Edwards's predecessors

[SPC]

As we all know, John Edwards, the party's unsuccessful VP nominee in 2004, is seeking the presidency again. Now, let's look at the last three people to do this successfully:
F.D. Roosevelt
Walter Mondale
Bob Dole

Of these three, only one became president. Any thoughts on how this will affect Edwards's chances?

[bullmoose88]

Meh. Not much effect really...

Edwards chances, however small they are, rest on Hillary, Obama, and himself.

The stories of Edwards' and the PS3, Edwards and the bloggers mishap means that John Edwards has a lot of work to do before he becomes President of the two Americas.

[motomonkey]

I don't think the history lesson shows a whole lot.  Each mainstream candidate in each party (which all three most surely were), ultimately has to rise or fail on their own ability and the course they choose.  To me, Edwards is in a decent spot as the top ranked white male in the Democratic party after eight years of Republican rule with a very unpopular Republican President.  Maybe this is the year that the country finally elects a minority or a woman to be President, but if not, Edwards is where a lot of ambitious politicians would like to be.

It is noteworthy, that the only one of the three you mentioned that won, FDR, was elected AFTER a very unpopular Republican president (Hoover), where as Dole and Mondale followed relatively popular presidents.

[Gabu]

Any thoughts on how this will affect Edwards's chances?

I doubt that this particular fact will affect Edwards' chances at all.  Of the three, two failed, and the other went on to become hailed by the general public as one of the best presidents in history.  There isn't exactly a very good pattern to be found there.

[Gustaf]

More importantly, none of these ran as former failed vice presidential candidates. Roosevelt was governor of New York, Dole was a senator and Mondale a former vice President (he was only a failed candidate in that he failed to get reelected to the post). Also, both Dole and Mondale ran against very popular presidents being reelected, so there weren't much they could do about that.

[Reignman]

I don't think the history lesson shows a whole lot.