For the Blowhards Who Insist It's a Two-Way Race...
For those of you who think the Democratic presidential nomination fight is just a two-way race between Obama and Clinton, check out this brand new poll from the Reno Gazette-Journal. Yup, that's right - it shows the Nevada caucus race a three-way, dead heat with John Edwards right in the mix.
Interestingly, this poll comes right on the heels of the Establishment viciously ratcheting up its angry attacks on the Edwards candidacy. Late last week, we saw a Reuters story headlined "Corporate Elite Fear Candidate Edwards" detailing how Wall Street moneymen and K Street lobbyists are frightened about Edwards populist, power-challenging message against greed and corruption. We also saw self-anointed Democratic "expert" Lawrence O'Donnell pen a fulminating screed demanding Edwards get out of the race - not surprising coming from a man who made his name running the U.S. Senate Finance Committee - long the most corrupt, lobbyist-ravaged panel in all of Washington (somehow, running the U.S. Congress's version of a pay-to-play casino now makes people credible "experts" in campaign strategy and political morality).
According to the nonpartisan Project for Excellence in Journalism, Edwards has long faced a media blackout - one that at least some honest media brokers like Keith Olbermann have noted. As I said a long time ago, that Edwards has even been able to compete in such a hostile environment is a testament to the power of his message.
The question we should ask is what the hostility and media blackout is really all about? I'd say the media's behavior is motivated by the same impulses that moves lobbyists to whine and cry to Reuters and self-important bloviators like O'Donnell to publicly burst a blood vessel on the Huffington Post - the people who have gotten used to the status quo are truly terrified by any candidates who they really believe will change things and threaten their power and status. Edwards is just such a candidate - one who threatens to muck up what the media and political elite want to be a race between two "nonthreatening," Wall Street-approved candidates. Obviously, it's a three-way race at this very moment - whether the Establishment likes that or not.
Let me conclude by saying I have no idea if the Gazette-Journal poll is accurate and/or whether Edwards will win Nevada (or any other state). Unlike most reporters, I don't spend my time covering the horse race, nor judging the candidates' viability only on the grounds of how much corporate cash they've been able to vacuum in. I spend my time trying to figure out which of these candidates represent the most fundamental form of change. One of the ways to judge that is to see who these candidates make uncomfortable. And by that measure, here's what I know: Edwards is generating hostility from precisely the kinds of people who are likely to be most averse to real, systemic change. And that speaks very well for the former senator from North Carolina.
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Sirota makes a point that I finally realize is the reason I so strongly support John Edwards: "I spend my time trying to figure out which of these candidates represent the most fundamental form of change."
This is it for me in a nutshell. We need someone to fight the corporations that have a stranglehold on our society. Who else better to fight that fight than one who has fought the fight his entire career. More than any other candidate, Edwards understands the middle class and can see what the struggle is all about. Some may decry his personal wealth and success, but both came as a result of his fighting for those who can't fight against the corporate machine themselves.
Edwards is about change...t
John Edwards in '08!!!
We'll be in a New Great Depression before the election.
An Edwards Kucinich ticket is the winner. Anything else loses.
No matter which candidate each of us supports, it's impossible to know what he/she will do once we (or the Diebold machines) give him/her the job..I choose John Edwards, not because his past is perfect, not one of the candidate's is. He's not the best orator, Obama is (the ability to call people to action should be recognized as a rare and important talent). He doesn't have the most White House experience, Hillary Clinton does (I reject the notion that she was "only" the wife)..I choose John Edwards because he is the only candidate, besides Kucinich (hasn't a chance, sadly) who will have a MANDATE if elected..Y
Sorry David, but after your Lieberman predictions, I can't take you seriously anymore. Besides, Edwards has no chance at the nomination.
You tell 'em, David. O Donnell is a corporate Democrat hack.
The guy has no commitment to average Americans, nor do his favorites, Hillary or Barack.
JRE is our only hope, though you wouldn't know it from this celebrity worshipping huffpo blog.
You're right David on several points. Edwards does talk issues, scare the corporate elite, and is managing to wage a campaign in total media blackout. God bless him and Elizabeth.
America's got to see this and elect him president.
JOHN EDWARDS '08
Thanks Mr. Sirota. I was one of many, who were incensed by O'Donnell's absurd post the other day. Although I _like_ to believe that O'Donnell is on our side, there was very little difference between his attack on Edwards and those we have seen from Ann Coulter.
Thanks David, it is after, about the issues. Edwards fight to change from the political establishment running this country to putting the voters back in charge, is my fight too. No real change has ever come without a struggle.
And I won't even get into what an a$$ Lawrence O'Donnell is.
Is Hillary a poor man's Obama or vice-versa? Tweedledom or tweedlee? Here's my race card, here's my gender card. I can be more center-of-the-road that you can be! I am taking more corporate and lobbyist contributions that you are!
Change will only come about with votes. Giving in to the right wing is not centrist, it is surrendering your const5itutional rights.
I am sick and tired of the Establishment Press telling us ANYTHING. It is a 3 horse race and all 3 are good candidates. All 3 would be better for the country than any of the Republicans. The media is telling us how to vote, and they can kiss my rosy red ass! Don't tell me what to think, or how to vote!
My fellow Democrats wake up!
Dave is right. The entrenched interests have been vicious in their attacks of Edwards. Democrats please stop drinking the media kool-aid and honestly look at each of these candidates. See whose backing them and ask yourselves why? See whose complimenting them and ask yourselves why?
There was another piece that was in the LA Times a week or so ago where the president of the Chamber of Commerce arrogantly threatened any candidate that would dare oppose big business. This was a shot across the bow to Edwards because the Chamber knows that Obama and Clinton are only repeating some of Edwards rhetoric to get votes. Although voters don't know that this is not their primary message, the Chamber does. They know who is a serious threat to them and because of this they and their supporters have been playing hardball with Edwards this entire campaign.
Chamber of Commerce vows to punish anti-business candidates
http://www
Join with other Democrats and donate to Edwards so we can make sure the media has to pay attention.
John Edwards: $7 Million Dollars In One Day - Make It Happen
http://www
Why why why, fellow Democrats, do you insist upon nominating the candidate least likely to win in general elections? Polls show that Edwards is the only candidate with a chance against the leading Republicans, but you choose to support the corporate-sponsored twins. Oh how I wish I lived in South Carolina and not Pennsylvania, where the nominee is crowned before I have a chance to vote! And how unfair that Edwards is not on the ballot in Michigan, where he would demolish the competition, since he is the only one who truly believes in labor unions and wouldn't abandon them immediately after he had gotten their votes, as the corporate twins will.
There was another post (by Ian?) on Edwards today, saying some of the same things and then it disappeared off the front page--even though people were commenting. NYT's has really been better about coverage of Edwards than some of the "alternative" media. And the media blackout of Dodd and Biden didn't do any of us any good either.
David Sirota, formerly of Helena, MT, and now of Denver, writes with a distinctively Mountain West/populist flair that I find particularly appealing--and inspiring. Sirota's new book, which will be released on May 27th, is sure to produce fear and loathing within the Democratic Establishment. It is titled, The Uprising--An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington
http://www
As proof of Sirota's cutting-edge populism and how deeply his ideas threaten Big Money Democrats, Dwight Pelz, the chair of the Washington state Democrats has taken an 'over-my-dead-body' attitude about Sirota. Pelz is adamant that he won't allow Sirota to speak at the Washington state Democratic convention in Spokane, June 13-15, 2008. For those of you who might wish to sent a note to Pelz, he can be reached at wa-democra
As Sirota always says, Rock the boat!
Glad you are drawing attention to the media ignoring Edwards and his message. I am a Edwards supporter and until there is an actual Democratic nominee this primary race isn't over. I have one suggestion though, where ever he is his stump speech is the same each time I hear it. With all due respect to John Edwards' history of mill work I think he could make his point in different ways to keep his speeches fresh and interesting.
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