Kerry-Edwards ticket

The selection of John Edwards as running mate to U.S. presidential contender John Kerry has sparked a White House contest characterized by dullness.

The polls have the President, George Bush, and Senator Kerry level-pegging for the November election, but the latter's woodenness has been an anchor on his popularity and his ability to exploit the President's poor record in Iraq. Senator Edwards ... brings some much needed qualities to the Kerry campaign. He is what Senator Kerry is not, and vice versa.

The Edwards addition makes the Democrats competitive in the south, particularly in North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana.

Republicans ... cite Senator Edwards's national security and senatorial inexperience as unbefitting a man who would be within a heartbeat of the world's most powerful job if Senator Kerry was elected.

Neither side of American politics seemed able to steal a break on the other. Temporarily, at least, John Edwards is likely to change that. -- Sydney Morning Herald, Australia