The Subtext of John Edwards

[wjsander]

I'm surprised none of the Clarkies have posted anything about this, but in the story that broke yesterday about Kerry's secretive meeting with Edwards, Edwards said after the meeting:


"Sen. Kerry has made clear that he wants that whole process to be quiet and confidential, which I think is the correct way to do it," Edwards told reporters during the day. "Because of that I'm silent."


An interesting way to put it. "Sen. Kerry has made clear that he wants that whole process to be quiet and confidential." He uses "that" which distances himself more from the VP process as opposed to "the whole process" or "this whole process".

By saying, "Because of that, I'm silent.", implies that he WOULD tell the reporters, but because Kerry doesn't want him to, he won't say. But if he were already the choice, he probably wouldn't want to tell the reporters until the time was right, ANYWAY. However, if he wasn't the choice, there would be nothing else stopping him from saying "Not me", than Kerry.

Did Kerry already tell Edwards "Thanks, but I'm going with someone else", or is it just the way Edwards speaks and I'm looking WAAAAY to into it?

For the story again, here is the link:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040622_1617.html

Tell me what you think. Keep in mind, I'm for Edwards, wouldn't mind Clark, and please no Gep. :(

[BootinUp]

1. I don't see anything there

to tell you the truth.

[TexasSissy]

5. Yeah, that's a stretch.

2. He's a lawyer

If he said "that" to convey the sense of a distance, he did it on purpose to convey a sense of distance whether or not such distance is true or not.
Lawyers and diplomats choose their words very carefully usually as a force of habit.
I don't think you'll know the answer to the question one way or the other really ever.

[chimpymustgo]

3. I found Edwards' wording a little odd, also, but I'm not sure I'd read

all that into it.

Also from the article:

-snip-

Leaders of the largest union in the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, overwhelmingly want him on the ticket, and the union's president, Andy Stern, said that in a straw poll of the union's executive board, 90 percent chose Edwards. The 1.6 million-member union endorsed Howard Dean in the primaries.

-snip-

[wjsander]

4. Oh yeah. I'm with you...

I think all signs point to Edwards. It SHOULD be Edwards.

I just hope Kerry hasn't made up his mind about someone else. :(

[mzmolly]

6. Sorry guys, but wouldn't Kerry have several other *secret* meetings also?

Wouldn't he have met with the other contenders?

[Doosh]

7. not much there...

The fact that Edwards was cheery coming out of the meeting and McCain referred to as VP tells me he's the guy, however stranger things have happened and it could all be one big bait and switch. I hope not.

[funky_bug]

8. I'm gonna say this as often as it takes

If you would stop baiting Clark supporters with comments like "I'm surprised the Clark supporters didn't jump on this" and "Clarkies, ready to go on offensive" or "Typical Clark supporter" then MAYBE, just maybe we wouldn't feel compelled to crash your party... on second thought, most every one of these spiteful little jabs is an open invitation to a flame war.

The people who are making these comments seriously need to grow up. If Edwards gets the nod, then you can all go around saying "Told you so" until you're blue in the face. But if he doesn't, you're all going to look like a bunch of boomin' arses. Karma is a bitch. You'd better hope she's not coming for you.

[wjsander]

9. Okay! Me too!

Well, don't make yourselves so easy to bait and there will probably be a lot less conflit.

It's a silly VP role. Lighten up! :+

[funky_bug]

10. Right - don't make yourselves so easy to bait

Kind of like, "don't walk through a war zone and we won't cut off your head..."

Nice reasoning.

[LuLu550]

11. Clark was on CNN yesterday and told Wolfie the same thing

in just about the same words. I think it is about time we stopped all this Edwards vs. Clark crap and all focused our attention where is belongs... on getting rid of the unelected fraud disaster monkey. It doesn't matter who the VP is, it is Kerry's pick. And I am sure he will find an appropriate spot in his administration for people like Edwards, Clark, Dean, Kucinich and all the rest....

[Jai4WKC08]

12. Sort of, but not exactly

I don't put much credence in the theory that it means anything, but Clark said yesterday, "Well, he has a confidential process, and I'm not going to speak about that."

IF there's anything to the thesis, which I doubt, Clark said A process, not THAT process. He did use the word "that," but not quite in the same context.

But I agree that the VP wars need to stop, or at least tone down, maybe turn academic. Soon enough, a whole lot of people here are gonna be disappointed and we still need to keep in mind we all want to see Kerry elected most of all. That's gonna require some sort of teamwork. If not here, out on the ground, and there are lots of both camps there too. I'd hate to see animosity here bleed over into the real world.

I don't think I've been the worst Edwards basher on DU, but I've done my share. Not unprovoked, but that's neither here nor there. I don't like Edwards, and I've said why. I do like Clark, and I'm still convinced he will be VP. But it really is irrelevent at this point.

I'll continue to defend Clark if he's attacked. I'll defend other Clarkies if they're attacked too, if it seems warranted. And it's just a fact that many of my opinions on other election issues are colored by things Clark has said and done, and I will bring those up as I see appropriate.

But I'm gonna sincerely try to behave myself with regards to JE.

[Gloria]

13. The ABC report said that it was "spur of the moment" and emphasized

the brevity of the meeting. And said it wasn't a full fledged interview.

ALso, Kerry was surprised to see the press, consulted with aides, and then requested he wanted no photos of him and Edwards taken....

No subtext to this on the fly meeting...............