Edwards Leads The 'Stop Hillary' Charge

By Lee Bandy
SouthCarolina Insider

(11/16/07) In a sign of the increasingly bitter feud between the leading Democratic presidential contenders, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has stepped up his attacks on frontrunner U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and challenged his colleagues to do the same.

The goal is to “stop Hillary.”

On a recent visit to South Carolina, Edwards complained that Clinton was getting a free ride because of her celebrity status, being married to former President Bill Clinton.

“She’s riding that wave right now,” Edwards said in an interview. But that’s subject to change, he added.

Clinton leads in the national polls, holding a 20 to 30 percent lead over her nearest rivals – U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of
Illinois and Edwards.

The contests in the early voting states – Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – are much tighter.

“The primary gives voters an opportunity to see what their choices are and for me to be able to talk about the importance of having a president who is trustworthy, and who believes we need to change to a system that works,” Edwards said.

An obvious barb aimed directly at Clinton.

Well, how do you stop Hillary?

“You make it clear that primary-caucus voters are going to decide between maintaining the status quo and change. And I think Democratic primary voters will choose change,” Edwards asserted.

And for those voters who think Clinton has got it all sewed up, they might be surprised.

Four years ago, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, easily the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, was running away with it at this point. Then all hell broke loose. Dean stumbled and his candidacy went into a nose dive and never recovered.

“I’ve been through this before,” Edwards said. “Once you get through this superficiality thing people start actually paying attention to the details. That’s when the tough judgments get made by the voters. I think that’s going to happen again.”

Surveys show voters are just starting to make up their minds. There’s a huge undecided group of voters out there. Some surveys show that as many as 90 percent are not committed to anyone yet.

“I don’t think most voters have decided yet,” Edwards said.

In the Philadelphia debate a couple of weeks ago, candidates began to challenge Clinton and question her electability.

“I think she needs to be held to the same standard that everyone else is, good or bad,” Edwards said.

But the question remains. How does one stop Clinton. Can she be stopped?

“Oh yeah, she can be stopped,” Edwards replied. “You saw a sign of that at the Philadelphia debate” where candidates began to challenge her on various and sundry issues.

Edwards adopted a very aggressive stanch that night. The old trial lawyer came out as he questioned Clinton and challenged her statements. He went for the jugular.

Clinton protested, claiming the male candidates were all ganging up on her. She said they were, “piling on.”

Edwards retorted, “that’s just spin.”

Polls nationally have shown that Clinton is not well liked by voters, that she would have a difficult time getting elected.

In Iowa, voters were recently asked to name candidates who were best described as being honest.

Clinton scored in the single digits.

A follow-up question was asked. Who best describes “conniving, deceiving, and manipulative.”

Clinton walked off with the honors.

That’s her Achilles heel. That’s what voters think of her.

If this is all true, then why does she do so well in the horse race polls?

Voters think she’s going to win. That’s why.

If Clinton loses a primary, the whole election shifts.

She is not like her husband. People like Bill Clinton. Polls show him with a 70-plus percent favorability rating among people.

Remember New Hampshire in 1992. Presidential candidate Clinton got in trouble with that woman, Gennifer Flowers. He survived it and became known as the “comeback kid.”

People liked him. It’s different with her.

If she loses somewhere in this primary season, it’ll be curtains for her.

But she must lose somewhere.

Iowa looks like the best place to knock her out of the race.

If she loses Iowa, she won’t be the nominee, party officials say.

Where has Obama been in all this. He has been a disappointment to the Clinton detractors who had counted on him to lead the way in challenging her.

He did it a little bit in the Philadelphia debate, but he appeared extremely uncomfortable doing it.

May be he doesn’t want to say or do anything that could hurt his chances of being selected as her running mate.

If Clinton is going to be stopped, it looks as if Edwards will have to lead the way.