Chris, two words: Culinary Union. Learn it, live it.

Seriously, try to get a fix on what is really happening in Nevada.

My cat Schlossi is very psychic. He saw Edward's picture in the paper and proceeded to cover it with kitty litter. He had a Garfield-like smirk on his face and was very pleased with himself. He once saw HIlliary on CNN and let out a horrible howl! Animals seem to sense disasters in the making.

Nevada looked like it was going to mean something as recently as a few months ago but so many other states have moved up their primaries that any number of states could now serve the same role that NV was supposed to.

The latest poll I've seen out of New Hampshire has Edwards in first place at 30% with Hillary trailing in second with 22%. If Edwards maintains that lead and wins NH, he'll likely emerge as the 'stop Hillary' candidate. That is provided that Obama does not win Iowa. If Clinton loses Iowa and NH then she'll be written off as a fallen giant and you're looking at a long slog between Edwards and Obama. Fun times.

Blarg
I never said Hillary was a liberal, but much of her voting base is. She takes money from corps., but her donor records also include some heavy-weight progressives. Edwards and other candidates pick out a few splinter fringe voters, but Edwards had no shot at the nomination by appealing to the fringe. (Maybe he had no shot at the nomination no matter what he did, but the strategy he followed clearly has not worked.) The Edwards supporters that I know are moderates that are now ex-Edwards supporters because he swung so far left.

When is the NC Senate filing deadline?

Edwards is successful at being a trial lawyer, and at being a hypocrite. Nothing else.

"Francois de La Rochefoucauld had a point when he said, in his frequently quoted formulation, that hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue. In the case of John Edwards, however, hypocrisy is simply a way of life.

The infamous $400 haircut -- actually, some of his hairstyling sessions ran as much as $1,200 all told -- wasn't a freak embarrassment for a candidate so self-righteously devoted to the poor. It was part of a pattern so pervasive that it has become the defining aspect of Edwards's candidacy.

When he lambasted hedge funds for incorporating offshore to avoid or delay paying U.S. taxes, what could be more natural than that he made nearly $500,000 for part-time work at the Fortress Investment Group, with hedge funds incorporated in the Cayman Islands for tax purposes?

When he hit other candidates for taking donations from Rupert Murdoch's media holdings, wasn't it inevitable that it would turn out he had taken $800,000 from Murdoch's HarperCollins for a coffee-table book?

Or when he attacked subprime lenders for foreclosing on victims of Hurricane Katrina, he would have $16 million -- half of his net worth -- invested in Fortress while it was foreclosing on a couple dozen homes in New Orleans?

Most of us uphold ideals that we can't meet, but liberal populism shouldn't be such an impossible standard.

The late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, a liberal populist to his core, never had such embarrassments. The former North Carolina senator is experiencing a kind of toxic shock from his synthetic political persona. "

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmZhMTI4ODQwMDVjZDY3MTdlM2E1MjYwZDJmZWRiOTM=

Someone tell the one-term-wonder ego-tripping Cornpone Narcissus the wife's absurd swipes at Ankleless Annie and B.O. have fallen flat. Both he & the wife have obviously inhaled too much exhaust from chasing too many ambulances up close. And he STILL parts his hair on the wrong side!

Actually, Edwards has been very successful at "out-lefting" Hillary. If you look at left-wing sites, progressive Democrats support Edwards far more than they support Hillary. This hasn't translated to much money or good poll numbers, because the left isn't especially powerful, and it's split among many candidates.

Hillary isn't vulnerable among moderates. That's her constituency. She's a standard centrist corporate Democrat for the most part. She offers nothing new for the Democratic Party. Only a Republican would call her a liberal.

The Edwards campaign has suffered more from a poor strategy than the image problem he will have to overcome as a somewhat feminine looking rich guy trying to be an advocate for the poor. He was never going to be able to out-left Hillary no matter how strongly he opposes the war or wants to expand access to welfare programs. Hillary's support runs too deep. While some of the anti-war crowd is looking at other candidates, Hillary has a broad swath of base support that will be impossible to whittle away. Rather than going after the base, Edwards one shot at the nomination was to appeal to independents and moderates, where Hillary is vulnerable. If his campaign is based on his gut, then bravo. McCain & Edwards can throw a "We ran a campaign from the gut" party while Hillary or Giuliani/Romney are sitting in the White House.

Stuart Rothenberg thinks Ron Paul should get out of the presidential race, despite the fact that he convincingly won two straw polls this past weekend in New Hampshire and Alabama. Paul garnered more than 80% of the vote in each of those straw polls. I now have a prediction for the Texas straw poll on September 1: Paul will pound his opponents into submission with an overwhelming display of shock and awe! Remember where you heard it first.

http://commenterry.blogs.com

Ah, tin foil hats have returned to the Fix after a long period free from tin foil hats. One of the eternal cycles of nature.

Note on the world loving (or hating) Bill and/or Hillary: Hillary is not the same as Bill. The world is smart enough to clue in on that.

"That Democrats pay attention to what this guy says & try to figure out what Machiavellian games he's trying to play is indicative of their vast potential to blow a golden opportunity.

To the Democratic Primary voters, pundits and party 'leadership': pay no attention to Mr Rove. Trying to pick the best candidate based on who you think he 'fears' most is about the most idiotic thing you could do - and certainly gives credence to Republican claims that you can't think for yourselves. "
- bsimon, last night

Too well said not to be the first post of the morning.

I do not discuss, I herd. Breaking habit for this once, your piece does not leave many openings--let me simply say that perhaps the "poor" in Edwards' "Two Americas" are simply the hopeless, the desperate and the disaffected. If you are not worrying about your employment, housing or health AND you do not care about those who do, you are probably one of the "rich."

Um, this just in from the Las Vegas Gleaner:

Political insider obtains exclusive five-day-old AP story

Some guy who actually gets paid to blog, and for the Washington Post no less, reported Monday that "less than a week" after the John Edwards campaign announced it was moving staff out of Nevada, there is "more bad news for Edwards" in the state.

Preston Elliott, who had been serving as Edwards' field director in Nevada, is leaving that post to become the deputy political director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to an e-mail forwarded to The Fix.

Say, that is more bad news. Or it would be. If it hadn't been reported by the AP last Wednesday in the initial stories about Edwards moving staff to Iowa.

ALdem writes
"About Rove: note how he states he and fellow Republicans feel Clinton is the inevitable nominee. Then note he doesn't say who he or fellow Republicans fear the most--although that question is in one of their top surveys."

That Democrats pay attention to what this guy says & try to figure out what Machiavellian games he's trying to play is indicative of their vast potential to blow a golden opportunity.

To the Democratic Primary voters, pundits and party 'leadership': pay no attention to Mr Rove. Trying to pick the best candidate based on who you think he 'fears' most is about the most idiotic thing you could do - and certainly gives credence to Republican claims that you can't think for yourselves.

Instead, is it really that hard to decide for yourselves what your values are and find the candidate that best reflects them?

Here in MN, Paul Wellstone went to the Senate not because MN is an ultraliberal state, but because he was passionate about what he believed. He wasn't just telling voters what they wanted to hear, he told them what he wanted to say. People like me voted for him not because we liked all his policy proposals, but because we trusted him.

Go and find that kind of candidate & nominate him or her for the Presidency & you'll have some success. Nominate the same kind of garbage you've been putting up lately and don't be surprised if, once again, the GOP finds a way to find that 50.0001% of the vote in a key state & you're left scratching your heads.

John Edwards's horizons seem to be narrowing and he is increasingly putting all his eggs in the Iowa basket. This is risky, to be sure. If he does not win there he has lost the nomination because his standing in the other early primary states is a distant third behind Clinton and Obama, either of whom could suffer a loss in Iowa and still be very much in the game. But because Edwards cannot outspend them, perhaps he feels Iowa is do-or-die.

If you want to know how the Democrat candidates stand on issues, go to the horse's mouth: check out their websites and see what you can find in black and white without a middleman trying to nudge you his way. Those websites are vastly different and should help you chose or reinforce your choice.

About Rove: note how he states he and fellow Republicans feel Clinton is the inevitable nominee. Then note he doesn't say who he or fellow Republicans fear the most--although that question is in one of their top surveys.

this isn't a news flash, the AP reported it maybe 7 days ago - about the same time as the others were announced.

Zookeepress, so what do you think about this post? Let's you and I have a reasoned discussion.

I was never much of a John Edwards fan myself, though the photo op when Kerry first announced his selection of him as running mate looked very Kennedy-esque. I didn't even mind him being a trial lawyer; in fact, I thought it would make him a hell of a debater. But paying closer attention to him this time around has made me uncomfortable with the idea of him getting the nomination. Suddenly the "Two Americas" theme makes me uneasy. I lead about as middle class an existence as one can possibly have, and I can't help but wonder where I fall in his two Americas. I'm not rich and my health insurance bill makes me gasp every month, but since I can make the bill for now, which America do I live in? The poor? I don't think I'm poor, but I'm certainly not one of the rich. I could never imagine paying $400 for a haircut. Hell, I cringe every time I have to fork over the $75 to my hairstylist in San Francisco, so I wear my hair long so I don't have to go as often.

I spend a lot of time visiting family and friends in Nevada, and most of the people in Nevada work for a living. Many moved there because of jobs, the cost of living, or to escape the cold. Perhaps the reason that Edwards hasn't resonated there is because in general, the casino workers feel fairly treated. They, after all, have health insurance and steady paychecks.

The only other possibility is that so many Nevadans are former Californians who like Hillary Clinton.

Please ignore Zouk/Trotsky and the cadre of anonymous posters.

Responding to them in any way just encourages them--just like a petulant child as someone observed earlier.

They will never concede losing the argument and hence "debating" them is futile.

Without the encouragement, they will go away and we can all enjoy a better discussion.

It's like those little bedbugs who you can never find, but as soon as you stop trying and pick up your book, or start watching TV, or - god forbid - try to go to sleep, yow! There they are again.
Maybe we should have Iraq dry-cleaned.

"Just because we're not finding them doesn't mean they're not there," says Major Alayne Conway of the dread Iranian infiltrators. By the same token, of course, maybe the insurgency is being fueled by Martians or Venezuelan space terrorists -- after all, just because we're not finding them doesn't mean they're not there.

Foreign Policy and the Center for American Progress have published their third bi-annual Terrorism Index. "In the third Terrorism Index, more than 100 of America's most respected foreign-policy experts see a world that is growing more dangerous, a national security strategy in disrepair, and a war in Iraq that is alarmingly off course."

...another plan to rid the world of kingofzouk, aha aha and it works master, and if this works and we keep it up we can be rid of the hillary clinton crowd soon. the steps, monster hord, firs we steal their tinfoil hats, then expose them to cleavage....aha aha aha cleeeeeaavage....then bus their chops....hahahahahaha

Anon, There could be an argument made that it was because Gore didn't call on Clinton and his political skills that he lost, along with a boost from the Supremes.

That aside, why is lying about a sexapade worse than lying to get the country into a war costing thousands of lives and a half a trillion dollars?

I'm not voting for Hillary either, but when it comes to lying, insiders and plain abuse of the Constitution, Bush and his bully boys have no equal.

BTW, I also like Biden, Gore isn't running and still looking at the rest of the field.

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

...it's our plan. we ran against kerry in 2004, early on, and ensured that the lemmings would nominate him instead of edwards who we feared. now we'll run against hillary and ensure she is the nominee and the stupid lemmings will scratch their heads and wonder whazzup and rant about sexism. we suppose the dem's will be reduced to whining for equal representation to elected offices. it'll take that before this looser ever occupies the white house. sponge bob has better prospects than another clinton.

It was fun while it lasted but now IC has come on to ruin the site again. buh bye.

Chris, you're looking pretty silly.

Its clear you have no sources in the state, so I don't imagine too many people are going to take seriously what you write here about NV any more.

I am having trouble sorting out the voices in my head today. Darn tin foil hat has lost the frequency. who am I again?

they haven't won a single race ever. anger and vitriol never do.

but that's all i have, so i'll stay on here every day all day long spewing it. and lies of course, lots of lies and propaganda.

you Libs deserve your moonbats -for allowing them to come this far unchallenged. now you are stuck with them. hope you like losing another election. should have stuck with the DLC and its winning ways. but no - instead you go with scremin dean and the loonies. they are about to turn on you and hand the election to Rudy without a fight. but you are the ones accepting hillary and reid.

they haven't won a single race ever. anger and vitriol never do.

If Edwards gets the Culinary Union, all this August staffer talk for naught. Even a six day old "scoop" by Cillizza (do a google search on the oppo research you're fed next time).

John Edwards really is the best candidate and will be a great president.
Our entire family is supporting him - even the Republicans.

Fox News and National Review talking heads are affirming Hillary - knowing she's sold her $oul to Murdoch and will continue his rightwing media consolidation - which she supports.
Hillary supporters have often complained about the media's compliance with BushCo - yet condone the Clinton-Murdoch merger.
Hmmm...

The sheep aren't confined to Bush supporters.

...obama, edwards, biden, gore.... just can't hypocrits and insiders like hillary. as for bill, i always thought he was a lying turd, too. for those with short memories, bush won because the voting public thought of gore and clinton...together, and could imagine putting up with aother four years of lies, half truths, and some stinking baffoon in the whitehouse. in other words, 'tooth hunter', it took goertge bush to make bill look good. i betcha, one year into hillary's reign, people will pine away for the good ol' bush years.

(former) Rep. LaGrotta - exactly!
John Edwards has the best plans and solutions for the middle class!

However, Rupert Murdoch and his slime machine are funding Hillary's campaign and attacking Edwards for her.

Hillary/Murdoch08

Please remember to ignore the trolls.

Posted by: Zookeepress

Is it possible to ignore yourself?

Anon or "Cheap Shot," Sorry, but you couldn't be more wrong about the view of the "rest of the known world" about Clinton, especially Bill. The world loves him, and that's a fact.

It's The Decider that the world "hates." Get a grip.

It's only the GOP chew-em'-up-and-spit-em'-out machine that "hates" him, and Hillary by extension.

At least they kept their marriage together, more than many of the GOP candidates can claim.

Since you "hate" Hillary, just which candidate(s) do you love?

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

truth - he is one of yours. now he is so far out there even Libs have had it.

Truth misser.....I'm not a Republican, just another Clinton hater, along with about half of the rest of the known world.

Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) was involved in an altercation last night at Dulles Airport. He was allegedly angered by the amount of time it was taking to get his luggage and tried to push his way through the United Airlines baggage claim office. The release below is from The Washington Area Airports Authority. (Snip) The individual allegedly attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only, pushed aside the employee's outstretched arm and refused to leave the area when asked by an airline employee.

Anon, The Hillary "Birds of a feather," comment is so GOP character assassinationish.... you really should sign your posts "Cheap Shot."

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

...in answer to the endorsements, Hillary Clinton exhibits more cleavage. The newa nnounced campaign sloagan - "Hillary or bust"!

...and worse yet, Nevada's legalized protitutes, along with Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss and porn star Jenna Jameson, have all announced their support for Hillary Clinton. Oh well, birds of a feather.....

CC says that Edwards visited NV more than any other candidate.... here I thought Richardson had said he was going to almost camp out there.

Perhaps the loss of interest by Edwards has more to do with Nevada's early primary standings being aced by Michigan, and rather than chase labor and the few delegates in NV, Michigan is richer mining.

Harry Reid's maneuvering aside, there's no there, there in NV.

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

I am a Democrat from Western PA. I spent 20 years in the State House of Representatives and I am confident that if John Edwards can raise the money necessary to get his message out, it will resonate with the voters.
It is everything all at once...Iraq, high gas prices, recent mortgage foreclosures and the higher interest rates that have resulted, out-of-control health care costs (for people who can afford health care at all, that is); everything seems to suddenly have coalesced to form a perfect storm of populism; a storm that Edwards' message feeds like warm sea water feeds a hurricane.
I have been in politics for many years and have never seen people in western PA or eastern Ohio - two areas critically important the 2008 Democratic nominee - so repulsed by politics as usual - the political spin spewed by the "stay-on-message" candidates who never answer the questions people ask.
I truly believe we're in uncharted waters here...and John Edwards is getting a lot of positive attention from the people I represented for 20 years both Democrats AND Republicans.

you are signing your posts now with your best moniker yet - idiot. But its supposed to go in the little box labled "name", not at the bottom of your text.

I like your new name idiot - fits you like a glove.

all the GOP candidates are "keepin' it real."

LOL. Idiot.

No its not. he is pulling out of NV because he won't be around after NH and IA. his phoniness is disgusting.

It's fun to try to throw dirt on John Edwards (apparently). It's going to take a lot more than that.

Plenty of Iowans are paying attention, sorry little troll.

Ms coulter, can you please insult me again so someone, anyone will pay attention to me. I will be over here hiding behind my wife's skirt.

flush the John, there's something floating in it that looks dead.