Joe Trippi served as a senior adviser to John Edwards before he gave up his presidential bid earlier this year. In the journal Politics, Trippi laments that he didn’t press Edwards to stay in the race:
But would things have turned out much differently if Edwards had remained in the race? Let’s assume for a minute that Edwards would have remained an afterthought through Super Tuesday and beyond. He would have had a few hundred delegates. Obama likely would have had a lead in total delegates, but — as now — would have needed a large chunk of the superdelegates to give him the nomination. So what changes? Obama would still have argued that his lead in pledged delegates should earn him the nomination — regardless of what the superdelegates thought about his electability, or who won the popular vote. That’s Obama’s argument now, and no one seems willing to disagree. And amidst all the recent debate over what the delegates would do if Obama appeared too wounded to win the general election, has anyone suggested nominating the 3rd place finisher?
