July 07, 2004

According to Alan Murray's Tues. WSJ piece (see Ted Frank's Overlawyered post) the Edwards camp is going to be getting to work right away to moderate the Senator's image as a business-basher. Most curious quote: "Mr. Edwards's aides already are pointing out that as a trial lawyer, he never brought the kind of controversial class-action lawsuits that drain millions from a company's coffers but provide only minimal benefits to each member of a large group of plaintiffs." (No, it's only some of Edwards's most prominent backers who specialize in that particular kind of lawsuit.)

Washington Post reporter Jonathan Weisman is apparently on board and spins valiantly for the new image-refurbishment -- we wonder how he happened to locate his "businessman on the street" quote-providers, all four of whom conveniently echo Edwards talking points. Steve Bainbridge takes a contrasting view, here, here, here and here. And Bainbridge's view of Edwards is positively enthusiastic compared with that of Bard Parker, of mediblog Cut to Cure (scroll to Jul. 6).