Edwards: Screw Compromise!

A day after the CNN/YouTube democratic debate, as CNN continues to heartily pat itself on the back for being *hip to what the kids are into these days*, and as the frontrunners trade jabs over each other's performances, the viewers are likely still congealing their opinions as to who best responded to their questions.

For me, the highlight of the night was a defiant declaration from John Edwards to screw compromise! Citing the evils of partisanship that undoubtedly keep many things from getting done in the federal government, one man asked the candidates which republican they would choose as a running mate. Joe Biden took a stab at it first, giving a solid response of Chuck Hagel. Not bad. But then Edwards stepped in, refusing to name any of his republican counterparts. "Do you believe that compromise, triangulation will bring about big change? I don't," Edwards said. "I think the people who are powerful in Washington-- big insurance companies, big drug companies, big oil companies-- they are not going to negotiate... The only way they are going to give away their power is if we take it away from them."

To me, this response showed the capability of a true a leader-- the capability to confidently dismiss the canned response about the virtues of compromise expected by everyone from Anderson Cooper to the man who asked the question. He had the courage to say something that probably few viewers expected; he sounded like someone who could see the forest for the trees.

As it turns out, I was far from the only one left with this impression. According to an email from the Edwards campaign, CNN says "viewers rated that moment the highest of all the candidates." That phrasing is a little odd to me, but obviously the general idea comes through: Edwards struck a nerve when he said he wouldn't compromise.

Edwards also had, in my opinion, the best 30-second clip. Its use of tragic imagery from the past four years combined with ironic music was very evocative of the frustration many Americans are experiencing. Most of the other videos were simply boring or just plain cheesy. Here is the clip he chose to run: