Edwards Knows Who He Is

For 2008, I want a presidential candidate who isn't in awe of consultants. Political consultants are often hired based on their past success. But conditions change. A consultant has to know what's happening, how things are changing and what will work for the next election, not the last. Often, the candidate has to be the final arbiter of what works. John Edwards seems to qualify; here's a story by Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post:

John Edwards is ridiculing his political consultants.

"You know, they gave me a really great memo," he says, waving the document, which advises him to highlight the importance of public education when addressing teachers. "I pay a lot of money for people who have the expertise to tell me this."

An unscripted moment caught on a cellphone camera? Not exactly. The video of the presidential candidate chatting on his plane is on Edwards's own Web site. The former senator seems unusually frank about the absurdities of political life -- or is this just carefully choreographed candor, packaged for the YouTube age?

(snip)

Veteran journalist and blogger Jeff Jarvis says that "candidates will try to look more transparent, whether they are or not. Obviously you're not going to put something out there that's not flattering. If the casual moments come from the campaign, I can recognize them for what they are."

Mathew Gross, Edwards's Internet strategist, says the campaign is "trying to reach an audience that is increasingly segmented into different channels . . . You peel away the artifice of the campaign to show what's really happening."

I've talked about the overly cautious, consultant-driven campaign style that often can get candidates into trouble, particularly Democrats (Hillary Clinton seems to be going that way; on the other hand, if ever a candidate was consultant-driven, it was George W. Bush but he played his role effectively enough to wriggle into the White House; McCain is increasingly relying on his consultants and I predict that will only highlight McCain's inconsistencies). Of course, Edwards was poking fun at the kind of over-priced consultant often parodied in the cartoon strip Dilbert. But it still makes Edwards look like he's in charge. And it pays to keep consultants on their toes (the same applies to presidential advisers).

It also helps if a candidate has a sense of humor. The Democratic candidates with the best sense of humor so far are John Edwards, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Barack Obama, of course, also wins the cool factor. All three have good leadership qualities in different ways but a sense of humor is a way of showing that a candidate doesn't take himself (or herself) too seriously (though Biden may be the least successful of the three at doing that). After six years of Bush's odd megalomania, a true down-to-earth quality will be welcome.