For the first entry on John McCain and the subsequent discussion click here.

Since last week’s entry the pool of candidates has actually decreased by one. Tom Vilsak, we hardly knew ye.
But, moving over to the other side of the aisle, let’s look at another front-runner who has experience with a presidential campaign, John Edwards.

Edwards intrigued me in 2004 even while I was still dogmatically Republican. Slick, polished and personable he reminded me of another candidate in the non-too distant past. Of course, as the VP candidate to John Kerry’s presidential bid, he came up short. But he emerged from 2004 as a viable candidate in ’08.

Pros: Has one of the best stump speeches in recent memory, Clinton-esque in demeanor and oratorical skills, willingness to admit he was wrong on the Iraq war, a legitimate plan for universal health care as opposed to just advocating one, tremendous utilization of the web including being the only candidate with a Second Life presence, has made fights against poverty and global warming major components of his campaign platform, and his college for everyone program.

Cons: Last name is not Obama or Clinton, history as a trial lawyer, reversal on previous positions regarding the war, the recent blog fiasco, equivocation on some issues.

Analysis: Edwards is a name to be reckoned with for the Democratic nomination in ’08. He currently trails the afore-mentioned Obama and Clinton, but could emerge unscathed as those two continue to take shots at each other. He has taken the tactics that made Howard Dean an internet phenomenon in 2004 to the next level with presences on all the Web 2.0 platforms. His wealth and profiting off of huge court cases gives a little pause but I am impressed with his gravitation to a more populist platform. He is my front-runner at the moment.

OK, let me have it.