John Edwards was the best candidate in the democratic party. He lost because of the media.

Senator Biden has authored what is known as the "Biden Exit Strategy" for Iraq. It is a resolution that passed the Senate with a 75 vote majority, and the house with 361 votes. This resolution dictated the way in which we'd handle the situation in Iraq, and it is the only actual plan for Iraq that was produced during the 2007-2008 Primary Season. All other plans for Iraq are position papers, and usually have very little to do with reality as they attempt to appeal to ideology. Senator Biden's plan recieved the support of the Legislative Branch. While all of the other Democrats played to the crowd and voted against funding the war, it was only Senator Biden that understood that without funding the war would still continue, and the President would have other funds diverted from other federal programs which he controls. I've known people who have lost their research grants because the money was literally redirected to funding the conflict in Iraq. He also voted for the Iraq war funding because of his labors to introduce to the bill an amendment that allowed for the replacement of every HUMVEE being used in Iraq with a Mine Resistant Up-Armored Vehicle, or, an MRAV. The vehicles, constructed with a v-shaped hull, are designed to more effectively protect the personnel within from an explosion. If these vehicles were implemented, it is estimated that the total number of deaths and causalities would be at least 60% fewer. The amount of head trauma and permanent brain damage would likewise be considerably lower. The Bush Administration kept the development of these vehicles secret, and then decided not to fund the construction of them. Senator Biden found out about them from a whistle blower, and within a matter of months saw to it that almost 8,000 could have been produced in less than a year. The funding for these vehicles was a part of that bill, and so every other Democratic candidate attempting to make a futile demonstration in an attempt to gain support during the primaries, voted against protecting our soldiers, and lowering the long term costs of health care for our wounded veterans. Biden was the only candidate with the qualities of a statesmen, and so he voted for the best policy in spite of the fact that many people were ignorant of what the best policy was. Senator Biden, serving on the foreign relations committee for the last 35 years has also had the unique distinction of being one of the most internationally well known American statesmen in history. He even met with Kosygin during his career. Biden's approach to foreign policy would have almost instantaneously restored our reputation in the world, and combined with his incredibly ethical and broad understanding of the world, he would have fixed the trade agreements which would work very well if we upheld them. For example, it was Senator Biden who understood that the reason why we didn't shut down trade with China was not because we need China's imports, its because of American based multinational corporations which owned the factories that were attempting to drug and poison our children. These corporations lobby for their own interest, while actively working against the common good of our republic. Domestically, Senator Biden understood very well that the flaw with our public education system is that it lasts for only 14 years, compared to 16 years in the other industrialized nations. His ideas for expanding education included mandatory pre-kindergarten, and grants which would have allowed the 400,000 students who didn't attend college in 2007 because they couldn't afford it to attend. He has seen the Bush administration strip the funding for decent federal programs that were working, like COPS and the Biden Crime Bill, which put 100,000 cops on the streets, and provided 10 billion dollars for prevention of crime. He understood the effect of our 9 trillion dollar deficit, and to quote him "I can lift up my shirt and show you the scars on my back from the first time we balanced the budget." He could fix social security easily and simply by merely increasing the amount of payroll subject to the payroll tax to 117,000 dollars and ensuring that there will never be want nor need for social security. Biden actually knows how to build a consensus, and how to manage the governmental systems. He knows the power of the executive, and the influence it has. The United States doesn't have fuel efficient cars? He'd use the market place. Biden would have made the executive order on his first day that no federal agency would be allowed to purchase a fleet vehicle that got less than 40 miles the the gallon on the high way. Over night, you'd see American auto-manufacturers turning out vehicles that met those standards. Biden's healthcare plan is the only one that could have passed the Senate. It doesn't begin by mandating the creation of a federal healthcare system, it starts by building the need and demand for one by putting simple policies in place first, then encouraging certain states to make certain things work. Senator Biden understood better than any candidate the power of the bully pulpit to effect change and policy. Now, given the clear virtues of Senator Joe Biden, if the media had been doing it's job instead of polling and only talking about the candidates that were popular before the campaigns began, Senator Biden would have likely recieved a lions share of the support. With one sentence, he destroyed Rudy's candidacy. If he had chosen to, he could have severely, and I meant this, severely embarrassed every single one of the front runners, including your precious John Edwards. Unfortunately, it's not Senator Biden's style to burn bridges. When each of the candidates that was whining about Iran spoke, it was Biden who informed the nation that maybe they should be worried about Pakistan. It was Biden who reminded the media that Pakistan is going through a difficult time, and as if on cue from Senator Biden, they began talking about Pakistan. Now, the media often neglected to mention finer details, like the fact that the Senator would be speaking at a campaign event in Davenport when he'd receive a call from the President of Pakistan, and then he had to excuse himself again from the audience because he had to brief the State Department and the White House because the President of Pakistan called Joe Biden, and not the President of the United States. If the Media wanted to talk about foreign policy experience, how about the only person running for President that the President of Pakistan talks to instead of talking to the President of the United States? If the media cared about health care, they wouldn't care about the difference between plans, they would care about the viability of the plan successfully being implemented, which would mean passing the House and the Senate. If they wanted to actually discuss experience, maybe they should have brought up the fact that somebody got elected to the Senate in 1972, what were the other candidates doing? The biggest frustration in my life is hearing the media talk about Obama's experience as a constitutional law professor, and failing to mention that Senator Biden's been teaching constitutional law on the weekends for the last 18 or 19 years. Edwards got a lot of media coverage, especially in Iowa. He spent a lot of money, too. He tried, and he failed. It was him, and not the media. He was not the best candidate to be President.