Wednesday???
The long weekend has really thrown me for a loop as far as knowing what day it is. I had worked myself into a nice steady routine the last few weeks, and now that's gone, because my class shifted days and venue. Not that I mind, I'd rather come downtown than drive to Schaumburg, but its just going to take some getting used to (the new routine). Ilost my keys on the bus yesterday, luckily I realized it before I got very far. I called the CTA and found out where I needed to go to pick them up. For anyone unfamiliar with it, the Blue Line takes this very weird path, for a rail car, it goes from O'Hare to downtown, meaning it comes east, then it goes under the loop and heads west again. I was really disoriented by the time I got the the Kedzie stop, so it took me longer then I wanted, but still, everything worked out fine.

Looking at the various media reports of the Edwards choice, Nightline and the local station's coverage, the various websites I frequent, Slate, Salon, TPM, Sullivan, MSNBC, and CNN, most feel like Kerry made the right choice, but temper that by parroting back the RNC's talking points that they put out minutes after Kerry made his choice. The "Is he too inexperienced?" and "Can he handle Foreign Policy?" lines were trotted out extremely fast. Salon focused on the contrast the Vice-Presidential debate will be presumably, as there have been some thought that Cheney may be dumped if its clear he's a drain on the ticket, probably replaced by Giuliani or someone like that, with Edwards' charm and prosecutorial debating style against Cheney's scowl and reserved nature. I would echo some concerns voiced by those close to Cheney, however. He can be effective as sort of a straight talking CEO type, as he is straight talking, and was a CEO, and people might respond to that. He beat Lieberman because Lieberman refused to go after him, or he Lieberman. It did seem, though, that Cheney was better prepared and won the debate. Edwards, who by all accounts, is well liked by colleagues of both parties, will have to be an attorney, he will have to present the case as to why Bush/Cheney has failed, then grill Cheney like a defendant.
Edwards is Bill Clinton's equal when it comes to campaigning, and it doesn't seem like he has the drawbacks Clinton did. The personal story, son of a millworker, first in family to go to college, millionaire trial lawyer. His story about losing his oldest son makes him real, especially as a reason to get into politics. His optimism balances the ticket (Can one be a pessimist and be president? I would hope so), because Kerry can come off as dour. What Edwards needs to do is be engaging, to talk to the people in rural Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina (which is in play now), Pennsylvania and even Michigan, and convince them that no matter how much they want to vote for Bush because he's like them, they can't afford too, literally. He, and Kerry too, need to show that Bush's economy isn't helping them, and that he is sending off our, and their, sons and daughters to die for reasons that don't add up or to settle some personal score. Bush is not "their guy" no matter how many times he mispronounces "nuclear" or spouts off simplistic answers and solutions to incredibly complex problems and issues. He's the right guy to do it.

Thank you for the kind words Ms. Kraly and Mr. Sellers.

Talk to you again tomorrow.