Why Can't Bob Shrum Just Go Away?

Unlike Cliff, I'm not a huge fan of John Edwards. There are a myriad of reasons, but the bottom line, he just doesn't do it for me. But the treatment he's getting from Bob Shrum is despicable.

Shrum is writing a new, tell all book. I think the title should be "O-fer, How I've Managed To Lose Every Presidential Race I Touch," but hey, no one's asked me for my input. Unfortunately, the book is damaging, as Shrum takes a ton of potshots at Edwards.

Shrum went on advising Edwards for several years, including as Edwards was contemplating his vote on the fall 2002 Iraq war resolution. In the one passage of the book already widely leaked, Shrum recounts how he and other political advisers pushed Edwards into a vote for the resolution that Edwards--and, even more so, his wife, Elizabeth--didn't want to cast. The episode didn't make Shrum look great. But the real damage is to Edwards, who comes across as a cipher taking orders from his handlers. As Shrum puts it: "[H]e was the candidate and if he was really against the war it was up to him to stand his ground. He didn't."

The amazing thing about the previous paragraph is Shrum is criticizing Edwards for taking his advice. I agree, to an extent, that any candidate who takes Shrum's advice should be criticized.

As a consultant, I can honestly say I don't know a single other consultant under the age of 45 who doesn't despise Bob Shrum. He's an unethical huckster, a smarmy self-promoter and an anachronistic hack who hasn't made a decent ad since the 1980's. He's done more lasting damage to the party than any single other person I can think of. He's our version of Fredo Gonzalez, a person who so damaged his name that he can't possibly slink away. Let's hope this is his last slimy effort to remain in the spotlight.

(HT- The Daily Dish)