John Edwards Does Better?

Okay, so how can we get John Edwards to do better in the 2008 campaign?
 
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Okay, so let's say that his affair never comes out: Andrew Young takes responsibility. What happens to Edwards' campaign in 2008?

The affair came out after the campaign was done and dusted, as I recall. I think if the affair never comes out, he runs again in 2016, and possibly either wins the Democratic nomination or becomes a VP candidate.
 
The affair came out after the campaign was done and dusted, as I recall. I think if the affair never comes out, he runs again in 2016, and possibly either wins the Democratic nomination or becomes a VP candidate.

Really? Huh, for some reason I though the affair came out during the campaign...lemme change the OP.
 

JoeMulk

Banned
If he was savvy he could have pulled a Warren G Harding and paid her off to keep quiet. Edwards probably would have also. Not by the same margin as Obama but he might pick up some states like West Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas, though probably loses Virginia, NC and Indiana.
 
Even if news of the affair never came out, I Edward would have to find a way to stay in the public eye if wanted to run in 2016. Perhaps if he was Obama's Attorney General or served in some other cabinent post.
 
This is fairly easy depending on what your definition of "Better" is. If you keep Obama out of the race, it's fairly easy to imagine Edwards being the runner up to Hillary Clinton. But I have a hard time imagining Edwards as the nominee.
 
Edwards has to win Iowa to stay relevant. The problem then becomes denying him South Carolina and Nevada. I'm assuming he has no real chance in New Hampshire.
 
The following things need to happen:

-Kerry/Edwards give the opposition a better run for their money in the '04 election.
-Obama declines to run for the nomination.
-Hillary Clinton declines to run for the nomination.

Edwards would be the only really known candidate out of the rest. Biden? Nobody cared about him till Obama picked him for VP. Kucinich?? Seen largely as a joke and who's political positions read like a GOP laundry list of cliche Liberal Agendas (aka: major ammo). And the rest??? Vilsack?? Dodd??? Gravel?? Richardson??? Almost literal nobodies as far as the public's concerned.

Even then, I doubt he'd do that well if he got the nomination. Especially when people go looking for dirt and find his affair. That'd almost dominate the entire election right there. Especially since his wife was dying of cancer. He'd lose.

Unless in this ATL he did the smart thing and kept it in his pants.
 
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