Can't say I understand this one:
BusinessWeek has learned that [John] Edwards has signed up to work for the New York-based private investment concern Fortress Investment Group as a part-time senior advisor.If you're John Edwards, and you know that you've got people like me just lined up waiting for you to run in '08, why take this job? One of the toughest knocks against Edwards right now is the fact that he's a trial lawyer; does he really want to add "financial analyst" to that?
4 comments:
I think the Senator is doing this because he wants to get a taste of every facet of our economic policy. Through this job he'll be communicatign with overseas companies and witness the tradings in a globalized world first hand.
I think that in today's age of globalization, it is essential that we have a president who understands our changed world and is ready to prepare America for the century ahead through innovative programs and new approaches to our economic invigoration. I think that is Edwards' aim here... get a different perspective on the economic policy. I would actually commend Edwards for not shutting his eyes and actually studying different aspects of our economy.
As for being accused of being a trial lawyer and a financial consultant... I don't think that charges stick much once people see Edwards talk. He has a personality that doesn't come across as that of some ambulance chaser or a power-hungry corporate man. He has a down home style and that is why the trial lawyer nonsense didn't work in NC in 98 and neither did it work in 04.
I agree with you in principle: the importance of global markets is substantial, and Edwards's personality is such that it will be theoretically possible to shrug off the "He's a mercenary" talking point that's sure to hit Republican Blackberries pretty early in the race. At the same time (and perhaps I'm overestimating the mistrust with which people view financial analysts), I hate to see him step into another minefield just to gain experience whose political value is questionable (at best). Even without this job, no one is likely to argue during the campaign that Edwards doesn't understand the importance of global financial markets, and I personally doubt that its usefulness as a stump addition ("Recognizing the importance of global finance, I recently took advantage of my lack of a real job to learn about the world of money... and to make a few million dollars!") will be substantial. So for me, it's a push-lose decision: if he doesn't take the job, he's not likely to get attacked for lack of knowledge about global financial markets; if he does take the job, he's still not likely to get attacked for lack of knowledge about global financial markets, but now he seems to Joe Tractor in Kansas to be just-that-much-more elite, intellectual, rich, worldly, sophisticated, brainy, attractive, Northeastern, and whatever else it is that excites Joe Tractor these days.
(Of course, that's all assuming that Edwards took the job for primarily political reasons, which seems somewhat unlikely. If he took the job because, for example, he needs the money, than by all means, Wall Street is the place to be. They've got lots.)
Okay, I'm the anonymous from above... and I just wanted to reply.
I frankly do not think it's because of the money... because Edwards could be doing a lot of other things that could earn him great money.
I do think it's more of a political move... this firm was a supporter of Edwards in 04 and contributed to his campaign too.
But you do bring up a good point that by joining Wall Street Edwards can now be attacked as joining the corporate world. However, I think that middle America still remembers him as the guy who talked about poverty (before it was cool to talk about poverty in the wake of Katrina!). He has defined himself as the "son of the mill worker" and those images do stay in people's mind. Now those images can be washed away if he starts talking in a condescending way to people, however, he knows well how to change his rhetorical tacticts depending upon the audience (For ex: his speech to the center for american progress recently was filled with policy and historical references and analysis, but a few days later he gave a speech at Harkin's steak fry using the same themes but a different language.. a more plain spoken one)... so it won't be easy to trap him as an elite intellectual (though it's not impossible). I think whether his job becomes a burden in a prospective presidential run will depend entirely on how he defends himself if he is attacked on this charge. And, I think one thing he is really good at is defending himself, which is part of the reason why the trial lawyer image didn't overwhelm his campaign. Plus, I hope all politicians learned the lesson from Kerry's swiftboating.
Anyway, you are right that politically it's not the most desired move. However, neither was talking about the Two Americas. If you've ever had a chance to talk to Edwards in an intimate setting, not at a rally or townhall, you'll realize that he is a policy wonk.. that is he cares about what policies he is putting into place, not just in abstract but in actual detail. After the election, he has talked often about how we don't see the emergence of globalization as a huge element of our big economic picture... and I think he perhaps genuinely wants to delve more deeply into that arena.
This is what he said when asked about this endeavor:
"I am delighted to be working with Fortress, a top-tier investment management firm with an outstanding reputation. This is an opportunity to explore global economic challenges in an in-depth way, and I'm looking forward to working with this excellent team."
I hope you’re right about Middle America. Between "Intelligent Design" (which I put in quotes to indicate my contempt), gay marriage, and the Minutemen, I tend not to trust Middle America as far as I can throw it, but it’s nice to be optimistic every now and then. There’s no question (in my mind) that Edwards can vary his speech patterns by audience as well as any politician of the last twenty years; I just hope that the defenses that he’s so good at producing are as effective in rural Ohio as they are in New York and Massachusetts. And as to his wonkiness (his wonkitude, if you will): certainly, that’s one of the things that I like most about him, but as you well know, wonkosity is not always a strength.
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