Rick's Cafe Americain

I may have been too quick in assuming that Kerry had the race sewn up.  John Edwards’ unexpectedly strong second place finish in Wisconsin has made this a race again.  Kerry is still the big favorite, but, in more than any other primary I know of, the key issue seems to be finding someone to beat Bush.  At the end of the day, while I don’t really like Edwards’ trade policy (anti-free trade), he might match up with Bush better than Kerry because he is younger, more attractive, more passionate and more engaging than Kerry and, perhaps most importantly, a southerner.  It is hard to see where any voter that would vote for Kerry over Bush would not also vote for Edwards, but it is easy to see that there might be voters, especially southerners distrustful of New England liberals, who would vote for Edwards but not Kerry. 

I should add, the one thing I have not mentioned (and what no one in the press seems to mention) is that Kerry probably will have access to a lot more money than Edwards.  That simple fact may alone counterbalance Edwards other favorables and make Kerry the more electable.