My Favorite John Edwards Headline

I love the headline Dick Polman has on his piece about John Edwards:

John Edwards, headless chicken

I think that pretty well sums it up. Here's part of what he has to say:

It was almost poignant, on Monday night, to hear John Edwards make the case for his autumn electability. He was the one who first suggested that John McCain would be the GOP nominee; then he said, "I grew up in the rural south, in small towns all across the rural south, and I think I can go everywhere and compete head-to-head with John McCain."

Dream on. Forgive my inelegant rural metaphor, but Edwards right now is like the headless chicken who keeps on moving even though it's already dead.

By saying this, I'm not rooting for him to leave the Democratic race. I'm merely offering the factual observation that his time as a first-tier national candidate has expired, probably forever.

Two reasons: He doesn't have the money to compete in the long run. And he's not going to win anything in the short run.

Regarding the latter, here's a handy statistic: 1-36. That's the John Edwards win-loss record since he first became a candidate in 2004. He has won a total of one primary (South Carolina, his native state, four years ago), and he has lost 36. His overall winning percentage (.028) is even lower than Howard Dean's '04 record.

It was clear during the debate the other night that Edwards is little more than wallpaper in these debates now, and while he can still get a little bit of press coverage, no one is taking him seriously as a candidate anymore.

It looks like his 2nd place finish in Iowa will be the highpoint of four years of campaigning.