There’s an updated version of my question for John Edwards about the advisors who counseled him to vote for the Iraq war resolution in the queue at blog.johnedwards.com.
It’s kind of sad. Of the three major candidates for the Democratic nomination, I think that I’m probably more disposed toward Edwards for his populist economic message. But there’s no way anyone is going to be able to address deep structural issues in the US economy if they let themselves get drawn into a quagmire like Iraq when advisors tell them they need to do something to “look strong”, despite evidence that there’s no threat, and despite the fact that most of the members of their party in Congress aren’t convinced there’s a threat. Edwards made that mistake once, and he’s admitted it was a mistake, but if he’s still listening to the same advisors there’s no reason he won’t make a similar monumental mistake. The people who keep pointing out that he’s changed his mind on Iraq don’t seem to get that. Of course he’s changed his mind on Iraq. He’d have to be a moron not to have changed his mind on Iraq. What I want to know is: What is he doing to make sure he doesn’t get screwed over by the same advisors again?