John Edwards announced his 2008 campaign for President today, and the timing has me wondering if former Senator Edwards really wants to be President of the United States. The Edwards for President announcement comes in one of the slowest news weeks of the entire year – the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, when most people are feeling too stuffed, or sleepy, or holly jolly, to pay much attention to the news. Any news that does get through to them will be obliterated by the New Year’s holiday. Perhaps the days after Election Day in 2006, when Tom Vilsack announced his candidacy, might have been worse, but this week certainly has got to be one of the times a candidate would choose for an announcement that he wanted almost no one to pay attention to.
So, why would John Edwards choose this week to make his announcement? One might say that he’s trying to get a piece of attention before the juggernauts of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama stomp all over the newspapers.
I’ve got another theory. I think that, like Tom Vilsack, John Edwards is running for the vice-presidential spot on the 2008 Democratic ticket. I think that John Edwards doesn’t expect to win the nomination, but he does expect to make a good enough showing to earn the support of the eventual presidential nominee. Becoming Vice President in 2008, he would be first in line for the Presidential nomination in 2016, and better qualified for the job, to boot.
