Announce Already So We Can Ignore You Again!

Even when our corporate media gives reasonably decent treatment to John Edwards, it still can’t help but work in the whole “hedge fund/fancy home/haircut” nonsense as “factors which undercut his populist message,” or some such nonsense, as Jay Newton-Small does here (as opposed to our media saying, “Has it occurred to anyone that emphasizing this stuff instead of a candidate’s position on the issues – or even giving him a bare minimum of coverage versus the other candidates – is utterly ridiculous?).

I know this is all water under the proverbial bridge, but now, it seems that our intrepid Time correspondent is blaming Edwards even though he isn’t even in the race any more (no end to this stuff, I swear).

You see, the problem for Edwards at one time is that he didn’t take what some thought to be an honorable course and leave the race fast enough for their linking. Now, he’s getting blamed because he hasn’t endorsed either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama already!

Yes, if anyone had any doubt that “the silly season” has arrived…

Myself, I think Edwards is playing this exactly the right way. Why on earth should he rush into an endorsement (I once chided Patrick Murphy for endorsing Obama as early as he did, but he looks like a genius for that now; I guess that’s why he’s serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and I’m a filthy, unkempt liberal blogger).

All during the campaign, Edwards gravitated more towards Obama than Clinton, so for that reason primarily, I would be utterly shocked if he endorsed Clinton. And as far as Obama goes, he doesn’t even need Edwards’ endorsement, given his fundraising and delegate count considering his recent string of primary wins. Yes, Edwards could take some older, mainly white union voters who might gravitate towards HRC and hand them to Obama, but I don’t think it would be enough to turn the race either way.

But the “media beast” must be fed, of course, so individuals such as Jay Newton-Small must chide Edwards for not acting with speed one way or the other.

So just for that, if I were Edwards, I would just sit back, let the campaign continue to play out in a favorable manner for Obama, and not say anything at all just to spite our corporate media, thus getting the last laugh after all.

(Seriously, if Obama gets both Texas and Ohio, I think you can pretty much book an Edwards endorsement, for however much it matters.)

Update 3/6/08: Two things - 1) You just found out why I don't pass myself off as a pundit, really (re: the above item in parens - HRC won both), and 2) I'm sure Small is the match keeper, as it were (here).