Edwards just took the stage to speak—introduced as the “second-place finisher in Iowa,” which isn’t exactly finalized—and began his remarks with the statement, “The status quo lost and change won.” He then transitioned quickly into this standard stump speech.
I’m telling you, folks. Edwards is looking for the number two spot on an Obama ticket if he doesn’t take the nomination.
The Edwards perspective tonight: he trails substantially in New Hampshire and wouldn’t have survived a bad loss. His second place or close third place finish probably means that he’ll receive a moderate bounce; people will likely take another look at someone who could hang tough with the Clinton machine. The size of that bounce relies heavily on the size of the Obama bounce. If Obama shoots through the stratosphere in the next few days, there may be few voters left over for Edwards to grab. In fact, some Edwards partisans may shift to the Senator from Illinois.
