In early April, New Hampshire Democrats were all over the place. The front-runners -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York; Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois; and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina -- were closely matched. Clinton was at 27 percent, Edwards was at 21 percent and Obama was at 20 percent. It was essentially a jump ball.
Who jumped highest after the debate? Clinton. According to a new CNN/WMUR poll of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters released Monday, the New York senator has surged into the lead, with 36 percent support. Obama has held fairly steady at 22 percent, while Edwards has lost support. He's now at 12 percent.
The reason why this dramatic change in polls happened is simple. Hillary refused to engage in any in fighting or verbal wrestling matches with the other candidates. She constantly reminded the audience that the enemy was George Bush. And she is right.
And the person who handed this victory to her was none other then my pick to be President, John Edwards. Edwards decided that he needed to demonstrate his greater then thou integrity by calling both Obama and Clinton on their delay in voting against the Iraq budget.
John made an ignorant mistake. He is campaigning the way that candidates campaigned in the old days. But these are not the old days. The American people are beyond tired of mud slinging, attack ads, and character assassinations. John was too aggressive. Hillary was talking like a peacemaker. It is as simple as that.
John may have truly screwed himself. And if he uses those same tactics in the future I can guarantee that he can kiss this candidacy goodbye.
I don't care who wins at this point. I don't like any of them. They are all corporate shills.
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