Crunch Time: John Edwards Needs To Step Up For Barack

I'm glad Richardson is endorsing Obama. It would have been nice if he had done it before Texas. Was the Obama campaign so confident back then that they wouldn't guarantee the job Richardson was asking for? The fact that the endorsement is coming now tends to confirm my gut feeling about the current situation.

I am very nervous. The polls are beginning to show the impact of the Rev Wright sound bites. They will be endlessly recycled. "God damn America" -- that's pretty much all it will take in western Pennsylvania and beyond, in the absence of some heavyweight offset.

Obama's speech on race was extraordinary -- but it took more than 15 minutes to deliver. Will that match the Wright sound bites over the long haul? I fear not.

Hence Big Dog Bill's latest foray into the gutter of innuendo. How bracing, he tells us, a Hillary/McCain face-off would be -- given that these are two candidates who love their country. Such slime. You want to take a shower after you watch him.

John Edwards heard that Obama speech on race. He's smart enough and real enough to understand the depth of promise it represented. He can talk to white working class voters in western Pennsylvania and beyond. Bill Richardson's endorsement is nice -- but John Edwards could turn the tide.

Ask Elizabeth for advice on this one, John. Time to step up. History is knocking on your door.

Comments

[Mrbaja]

Mr. Edwards was my choice for the nomination. Since he dropped out of the race, he made it easier for Obama. He doesn't need to endorse anybody. He probably has been called upon from both camps. Why alienate either candidate when he could be a key player in the next cabinet or better yet-VP.

[CAPTAIND]

Amen. Being from New Mexico I can tell you Richardson is a wannabe politician and he and Obama are made for each other. But what about the pledge of superdelegates voting for the primary choice. New Mexico democrats selected clinton.

[Cougarkj]

I grew to respect John Edwards throughout the early stages of this historic election, but his unwillingness to come out and publicly endorse Barack Obama at this juncture or even before is not only disheartening it diminishes Edwards credibility in my eyes. He vehemently spoke out against Hillary Clinton throughout his own nomination bid repeatedly referring to her as "the status quo". His delay now in endorsing Obama paints him as a bit of a sellout--someone who despite everything he once said is operating absolutely in his own best interests.

[Teritt]

I beleive Edwards is just holding out to see which candidate offers him the best position in their administration. He's got nothing else left - it's his last power play. He knows there are only 2 choices left and he should state which he believes in NOW. I see no other reason for him not to announce which one he endorses. Unless he's just covering his butt because he doesn't want the Clinton's turning on him if he chooses to back Obama. And that isn't exactly admirable.

[citizenxyz]

I agree with your comments Teritt. Edwards stated he was against special interests and he knows very well that the Clintons are all about courting special interests, owing and returning favors to the rich and powerful... He does not have the integrity he purported to have when he was campaigning. Obama has the capacity to transcend some of the old conflicts and... he will need the support of others to do so. What about it Edwards???

[RevStHuck]

"John Edwards Needs To Step Up For Barack"

Like he|| he does. He doesn't have to do anything but sit back and watch the Democrats get their collective @$$es handed to them in November. I watched Leno and Jay had it right--the Democrats shot themselves in the foot on this one. John Edwards was the only Democrat in the field that had a chance of winning in November. Yet he was ignored and insulted by the media. He was insulted and ignored by Hillary and Obama even though every one of their ideas was stolen from his campaign playbook.

To he|| with Obama, to he|| with Hillary and to he|| with this country. That's where Bush has brought this country and that's where McTaint will take it when he becomes the next president of the United States and I'll be thrilled. I'm a lifelong Democrat but I will celebrate when he wins this election and laugh at every Democrat who supported Obama and Hillary and say "I told ya so!"

[chandler02]

How can you say Obama ignored him? They agreed on many things through out the debates. It isn't Obama's fault if people found him to have more charisma and gave him more attention.

[Didi47]

Nothing is ever Obama's fault.

[pithymaxim]

So you are damning this great nation because your candidate wasn't picked? America isn't some concept in a bubble that you can kick out of your yard. It is every one of us, trying to be better today than yesterday, to sacrifice in whatever way we are able to make our own lives and those of our neighbors just a little bit better, our children fighting and dying. Maybe you can think of something positive to do to help America instead of abandoning it. Every voice counts. And right now yours rings out in offensive sophistry and narcissicm. It is not about a political party, an icon, or a win. It is the very process that the Founding Fathers put everything on the line for.

[RevStHuck]

I'm saying I give up on the elctoral process. It's a farce! if policies and the right path for this country were the important factors John Edwards would have taken this thing in days. Instead it became about "the black candidate" and "the woman candidate." And let's face it, these two are only succesful because of the image they put forth. She's Bill Clinton's wife and if she weren't she would have been forgotten as quickly as every other female candidate that's run for President. And Obama was only taken seriously because he didn't act like a "black candidate" like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. The whole thing is a joke and just like 2000 and 2004 when the Democrats should have won hands down, they're going to lose this time, too. Why? Because of their own stupid mistakes. If Al Gore had taken the stick out of his arse on 2000 and they had nominated someone--anyone--other than that walking corpse John Kerry in 2004 that would have been a democratic win and it's going to happen again in 2008.

[MrAxes]

I'm of the camp that sees little value to Edwards endorsing Obama or Clinton. I think he has his doubts about both candidates, and is willing to let the primary process proceed without taking sides. Endorsement means more than voting in the general election. It's more than "If I were asked to choose between the two, I'd choose the one speaking with Senator Whitehouse over there." And if he doesn't feel it, he shouldn't jump just to climb on the bandwagon.

Your premise is that if enough people say to Hillary, "Look it was a wonderful dream, but it's over", she'll listen. I think you're wrong, because it's just too close, and whatever else she might be, she's not a quitter.

[Robin08]

MrAxes -- I have to disagree with the what you state as the "premise" of Mr. De Zengotita's piece.

[ProudLiberalDan]

I'm glad Edwards hasn't endorsed either of these DLC-to-the-bone candidates.

Obama will be the nominee. But his health care plan is weak and non-universal and incredibly disappointing. Hillary's unacceptable on Iraq. I may not be a majority, but I'm disappointed all the genuine progressives were dismissed early by the media and the voters so we can have this beauty pageant to make token history as the first "whatever" president.

I'm sure he will endorse and vote for Obama after he's become the nominee, but if he doesn't do it before, he represents the Democrats like myself who are very disgusted with what this contest has degenerated into.

Much ado about identity politics and nothing actually progressive on offer.

[Hope42]

@ProudLiberalDan

[chandler02]

His healthcare plan is not "weak". It is the only one offered that is attainable. Just like when Hillary over reached 10 years ago...if you ask for too much you get NOTHING. If she had been more realistic in her last attempt, millions of people would have benefitted.

Obama's plan would reduce costs MORE than Clinton or Edward's plans, and it is attainable.

People who pretend that Obama's policy ideas aren't as strong as his speaking skills have not done their research.

[BWStuart]

I agree completely with Proud Liberal Dan. I am very glad that John Edwards has not endorsed either candidate, especially Obama. Just because the media has done nothing but boost Obama on to a pedestal during the entire campaign is no reason to elect him. I personally don't care for either of those candidates, and I see no reason for anyone to vote for Obama or Clinton just because their first choice candidate dropped out. This truly has been nothing more than a "beauty pageant" campaign, and it's sad that at the time when Democrats really need to control the White House, we're left with two inferior candidates.

[ProudLiberalDan]

I qualify "inferior".

I think Obama is a stellar campaigner and a candidate obviously and Clinton is better than most people give her credit for.

It's that when the windy rhetoric has blown away and you look past the surface of identity politics, they are both so DLC-to-the-bone. BOTH. Neither will restore the balance to our democracy and economy that is currently weighted to corporations. We know all about calculating, triangulating Hillary. Obama's health care proposals tell me all I need to know about how "progressive" he really is.

Many on the left are so angry at having been triangulated against by the Clintons, that they are projecting onto Obama this hope that he will rescue the Dems from the DLC and corporate control.

Vote for him as I will in November, but please don't delude yourself about what you are actually getting.

I may be disappointed, but compared to John McCain and the frightening thought of 4 more years of conservatism, I will be voting and rooting for Obama in the general -- but not a moment before he gets the nomination.

[jay1975]

As an Independent who is leaning towards Obama, I personally couldn't care less about who Edwards endorses. To me, he seemed the most phony of all of the Dem candidates. Maybe it is my dislike of lawyers, but you can see him turn on that $20 smile every time he realizes a camera is running and it makes me trust him less and less. He is an opportunist looking for the best deal. If he really wanted to get away from the "Two Americas" he would do more for the common man. He is just another corporate crony looking for more.

[PioneerKing]

John Edwards couldn't step up for his own campaign how the heck do you think he's going to step up for Sen. Obama. There is no there with Edwards, he's nothing but $400.00 haircuts and hairspray and lacking cojones.

[gba]

This will indeed help to get the remaining Edwards supporters to embrace Obama

[rojo7449]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/us/politics/30obama.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&sq=Reverend%20Jeremiah%20Wright&st=nyt&scp=11

The link above is the April 2007 article in the NY Times about the controversial relationship between Obama and Rev Wright. Whether you are an Obama supporter or a Hillary supporter doesn't matter. This is an article everyone should read. It won't change anyone's mind, in fact it will probably solidify each person's viewpoint, but it begs the question why it didn't play out then. Is it because TV news didn't pick up on it and add the video clips to sensationalize it? Was it because the Republican nominee wasn't yet known? I heard on some broadcasts that it was the McCain camp that put it out there.

[kikiva]

He might as well go ahead and endorse Obama since the part y powers that be have decided that Obama is the next nominee. It won't make a difference in my vote as I'll be voting for the candidate I feel would make the best president. I just hope Clinton doesn't listen to all the 'drop out' tripe coming out of the mouths of the party apparatus so at least I can vote for her in my primary. Although it won't make a difference, at least I can say I told you so when Obama loses in November.

[chandler02]

The "Party Powers" didn't decide Obama would be the nominee. That would be the millions of voters in 30 contests that decided that, with many huge wins in those states. He has nearly 2 MILLION people that have donated to his campaign.

To pretend that Obama's support has not come from the will of the people is to ignore the facts.

[PaulLoeb]

I gave more money to Edwards than any political leader in my life (before he dropped out and I switched to Obama). I would be severely disappointed if he supported the slash and burn politics of the Clintons. I wish he'd go ahead an dsupport Edwards

[roncraw]

Why should he endorse Obama , Hillary is getting is working class white voters

[combatveteran]

Why, because he is smarter.

[mojomagic]

You know this for a fact. No one doubts that Hillary is intelligent, and Bill has an IQ I think in the l80s. People who know them both say she has the real brains in the family...........

[moodpost]

I agree. A failure to endorse now looks a lot like other democratic party actions in the past year. Dems seem to think that doing nothing is less dangerous than doing something. I think it's important to take some action. Stop sitting on the fence. It's stuff like this that got us into Iraq.

[rojo7449]

Interesting headline. Edwards can vote for whomever he wants. It isn't time for him to step up and endorse either candidate if he doesn't want to. I guess it's pretty clear who the journalist is supporting, though.

[olderdem]

We've been hearing over the last few days that Hillary's new strategy is to try to win North Carolina.

What I fear is that Edwards could be induced by Hillary to spring an endorsement of her after the Pennsylvannia primary, before North Carolina -- espectially if she can get close in the polling -- to tip the primary to Hillary. What would Hillary offer? Anything and everything that it takes to get his endorsement.

[rojo7449]

Since when is trying to win the primary in any state considered a New Strategy by either candidate. No wonder you hate her.

[2Nurselady]

I think John Edwards needs to come out and endorse Hillary Clinton - the most qualified and the most experienced candidate in the running right now. I think Hillary Clinton represents and has long worked for the very issues that John Edwards has spoken of as important to him and to Elizabeth: poverty, universal healthcare, and other issues. I think Hillary Clinton - both of the Clintons, for that matter, have long worked to give the impoverished a "hand up" and to help them to improve the quality of their lives. As for healthcare, Hillary Clinton's plan is what John Edwards has said he supports - a plan that covers EVERY American and does not leave any person out as Barack Obama's plan does.

I would like to see more people of prominence like John Edwards endorse the candidate who can best put our country back into good standing here at home and in the world community as the Clintons did when they were in the White House in the 1990s. Those were VERY GOOD years for our country. We felt better. We lived better. We knew we had people in the White House that could effectively respond to whatever was needed on a moment's notice, if needed.

I hope John Edwards will endorse Hillary Clinton for the sake of our country and our people.

My blessings to the Edwards'. They are great Americans. HEY JOHN EDWARDS -- ANY CHANCE OF A CLINTON/EDWARDS TICKET??? :)

CLINTON/EDWARDS 2009 ?! :)

[combatveteran]

How do you rationalize the fact she could have stood with the 1/ 2 of the democratic Senators that said no to Iraq! How! How! Then Kyle Liebermann! How! How! And Liebermann is out stomping around with PTSD McCain! How! How!

[mojomagic]

Edwards voted for that resolution as did Edwards and Biden..........How would Obama have voted had he been under pressure in the Senate. Even Obama admitted he didn't know how he would have voted .........had he been in the Senate and needed to vote, or maybe he would vote present like he did 130 times in Springfield, Ill.

[PatricefromNH]

An open letter to Elizabeth Edwards,

I sincerely hope you still scan the internet for political news about your husband when you can't sleep and somehow, miraculously, you come across this blog. I shook your husband's hand when he came to visit the Edwards for President campaign headquarters in Salem right before our primary. I had listened to him speak, watched him close up and read everything he wrote on his positions and his beliefs. Not only did I approve of most of his positions but I believed in his integrity, in his desire to rise above a divided America, that America of the haves and have nots, that America of red states and blue states, that America governed by a Washington choked by greed and powerful lobbyists. I believed in your husband's desire and ability to lead us away from a government of the past.

I had such pride as I watched him lead the primary race with electric ideas like putting poverty on the agenda, detailing the first healthcare reform plan, making a firm deadline for removing our troops from Iraq. Senator Edwards, in my mind and the mind of thousands of others who worked for him and campaigned for him, was a true leader.

When so many argued that your husband was, too young, too good looking, too rich, too inexperienced, we knew that those things didn't matter. There's no school for presidents-in-waiting, there's no cookie cutter formula that determines a great president one a mediocre one, instead, what we have learned from our history is, in fact, that the ones who really shine at leading our country, have the least Washington style and experience. We saw your husband shine, Mrs. Edwards, and we voted for him.

Then everything changed, it was simply not to be. With great regret we cast our discerning eyes on the remaining two candidates and many of us chose Senator Obama because we believed he came the closest to representing the ideals that could suture the deep gashes that divide the two Americas, the one of the people of color, who compose the largest percentage of the have nots and everybody else, those of the lily white, disproportionate haves. Senator Obama asks us to think on a higher plane, one that rises above the anger we subconsciously harbor and often act out or project onto others. Senator Obama, like your husband yet in his own style, asks us to embrace dignity by recognizing what is not dignified in our actions and choices and through his inspiring speeches, continues the tradition of trying to unite the two Americas that your husband began in this historic campaign.

We are all accutely aware that the Democratic party is growing angrier and more divided by the day. When we watch former President Clinton make headlines with implied suggestions about love for country which is clearly intended to mislead, our party suffers another deep gash and our entire country bleeds.

It is time, Mrs. Edwards. Our party needs your husband to take the lead again. We need his fighter instincts to stand up for us and challenge the corporate media that is manipulating this election, inciting further discord and using us to further their own financial agendas. Our party desperately needs the leadership Senator Edwards could bring to uniting us behind the presidential candidate that has the intergrity and moral leadership to guide us toward a November election win. Please tell him, Mrs. Edwards, that it is time for him to shine.

[mojomagic]

Dear PatricefromNH,

[lovethesinner]

It's unlikely that John Edwards will endorse Obama, although I'd welcome it. I'd be happy to have his support mostly because his supporters are concerned with the same issues we are: health-care; trade; and foreign policy. They are progressives like Obama's supporters.

But, if John Edwards supports anyone, it will probably be Hillary. I say this only because of the fact that John Edwards hasn't endorsed anyone yet, and all I can think of for his reason is that he's holding out until North Carolina, where he's likely to have an effect.

John Edwards could be a viable VP candidate for Hillary, but he doesn't help Obama in the general election. He's viewed as a progressive, so he could BALANCE a Hillary candidacy. Obama needs someone with a military background. My pick for Obama is Jim Webb.

But, an even better ticket for Obama would be Al Gore. Of all the scenarios for future Democratic viability, Obama-Gore brings the longest run of victories. It would also have the largest "coat tails" to bring Dem victories down ticket. Obama-Gore is a true uniting of the north and the south. But, Obama-Webb is also.

I see John Edwards as a great AG in an Obama administration, (although, so would Kucinich) but he would be a real contender for Hillary's VP. Again, I hope his supporters vote the issues in remaining primaries. I can't thin