Open Letter to John Edwards: Get Ready, John, They're Going to Come at You with All Barrels Blazing

John Edwards, you better have a strong stomach and a steel rod in your spine. You're going to need it because it's going to get ugly, and you're going to be the target of the ugliness. You hung tough, didn't fade in the polls as some expected and hoped, and now you are poised to make a big showing in Iowa. Now that that's the case, they're going to come after you with all barrels blazing.

The 'they' is not just the gaggle of ultra-conservative slam artists, the Fox network crowd, talk shock jocks, the Wall Street Journal neo-con columnists, and The New York Times neo-neo-liberal bunch. The 'they' is also Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the Democratic Party shot callers. They will slander, slur, and outright frontally assail you. As long as you were a bare afterthought, warm up act to Clinton and Obama, nobody cared.

These two mediagenic darlings have hogged the glare of the media and the public, and with Clinton, it's loathing and vitriol and with Obama, it's curiosity and fake adoration. But John, you quietly, patiently did your homework. You courted the Democratic Party chairs and leaders in Iowa, hammered away on the need for universal health care, a revamped farm policy, labor protections, against corporate pillaging, and most importantly, the disgrace of endemic poverty in a nation of plenty.

Your populist message didn't mark you as a threat -- it's the fact that you can win and would be in a position to deliver on it makes you a threat. The seeds of the attack were there from the start. You had barely stepped out of the barber salon months ago when the guffaws started. You were the butt of laughs and late night TV talk show gags for committing the unpardonable sin of blowing $400 on a haircut. Normally that wouldn't have raised an eyebrow since you are a wealthy guy who made millions as a corporate lawyer. But John, you did one more thing that none of your rich pals would think of doing. In fact, you did one thing that your Democratic presidential rivals were slow to do. You made poverty no longer a dirty word out of a presidential candidate's mouth.

This was not just a cheap campaign ploy to give you an edge over the other candidates. Your passion for the poverty fight appears to be as much personal as political. You've had plenty of ammunition to make the case that nearly 40 million poor people in the world's richest country is an abomination that nobody seemed to want to talk about it, let alone do anything about it. It was irksome enough that the GOP presidents and presidential candidates would stay silent on the plight of the poor. It was downright infuriating that your Democratic opponents would also stay mute on the issue.

John, you said something else that raised eyebrows. You noted that poverty invariably comes with a disproportionate number of black and Latino faces. One out of four blacks lives below the poverty line and a significant percentage of Latinos reside there, too. Race and poverty then were two ugly sides of the same coin. It didn't take Katrina and the horrific sight of thousands of poor blacks fleeing for their lives for you to know there are a lot of poor blacks and Latinos in America.

You shrugged off the haircut barbs and taunts and toured through eight poor regions of the South in July 2007 with your modern day version of an anti-poverty fact finding campaign. You kicked off your three-day campaign in New Orleans 9th Ward. The nearly all-black area suffered the worst Katrina flood devastation and had become the universal symbol of poverty and neglect. Worse, it stood as tragic testament to the failed and broken promises of recovery made by corporations and the federal government.

Your poverty crusade stirred a mild flutter for a couple of months among Obama and Clinton. As the weeks passed and you outflanked Obama on the issue of poverty, he became increasingly agitated. He publicly voiced frustration and resentment at what he called your attempt to paint yourself as the anti-poverty candidate. Obama's claim to be the true anti-poverty crusader fooled no one, and got no political traction.

In going where no Democratic presidential candidate has gone in four decades, you are bucking history, negative public and political attitudes on poverty, and populist causes. Your message is an albatross around the Democratic Party's neck. But you are for real, and always have been, and that's why Obama and Clinton try to pluck off and repackage parts of your message, while of course giving you no credit for it. Now with the real possibility that you can win Iowa outright, or at the very least make a big showing there, get ready, they will come at you with all barrels blazing.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press)
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Comments

[totallynext]

Mark Maron supports - John Edwards

[PatricefromNH]

Excellent commentary!! I somewhat disagree with one sentence, "The 'they' is also Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the Democratic Party shot callers."

Of course, Hilary and Obama's camp have strong advocates who will fuel the mudslinging but "the Democratic Party shot callers?" One of them is Howard Dean and as a former Dean supporter and activist, I can't imagine him NOT supporting John Edwards! Former Dean activists are still so enamoured with the former presidential candidate that to this day when the former Governor sends an e-mail asking for money for the democrats, the coffers are filled. Can you imagine the people power that will be generated when he publicly backs a candidate? And what about Al Gore? Al Gore, even out of party political sight, is a huge, subconscious influence..how could he not throw his full support behind John Edwards?

John Edwards embodies the best of Howard Dean and Al Gore and many other Democratic party powers. I think what we may well see when John Edwards surprises everyone with his Iowa showing is many of those influential political party big shots putting their political muscle and power behind John Edwards to minimize the coming negative attacks and help propel him to the presidency where he belongs.

Today I am going out and placing signs for John Edwards around my NH town..please go to your local JE campaign headquarters, pick up a couple of signs and do the same or simply put a JE bumper sticker on your car. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!!!

GO, JOHN, GO!!

[DemandTruth]

Edwards/ObamaorBidenorRichardsonorKucinichorDodd 08

You fight for ME John!

Go John Go!

[peachfuzz]

Edwards is a winner. You can't re-create the 90's and many people do not want to. Hillary
will protect the status quo and the powers that be; give just barely what the people need and call that a grand victory. I want more than that. I want a leader not a "yes-woman".

[OhPlease2007]

Earl, thank you for your words of wisdom. For the most part, the major problem that Republicans seem to have on their hands, is that they are incapable of admitting mistakes and apologizing for them, and that is their Achilles' heel. And 'if' Obama and Hillary plan on getting ugly after Iowa, they will get stuffed by the skeletons in their own closets that the M$M has not been focusing on. Believe me, John Edwards will do just fine and is more than ready for whatever may come his way. Thanks again for the great post! :)

[GreedyOldPsychopaths]

Earl,

First, completely agree with your assessment on poverty and Edwards' crusade and champion status for the poor. Don't forget the middle class though. This is another import voting bloc for Edwards, especially the manufacturing sector, both blue and white collar alike.

Second, the more people become impoverished or negatively impacted by the policies of greed, the less likely they are to be swayed by corporate and political pundits and their negative messages.

Iowans are seeing through the BS because of their collective economic situation. As 2008 unfolds, the economic outlook, i.e. housing/credit market, dollar devaluation, and jobs displacement, is likely to bolster support for Edwards and, perhaps more importantly, his message. Win or lose, Edwards has forced both Obama and Hillary to make concessions and recognize problematic issues with trade, health care, and economic disparity.

Finally, if Edwards does well in N.H., assuming a win in Iowa, it may be the establishment that is in for a rough ride because Edwards will be relentless if he smells blueblood.

[TekBoss]

Earl is correct and that is why I am voting for Edwards. Not because he wants to be President. But because he is willing to stand up to these people. That is REAL change, and I want it!

[Swampfish]

So I should vote for Edwards caused he voted for Iraq war then said sorry,Voted to outsource my job with NAFTA & GATT & said he was sorry ,voted for patriot act & said he was sorry ?

[texanna]

IF Edwards does take Iowa, Earl, then you are certainly correct about the deluge of attacks that will descend on him. That $400 haircut dustup will pale in comparison. I think that Edwards can handle himself in the face of the onslaught to come. The only way that it will overwhelm him is if he lets himself be handled in the manner of Kerry and Gore before him. Just keep those consultants like Shrum away from him, and he'll do just fine.

[SandyDoc]

It has been educational to watch Edwards growth over the last several years. I think the last three years have been the forge-fire that has tempered the man...and the politician.

Edwards' early life reads like a "how to" on achieving the American Dream. His Senate years read like a primer on the negative effects of the political machine of Congress coupled with the fear-mongering of the Bush machine post 9/11. But his post-Senate years bring him back full cirle to his core beliefs. In his service to his fellowman these last three years, I think he found himself again. I believe that he will be a great president.

Obama, if he has the opportunity to escape the taint of corporate ownership, may make a similar journey...but only time will tell. At this point, he is still in the clutches of all that is wrong with our country. I hope he does escape...for his own good and for the good of the country should he progress in public service.

[CatfishJohn]

...imagine the imapct edwards articualte and genuine presentation of a truly liberal agenda in this nation- one not promulgated in an presidential race in over 2 decades- would be if not filtered through the willful obfuscation of his candidacy through the corporate media ( he's far too liberla for their plutocracy-first agenda) and was able to get through to newcomer votes directly sidestepping through the haze of the opportunistic -supreme obama "kumbaya candidacy". obama offers loittle more than more saccharine platitides in his stump speeches and less substnace than an entire wall of hallmark greeting cards...and his viability as a winning candidate in november does not exist...or in other words, if republcians have won red states based on the "wink and nod" racism of their southern strategy since 1972, just how in the hell is a black man singing kumbaya and offering "isnpiring cliches" gonna conquer all that and win up for grabs states like kentucky, west virginia, tennessee and missouri???...a lot of oabma backers exist in espresso bar bubbles and arent out there in real, red state america where SADLY voting for a black man for president is anathema to them...edwards substantive campaign has been MUZZLED by the medias people magazine love affair with this hillary vs obama banality ad nauseum...a win in iowa will be the impetus edwards needs for at long last a substantive debate within the party rather than a shallow personality/rorschach card contest....

[Kenshin]

Your words here, Earl, are the truth.

Anyone reading these negative comments here and anywhere else please understand it is part of what Hutchinson is getting at, it's spin from the other campaigns, scripted precisely from "message testing" polls to harm edwards' character. Nice try people, let's keep poverty out of sight and mind some more, eh?

can't...stop...the...momentum...too...much...please, Oprah...help me...

I especially like how some of the obama/hillary supporters pretend to be republicans in their comments and attack the shallow, non-issue things like how much a haircut should cost, rather than hey, don't you think 37 million people living in poverty in america is a problem??...

Please be assured, Edwards is the man of steel. and his supporters like me are fearless. we will be fine...and we will be in the white house come january 09.

Thanx Earl for this letter!

[isis]

I liked Edwards because of the poverty issue but once I saw the 527 stuff against Obama it made Edwards look like a hypocrite. I even support some of them but he can't act as if he doesn't get big money help. They all do. I would still support him if he got the nomination and he's my 2nd choice but he has gone a bit over the edge these past few weeks.

[msabbynormal]

It might be worthwhile to note that if things continue the way they have been, poverty's face will come in pretty much any color you'd care to name.

[rubyred20]

The Edwards backers live in fantasy land.There is no way in hell the Dems are going to let John have the nomination.Oh you can hope and pray and even by some miracle he wins Iowa,it's still not going to happen.If nothing else they want to win and Edwards is a loser,he had is chance in 04.It's going to be Hillary or Barack.