The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 4)

p> SORE LOSERMICE br> Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards has begun reaching out to the Democratic Party establishment around the country, and Sen. John Kerry isn't happy about it. /p>

This past weekend, Edwards was in Iowa meeting with state party officials to thank them for their efforts, and to sit down with reporters on Iowa's state PBS talking head show.

From there, he was in Wisconsin, where he was keynote speaker at the state party's Founders' Day dinner.

Edwards has also traveled to New Hampshire since losing in November 2004, and Kerry, for one, is trying to figure out what his former running mate is thinking. Kerry is mystified because, as he has told friends, Edwards promised him that he would not seek the Democratic presidential nomination again should Kerry decide to run.

"He has told people that Edwards took the Lieberman pledge," says a former Kerry/Edwards staffer now working at the DNC. "It never came up in the days following the election, but Kerry swears it happened while the two were in Boston on November 3."

Edwards has been mum about any promise he may have made, but given his relative youth and the fact that he really has a great deal of time on his hands, it is difficult to see him cutting off such a large opportunity.

Kerry has been actively speaking on background and off the record to reporters about the failings of his campaign, and has generally withheld serious criticism of Edwards, but now it appears he is preparing to do just that in an effort to bruise Edwards up a bit. Kerry has asked some campaign staff to pull together meeting notes and to speak to former campaign staff assigned to Edwards during the campaign to collect anecdotes and stories he can use in future interviews about his presidential run.

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topics:
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Boehner, Bill Clinton, Catholicism, Hollywood, NATO