A Lot of Bad Hair Days

Carl Leubsdorf of the Dallas Morning News lists a number of reasons that the Edwards campaign is in trouble -- and most of them are dead on. There are, indeed, more interesting candidates in the race, Edwards has been handicapped by a number of his own gaffes, etc., etc.

But there are other problems. John Edwards originally emerged on the national scene as someone who presented himself as a fairly moderate Southern Democrat. Now he's one of the loudest lefties in the race. That confuses people, and undermines the sense of authenticity that's essential to a winning campaign.

What's more, it just may be that -- despite the real liking and overwhelming sympathy for Elizabeth Edwards that so many people feel -- they also may not be comfortable throwing their support to John Edwards, given that they can imagine the variety of heartaches and distractions that could throw his campaign off course during crucial times (i.e. between nomination and election time). Not politically correct, perhaps, but true -- and with the other candidates in the race, like Clinton and Obama, there's no reason to roll the dice.b