us right after Bush leaves office in January 2009 so that the Democratic Party will be blamed for losing the war and throwing America into it's worst depression in our history with the dollar being replaced for the pricing of Arab oil." Nostrodamus

[LeftRight]

This is the reason that we need a national primary day. If they had all been campaigning in all the states, I would still be able to vote for either my first or second choices-Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards. Now I'm stuck with which one I disagree with least, and right now I don't know which one to choose. This sucks!

[paixa3]

As an DEDEPENDENT, I was saddened by his exit.

I hope he will continue to serve. The world DOES NEED people like him, Gore, Gates, Buffet, et al.

I will be supporting him in the future to help make the world a better PLACE TO LIVE.

Peace, agape.