Only John Edwards Can Beat McCain
I'll be 60 eight days before the election in November. This is a bad thing and a good thing. The bad thing is it ain't going to be a real long time before I'm dead. The good thing is I've traveled a few miles and have picked up something along the way, and that something is called "institutional memory".
As I watched news coverage of Monday night's debate, the ever-escalating "I know you are, but what am I?" fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton suddenly struck a memory from 28 years back. The feud between Teddy Kennedy and Jimmy Carter rushed into my mind like a horrible memory of an old girlfriend. My recollection of their self-destructive hostilities reminded me how their battles went a long ways toward giving this nation Ronald Reagan.
It was 1980, and the Democratic Party had two supposedly strong national candidates--one an incumbent president, the other a scion of America's national family. They were going up against a Republican Party that was searching for an identity and would go deep on the bench to nominate the host of "Death Valley Days".
I remember this as an election we shouldn't have lost. But as we have done so many times in the past, we Democrats figured out a way to step on our Johnson.
In that 1980 nominating battle, our two candidates went after each other like Sherman went after Georgia. The result? Unbelievably, half of Washington is now named after Ronald Reagan--though I'll still say I'm flying into National Airport until the day the Good Lord or the Devil calls me home.
Surely, I'm not the only one who can see this six-foot rabbit named Harvey. John McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. How do I know? Because "institutional memory" also reminds me that the Democratic Party I love can't count. And regardless of what you think of the Republicans, they can.
It should be clear to anybody with over a 50 IQ that my boy John Edwards, with his combination of red state electoral experience and toughness, is the only candidate who can beat John McCain. Whether you believe polls or not, polls from CNN to Rasmussen say just that.
And it should be equally as clear to anybody with over a 25 IQ that Obama and Clinton are going to render each other totally unelectable against any Republican, especially John McCain, by the time we get to the convention.
All the Republicans have to be loving this. Because the Democrat they don't want to face, John Edwards, is getting sandwiched between the coverage of this murderous cat fight between two so-called "historical" candidates who, when all is said and done, will be just that. HISTORY.
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Loved your post. Especially your making the point about Kennedy and Carter losing the election to Ronnie Raygun. Hopefully that'll put the fear of gXd in some of the hate-spewing Democrats who would tear down their opposition at the expense of winning this race. It's ABSOLUTELY critical that the Democratic Party wins this election in 2008, so, please stop attacking each other, Democrats. Agree to vote for whoever wins the nomination for President, whether it be Clinton, Obama or Edwards. Edwards polls VERY well against McCain, and it would be in our interest to stand behind a winner, and not haggle over unwinnable principles like Ralph Nader. Ralph Nader is largely responsible for our being in Iraq, whether he would ever admit it or not. We can't let catfights between Hillary and Barrack allow us to stay there for another 50 years.
John McCain, the senator Dems love to credit with his commitment to campaign finance reform? The Republicans love that one. And how about on immigratio
While I applaud Edwards' goals with respect to poverty, you guys are all kidding yourselves if you think he can ever be elected President with a liberal far-left agenda in this capitalist country. Instead, he should take a lesson from Al Gore and take his cause outside of government. He could team up with Bono and work to end poverty on a global scale. He may even win a Nobel Peace Prize. However, he certainly can never win the Presidency in this country. He really needs to throw his support behing the more moderate Obama so that we can at least get a well-liked Democrat in office.
Edwards is the only clear choice for the Democrats, and not just because he's "electable". His message and his personal character are our best hope for beginning to undo the Bush years. I am still at a loss as to why a person from a poor background, who went to a public college on scholarship, who worked hard at a job where he was financially successful AND helped many plaintiffs who otherwise would have no voice, who has been married to the same person for decades, is not regarded as the Democratic front-runner. (ever heard of the American dream? Edwards embodies it.)
Edwards' message is clear and consistent in this race. It seems that he's become more of a populist and more of a true liberal in this race. Many of our most successful leaders have changed their political focus. (much as I hate to invoke his name, think of the transformation Ronald Reagan made going from Governor of California to President. Now think of the opposite, and you can understand why John Edwards could have changed his true beliefs.)
Keep your eye on the ball, people. He's the only one who has been consistently against the futilithon that some call the war in Iraq. He is the only one whose primary concern is economic justice. Perhaps he understands that true homeland security means that people in the homeland must have basic economic safety nets - such as health insurance and a higher minimum wage.
A) I do like this poster but rarely agree with him B) I do prefer Edwards to the others, I think he is the best all along, best character, best practical ideas etc
C) No way Hillary can't beat McCain (who among so many other distinctions with Reagan, is way too old to run)
D) Obama...is
If you believe Edwards is the candidate we need and want him to stay in the race- support him. Every cent up to $250 is matched. Please get off the sidelines and help:
https://ww
The reality with McCain is this: The GOP establishment does not trust him. He was against Bush's tax cuts and he's for finance reform. The "Base" is against him over his illegal immigration stance that he has not backed away from (if he does, the Dems have a nice 30 second flip flop ready to go)and the neocons are against him for being against torture. McCain has real problems unifying the Republicans.
It's not about McCain energizing the Republicans to get out the vote it's about the Democrat candidate!
We have seen over the last several elections Republicans don't vote "FOR" something or someone, they are only motivated to vote "against" and the easiest carrot to use if the fear card. Doesn't really matter what they are being told to be afraid of, about anything will work with them. So knowing this about them:
If we nominate a woman or a black man, they wwill be conditioned to fear it. "Do you want a nnagging mommy state?" Obama is (gasp) black and (wink wink) sources say, muslim with a middle name just like Sadam Hussein and a last name that rhymes with Osama!
Those that may not have been motivated to vote for McCain now have something more powerful to vote against.
They will not be motivated to vote for a guy who is for amnesty for illegal immigrants just to keep a southern white guy with great hair and a big house from getting into office. Edwards can't inspire the bigotry and ignorance needed to ignite fear to vote against your own interests.
Please use your head. Vote Edwards. Win back the White House, clean house of the neocons and rreligious whack jobs, THEN we can break ceilings! Hillary and Barack will still be in the Senate and have a future in the party. (provided they don't take us all down with them with this ego-driven fighting).
It's strange that a person who is touting his age, experience, and memory as the sources of the strength of his reasoning has completely forgotten that in 1980 the nation was in turmoil over double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates, and this little thing about hostages in Iran that Walter Cronkite was so kind as to count days for us on every broadcast. That election was not winnable by a Democrat even if they'd been giving each other sloppy kisses at every campaign stop. What was surprising wasn't the loss to the star of Bedtime For Bonzo, but that the Republicans didn't rub it in by nominating the chimp.
This year the Republicans are set to pay the price for failings even greater than those of 1980. Interests rates are low, but the credit market can't climb out of its hole, the economy is teetering on the brink of collapse, and different portions of the electorate are either angry about not leaving Iraq or angry about not being able to "win" in Iraq, with over 5000 Americans dead and a war-driven deficit in the stratosphere. Nothing the Republicans have tried has relieved any of these situations, and most of them continue to get worse during a campaign year. And while the current administration was spending all of its time creating these situations, they forgot to attend to helping a rousing front-runner to emerge for 2008. So ineffectual are the Republican candidates, and so deep the blame held against their party for the current problems and failures to cure them, that even Dennis Kucinich could beat any of them.
The only Democrat who can lose is Hillary Clinton. What the Republican candidates lack in ability to fire up their own base is amply offset by Hillary's proven ability to do that for them. This is not to say that she will definitely lose, only that she is the one candidate in the entire Democratic Party field who can lose. Message to Democratic Party primary voters: if you vote for Hillary, you do so at great peril.
Steve Greenfield
Carter lost because RayGun stole the election by committing treason. Raygun's gang interfered with Carters official negotiations to free the hostages. The hostages were released and Iran started getting weapons as soon as Raygun was in office.Oli
I'm an Edwards supporter and hope that somehow he gets the nod for many reasons. I would like to see Obama mature as our VP, acting as a proponent for populism effectively replacing corporatism in our political establishment.
Together, I view an Edwards/Obama ticket as the Tag Team from Camelot, capable of inspiring faith in good government and real volunteerism. Politically, I am closest to Kucinich but I know the country is not there yet.
Our best hope is that enough people vote for John on 'Feb Five' to keep him in the race as a viable candidate. The longer this takes, the more people will hear John's message.
John Edwards has not lost a single state WHERE YOU WOULD HAVE EXPECTED HIM TO HAVE A CHANCE OF WINNING! Iowa? Hello. Bible Belt; conservative; blue dog - get it? New Hampshire? Live free or die (aka: every man for himself, take no prisoners, populists beware). Nevada? Harry Reid's old stomping ground (need I say more?). South Carolina's the first state he really, truly will have to do well in (notwithstanding that he did do fairly well in Iowa and New Hampshire, all things considered). If he's a distant third in South Carolina, then, no, it doesn't look good for him. But at least wait till then to boot him from the race - ok?
I'm sorry, but your institutional memory is pretty damn selective.
Kennedy ran precisely because Carter was such a weak candidate.
That Carter stayed apace with Reagan until the last few days of general election only proves that the primary fight didn't kill Carter, his performance as president did.
I find it disconcerting that the most qualified Democrats with the best ideas keep getting squelched by the media. Remember Bill Richardson? It was only after he dropped out of the race that the media actually recognized that he had one of the deepest and widest ranging resumes of any presidential candidate in recent memory. Now that it's down to Edwards, Clinton, and Obama, Edwards is the one being ignored, even though he's the true populist with a sincere philosophy and motivation. I do think he's our best shot at beating McCain (or any Republican), but I fear that it's already too late.
check out this video where Edwards is the only person standing with dgnity in the debate...
http://the
Edwardes brings an element of repose to this process, and I am glad to have him involved.
We already have a congress and senate full of very old, set in their ways, antiquated old farts. there needs to be term limits. The same problems keep getting reelected. What would it take twenty years of the same old bullshit to make you see that nothing is getting done? Some are as sharp as a tennis ball. we need to weed out the old do nothing, entrenched, earmark mongers! And now you want to elect another old man president? What part of change don't you understand?
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