Most presidential crusades spot their improvement by how they are performing in the polls and how much funds they are raising.
After running a conventional race for the White House in 2004 and in the early phases of this competition, Mr. Edwards has silently overhauled his campaign with one vital goal: to tie together the Internet and the political power that liberal Democrats are sending through it.
In a slow but outstanding power move, advisers who champion the political control of the Web have concealed the coterie of consultants who controlled Mr. Edwards’s internal circle, both dazzling and increasing his change into a more populist, aggressive contender.
“They want me to shut up,” Mr. Edwards said to listeners in Creston, Iowa — comments that were recorded by an Edwards’s campaign employee and posted both on YouTube and the admired open-minded Web site MyDD.com. “Let’s distract from people who don’t have health care coverage. Let’s distract from people who can’t feed their children. Let’s talk about this frivolous, nothing stuff.”
“They will never silence me,” he sustained.
“The Internet is the principal way we are communicating with voters right now,” Mrs. Edwards said in an interview.
This is not simply the tale of another power effort in another crusade. Instead, it reflects an option that Mr. Edwards could not trust with conventional means because he needs to get through the Clinton-Obama battle that has been reducing him to an afterthought. The latest poll released today on USAElectionPolls.com shows Edwards' once mighty lead in Iowa dwindle to an 8-point deficit against Hillary Clinton and 5-points behind Barack Obama. Bill Richardson and Joe Biden are two candidates that have been making gains in the state to Edwards' expense.
“We’re in a different world than last time, with two big celebrity candidates,” affirmed Jonathan Prince, who is a senior campaign consultant and one of the not many holdovers from the 2004 campaign.
