Edwards and The Media

TPM has a great video retrospective on the work John and Elizabeth Edwards have done to hit back when the media took shots at them: Now that John Edwards has dropped out of the race, it's worth pausing to reconsider the role John and his wife played in what I think is one of the most under-appreciated stories of Campaign 2008. Specifically: Thanks largely to the Edwards couple, aggressive push-back against right-wing (and even traditional) media figures went mainstream in Dem primary politics in a big way. Indeed, the Dem candidates adopted this sort of push-back as almost a de rigeur tactic, a way of throwing wrenches into the wingnut slime machine and simultaneously appealing to Dem primary voters, who can't get enough of this sort of stuff. The media generally treated John Edwards like he was a joke, but at least he didn't roll over. Check out the videos and commentary here.