Sen. John Kerry made the phone call to Sen.
John Edwards late Monday night, after sharing the
news of his decision with his wife, Terry Kerry,
his vice presidential vetter, Jim Johnson, and
campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill. Johnson then
facilitated the phone calls to everyone else involved.
Surprisingly, Kerry was adamant about making the announcement
without Edwards being present, an oddity in modern politics, even
for a man such as Kerry obsessed with public image. The Kerry
campaign spun Edwards’ absence from the Tuesday morning
announcement by first claiming that it was no big deal (Edwards did
a phoner with reporters immediately after the announcement), and
then, when that didn’t fly, by claiming that the announcement was
supposed to be on Wednesday, but fear of leaks pushed the
announcement up.
In the end, though, say Kerry insiders, they believe it had
everything to do with keeping Edwards in his place.
“This selection was not entirely the senator’s to make,” says a
former Kerry adviser. “Despite everything that has been said about
a one-man decision, he was getting lots of pressure from outsiders
to get Edwards on the ticket. And let’s be honest, everyone has
known from day one that Edwards was campaigning for this slot
throughout the primary season. Kerry knows this is a good pick, but
there is unease there that he has picked a man who will overshadow
him as a personality and as a speaker. I am not surprised that he
left Edwards in Washington and kept the spotlight on himself. That
is so John Kerry.”
In reality, though, Kerry’s choosing Edwards was not the safest
pick he could have made. In the late days of the selection process,
Kerry was shown private polling done for the campaign that showed
that Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack might have been the
more interesting pick. “Vilsack’s numbers showed slightly higher
‘satisfactory’ levels among Democrats and independents than
Edwards,” says a Kerry campaign staffer. “Edwards was a safer pick,
but Vilsack might have presented Kerry with a better risk/rewards
return. Now we’ll never know.”
Edwards had offered to doubletime it to Pittsburgh for the
Tuesday morning event, but Kerry insisted that Edwards not make the
effort, instead telling him to report for duty for a private dinner
with their spouses on Tuesday evening.
Some Republicans in the Senate are pleased with the Edwards
pick, not because they think the presidential race will be any
easier, but because Democrats will now find themselves one more
vote short on critical issues.
“Edwards is either going to abandon his colleagues in the
Senate, or have to be on a very short leash and ready to fly back
for votes on a moment’s notice,” says a Republican staffer on the
Rules Committee. “Either way, his presence on the ticket and lack
of presence on the Senate floor presents us with some interesting
opportunities.”
