John Edwards Treads On Joe Biden’s Turf

John Edwards is a former United States Senator from North Carolina. Joseph Biden is a current United States Senator from Delaware. Both are running for President in 2008.

So, what does that mean for the Democratic primary vote in Delaware? You would think that, in Delaware, Senator Biden would be completely dominant, given how small that state is, and given the 34 years that he has represented that state. Surely, Biden can count on the institutional support of the Delaware Democratic Party.

Nonetheless, it would be unwise to count out John Edwards in Delaware. If his past performance is any indication, Joseph Biden may not make it all the way to the primary season, and then the election in Delaware would be wide open.

John Edwards has not been sitting still since the 2004 election. He’s been busy building One Corps, an activist organization dedicated to fighting poverty through a combination of direct action, policy action, and electoral action.

It just so happens that One Corps is going to be helping the campaign to elect John Edwards as President of the United States, but One Corps is about more than just that. One Corps encourages people to be dedicated to helping their fellow Americans. That’s encouraged people to set up One Corps chapters all across the United States, including one in Delaware.

Okay, it’s a chapter with just one member. That’s better than Joseph Biden has done with his organization, Unite Our States, which claims to support a broad range of policies, but doesn’t have the same kind of focus that One Corps has used so well. Unite Our States doesn’t have the volunteer focus that One Corps does, and doesn’t have any local chapters. Members get to give their contact information, sign petitions supporting Joseph Biden’s policies, and write checks.

The result is that there isn’t any Unite Our States organization specific to Delaware at all, in spite of Joseph Biden’s long relationship with Delaware voters. That kind of aloof attitude builds a top-heavy campaign that can easily fall over under the weight of its bloated head.