Candidate Corner: John Edwards

Posted by: Gene M. | Dec 17,2007


How is it that I’ve ignored writing about John Edwards to this point?  It’s pretty telling, actually.  He’s just not that striking a candidate – especially when measured against such unique candidates as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama , probably the most unique mainstream candidate in presidential campaign history.  Because Edwards ran in 2004, there’s kind of a been there/done that sort of vibe with him.  That said, he’s been gaining significantly in the polls.  A recent poll of all the candidates showed Edwards beating all possible Republican contenders, by even more  than Clinton and Edwards.  That was pretty surprising and made a lot of people take notice of his candidacy.  

Like other Democratic candidates, John Edwards has a fair amount to say about the credit card issue.  This is what it says on his site:

“Rein in Credit Card and Other Abusive Lending: Half of Americans say they live paycheck to paycheck – meaning millions of families rely on short-term credit just to pay the bills. Middle-class families are facing a radically transformed credit environment because interest rates were deregulated in 1978, which has led to looser lending standards and higher rates and fees. Edwards will require minimum protections on credit cards, such as restoring a 10-day grace before late fees and applying interest rate increases to future balances only. He will also create a new consumer watchdog agency – the Family Savings and Credit Commission – whose sole purpose will be to crack down on these kinds of predatory practices.”

Quotes like this are part of Edwards’ growing appeal.  He is considered a more “domestic” president, which surprisingly is showing itself to be increasingly important in this election, as opposed to 2004, which was all about national security.  That’s bad news for Republicans and good news for a pro-working class and middle class candidate such as John Edwards.

Now, to his points: The Family Savings and Credit Commission does seem like a good idea, if it’s not too costly and it’s able to act efficiently.  Just throwing a new agency at a problem is not always the best idea, if the agency itself needs oversight to run smoothly.  It’s proposals like this that are the bane of Republicans and Libertarians who are (theoretically at least) after smaller government.  

What he says about interest rate deregulation is true.  Before the seventies, it was much harder for people to gain credit, which was a good thing because it also meant it was harder to go into debt.  You went to battle with the soldiers you had – or you bought things only with the money you had in the bank.  Deregulation allowed people to have a better quality of life in the short term, but increased debt problems in the long term, as it has coincided with some unscrupulous policies regarding hikes in interest rates and finance charges.  

Would John Edwards be able to accomplish these things?  Impossible to tell, at this point, but his words about credit cards are core to his more populist message.  

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