Edwards: ‘I Can Beat McCain’
EmailABC News’ Raelyn Johnson Reports: Following a campaign stop in Winnsboro, South Carolina, former Sen. John Edwards chimed in on the current state of the presidential race, particularly, the come back of Republican candidate John McCain, who just won Saturday’s SC Republican primary.
"He is starting to look like the Republican nominee and I think it’s important for us to have somebody to run against McCain who can beat him, and there are national polls that show I’m the one who beats John McCain in the general election," said Edwards speaking to reporters.
"This is a guy who’s made central to his political life campaign finance reform. It seems to me we ought to be putting somebody up against him who’s never taken money from special interest PACs or Washington lobbyists… that’s me."
Edwards is in South Carolina campaigning for a comeback of his own, in the state he won in 2004.
Speaking about his poor finish in the Nevada caucuses Saturday Edwards admitted, "I got my butt kicked and now I’m going to get up and fight. I’m going to fight for all the things that I care about. And those causes have not gone away and haven’t changed."
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Give me a break.
Edwards can’t even win a single state in this primary after campaigning for 6 years and he claims that he can beat McCain. He should go and take care of his wife. I am sick of Edwards.
Posted by: alex | January 20, 2008, 4:59 pm 4:59 pm
And the sad fact is that he might be the only democratic candidate that could beat McCain. But the Democrats prefer to fight about race and gender
Posted by: ga | January 20, 2008, 5:49 pm 5:49 pm
If he can’t beat Hilliary or Obama, forget it. Besides he’ll always be seen as Kerry’s running mate: Too Democratic for Republicans, too conservative for Democrats. The Democratic party has given up on the South. Neither Hilliary OR Bill could get ANY votes there today. So even Edwards strength is a weakness. I’m sorry John, but the party has left you behind.
Posted by: xyz | January 20, 2008, 6:22 pm 6:22 pm
Edward CAN beat McCain. Too bad he cant beat Hillary or Obama
Posted by: tom | January 20, 2008, 8:02 pm 8:02 pm
The Democrats are way to busy following the celebrity contest between Obama and Hillary the two more unlikely candidates to win the general election; but this is typical for th Democrats they always lose opportunities for thinking with the heart only and not with the brains. The Republicans, Wall Street, and big media is fooling us all; they knew they need it to stop Edwards and elevete the rockie enough to challenge and attack Hillary from the inside, in other words they build the way for teh Trojan horse (Obama) to attack and divide the Democratic party in a year when the Republicans knew they will lose and the Democrats are just dumbs!
I can see the words of Obama prising Reagan and the multiple attacks of him to Bill Clinton been playing in commercial against the Democratic nominee.
Posted by: Paul | January 20, 2008, 8:19 pm 8:19 pm
I’m more and more convinced that Tom’s assessment (above) is correct. Divide and conquer is the only road the Repubs have and they are doing it quite effectively with the help of the MSM. Let’s not forget that a major defense contractor owns NBC and MSNBC (General Electric) and this network (ABC) is owned by a corporate giant (Disney – anyone for rewriting copyright law to protect Mickey Mouse’s profits?) that spends far more money lobbying Washington and funding campaigns than the dread “trial lawyers”. Don’t even get me started on Rupert Murdoch (who now owns the WSJ too).
By the way, wasn’t it the trial lawyers that fought all those civil rights cases all the way to the supreme court back in the 60′s and 70′s? Marching in the streets alone didn’t get it done. Thurgood Marshall was a civil rights trial lawyer. I’m just sayin’… think about that when the trial lawyer card gets played.
The MSM wants a DLC, middle-of-the-road Democrat. Move the game to the right. I wish Howard Dean were bound to keep his mouth shut through all of this. An Al Gore endorsement wouldn’t hurt John Edwards right about now.
Posted by: dxwoods | January 20, 2008, 9:27 pm 9:27 pm
i am going for john edwards i truly like him better than any he is the one for 2008 he will be the number one in my book.he will win south carolina go john go all the way to the white house. in God we trust.
Posted by: wanda vikara | January 21, 2008, 1:07 am 1:07 am
well the national polls showed for months edwards could be the repubs but of course the media would rather cover a mud slinging fest and divide the dems ugh hang in john, we’ll expect a miracle!
Posted by: lori | January 21, 2008, 8:44 am 8:44 am
by the way, thanks abcnews for a little more je coverage. there is hope–
Posted by: lori | January 21, 2008, 8:46 am 8:46 am
Where is the poll? Edwards has been shown to be the only Democrat who can beat McCain. Why don’t you post a link to those polls???? Edwards is the best candiate, He came in Second in Iowa. Only a small portion of the country has been heard. I recently heard a reporter, after the South Carolina debate report that those polled indicated they thought he was the best candidate but that they didn’t think they would vote for him because they didn’t think he could win. That is ridiculous. People need to vote for the best person, regardless of race or sex. That person is John Edwards.
Posted by: JForbes | January 24, 2008, 9:30 pm 9:30 pm