he's no dan quayle

Salty Vicar has some mild concerns about Kerry's choice of John Edwards as his running mate.

In recent years, the Democratic Party has endorsed three candidates for the top of the ticket who were at best appearing inanimate before the public. Kindly put, they were not good campaigners.

Both Mondale and Gore were imminently qualified to be good presidents, but neither excited voters or extended their reach far enough to win (ok, Gore did get more votes and probably won, but losing Tennessee and West Virginia did him in, setting up Florida and the Supremes). My biggest concern about Kerry is that he doesn't come across as an engaging candidate.

Edwards is hopeful, articulate and smart. I think he will do fine as a VP candidate, certainly more so than Lieberman did for Gore in that his personality wears well. The NY Times this morning noted that he did a good job of trouncing Ralph Reed at some Swiss semi-secret conference for elites:

Several people pointed to the secretive and exclusive Bilderberg conference of some 120 people that this year drew the likes of Henry A. Kissinger, Melinda Gates and Richard A. Perle to Stresa, Italy, in early June, as helping win Mr. Kerry's heart. Mr. Edwards spoke so well in a debate on American politics with the Republican Ralph Reed that participants broke Bilderberg rules to clap before the end of the session. Beforehand, Mr. Edwards traveled to Brussels to meet with NATO officials, brandishing his foreign-policy credentials.

"His performance at Bilderberg was important," said a friend of Mr. Kerry who was there. "He reported back directly to Kerry. There were other reports on his performance. Whether they reported directly or indirectly, I have no doubt the word got back to Mr. Kerry about how well he did."

As a Senator and during the primary campaigns, Edwards demonstrated that he understands and speaks to working class/middle class folk, very important for Democrats. In the long term, the burden will be on Kerry to win. I don't think Edwards will distract, will possibly help, and he will make a good vice president.

UPDATE: Father Jake thinks it is a good ticket.