WI: Gore Picks Edwards as running mate

Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.
Edwards, a former trial lawyer, arrived in the Senate only a year and a half ago, but in that short time he has impressed Democratic leaders and Al Gore as a rising star. Edwards, who given his short time in Washington could not yet be labeled a Washington insider, could gain national appeal quickly. Democrats prize Edwards' youthfulness, and Gore is said to be impressed with his intellect.

So What If, instead of Joe Liberman in 2000...Gore decides to go with the Southern Strategy that won Clinton the White House in '92 and pick the freshman Senator from North Carolina as his Running Mate? How would the Young,Charismatic,and Clintonesque candidate help's Gore rather bland personality? How would he do in a VP debate against Dick Cheney? Does Edwards help Gore win the necessary amount of electoral votes to win the election?
 
So What If, instead of Joe Liberman in 2000...Gore decides to go with the Southern Strategy that won Clinton the White House in '92 and pick the freshman Senator from North Carolina as his Running Mate? How would the Young,Charismatic,and Clintonesque candidate help's Gore rather bland personality? How would he do in a VP debate against Dick Cheney? Does Edwards help Gore win the necessary amount of electoral votes to win the election?

That probably* would have been enough to swing Tennesse and/or West Virginia into the Gore column, which would have given him the election. By the same token, if Kerry had followed his instincts and selected Richard Gephardt as his runningmate, instead of going with Edwards on the advice of his consultants, its likely that would have swung Ohio, Missouri, and Iowa his way. Interestingly, either Ohio or Missouri & Iowa would have been enough to swing the election to Kerry, but had Kerry still lost Ohio, but carried Iowa and Missouri, it would have led to a 269-269 split in the Electoral College.

*Of course, one major problem with Edwards is he was only elected to the Senate in 1998, so its unlikely he would have been perceived as qualified to hold the office, thus potentially making him an even weaker runningmate than was Lieberman, which takes some doing: Man, did that guy ever suck in the 2000 Vice-Presidential debate with Cheney. I remember watching it with my wife; that was when she decided to vote for Bush, and she went on to vote for Kerry in 2004, and hates Bush/Cheney about as much as anyone else, these days. Lieberman basically refused to answer every question posed by the moderator(s), due to some apparent concern that it "wouldn't be helpful to discuss such matters at this time." After like the sixth he used that excuse to dodge answering a question, my wife literally screamed "What the fuck!?!" It was a classic moment.
 
West Virginia's probably out of his grasp- swing of about 6% needed- and Tennessee is just on the verge of possible at 3-4%.
But Florida's so close that if you change Gore's breakfast a couple months before the election we're likely to see a change.

Personally I don't think a vp (beyond favorite sons, which Edwards is not) can affect an individual state by more than a percent, and all the states within that margin (except for Florida) are northern and western states that went for Gore.
Not saying they'll necessarily break for Bush ITTL, just saying Edwards doesn't necessarily help.

But in the recent veep selection the talking heads have been saying "the vp only matters on three days- the day you announce them, the day they accept the nomination and the day they debate."
With Edwards day 1 is a total loss, since on first appearance all you've done is recreated the last eight years of the Clinton administration with the bottom on the top.
Day 2 probably goes better than average. Edwards' story is compelling and he's a decent speaker, certainly better than Lieberman.
Day 3 is probably unremarkable. He and Cheney get into a scrap. Edwards scores points on Cheney being heartless and unhelpful and just too old, Cheney hits back with experience and wry wit.
The veeps split the difference.

The best he can do IMHO is make himself not a liability, which is more than you can say for most veeps.
 
Forget Edwards, Gore also considered Florida Senator Bob Graham.

Even accepting that small-state VP candidates are the people that lock up their state regardless of outside conditions (Palin in '08, Muskie in '68) that should be enough of a swing to make Florida quite likely for Gore.


If he did pick Edwards though Florida is still in play simply because of how close it was IOTL. Further Edwards should help a little in the South, and I agree with those who focus on Tennessee.
 
Graham would have been a fantastic choice...But if Edwards is able to swing Florida or tennesse back into Gore's column, What kind of roles might Edwards hold within the Gore Administration?
 
That's a lot of fire underneath Gore if politicos spin the win the way we would here; that is, if they say Edwards helped Gore lock Florida and Tennessee that's going to mean a good deal of soft power.

Luckily for Gore, all of Edwards' pet projects are second-tier concerns for a president; either they're not sexy enough (frex: poverty relief) or they're small enough in scope (frex: crackdown on predatory lending) that he probably gets a fairly free hand to test out policy.

Politically, one wonders how much a Gore campaign would keep up relations with the Clintons. Hillary can't be too happy with the choice of Edwards. another prototypical Southern White Knight getting groomed for the ticket is more than likely to induce fatigue in the voters.
Consider IOTL with Gore losing in 2000 and the Clinton model of governance out of the executive branch for eight years and still the anti-Clinton voter is a powerful force.

ITTL, Clinton's legacy looms large in 2000 and 2004. Even if Gore loses in 2004 (extremely likely) Edwards still looks good for 2008. If she puts up a fight, then the Clinton legacy is basically fighting itself.
Even if she lets Edwards have the nomination in 2008 and goes after it later, that's five consecutive presidential elections where a continuity can be formed between the Clintons, their closest political allies, and the Clintonian archetype vying for the presidency.

Neither Kennedys, Roosevelts nor Adams ever had this much power. Hillary has no chance. If Gore stays loyal to the Clintons, Edwards gets a short leash and they might even try to replace him in 2004.
 

Ibn Warraq

Banned
Edwards had been in the Senate for exactly two years in 2000 and no one knew who he was. There was no way Gore would have picked him.

You'd need a really big POD to justify Edwards getting picked.
 
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