NY Times Finally Profiles Edwards On Front Page! But...
November 21, 2007 -- 4:02 PM EST // //

The other day, New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt faulted his paper for giving short shrift to John Edwards in its campaign coverage. Hoyt noted that The Times has given lots of front-page ink to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and chastised the paper for giving Edwards no front-page profiles this year at all.

Well, today The Times finally gave Edwards his front-page profile-style piece. And the entire piece is all about...how John Edwards and John Kerry didn't get along during their 2004 Presidential run.

One Edwards backer tells me that rival campaign operatives have been snickering about this today, with one snarking: "Is today's NYT piece supposed to be the one front page feature you're guaranteed this cycle?" It's a fair question.

Look, just to be clear, Edwards' 2004 campaign and relationship with Kerry are valid topics -- they're key parts of his record. That said, this piece just seems oddly narrow in focus and far less illuminating biographically than recent front page profile pieces on Hillary and Obama. Such as this one:

In Illinois, Obama Proved Pragmatic And Shrewd

...and this one:

In Turmoil of ’68, Clinton Found a New Voice

Edwards' front-pager today, by contrast, is:

For Edwards, A Relationship That Never Quite Fit

Again: The Edwards-Kerry topic is generally a valid one. But in light of these Hillary and Obama pieces, which sought to highlight formative, largely positive aspects of their pasts, it's really hard not to see this latest Times story as yet another middle finger to the Edwards camp.

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