You hear it more and more these days; “I was an Edwards supporter, but now I’m not sure who I’m for…..”
John Edwards’ campaign never got the traction it needed, despite what appears to have been a huge amount of grassroots support. Why? Some people will tell you it’s because Edwards dared to challenge the American corporate power which lies just below the surface of all things “political” and that he was summarily shut down because of it. That the media, bought and paid for by massive corporate interests, made sure he was “framed” the way they wanted him to be. They’ll tell you that those corporate players didn’t want a former tort lawyer, who had given them and their buddies fits for years, running the country. They’ll tell you that they feared he’d actually follow through on his promises to mute their power…and raise up the average guy.
And I can’t argue any of that for one minute.
Why do I bring this up now? After all, for many people, Edwards is a distant memory.
Well, I bring it up because Edwards might have been the best candidate the Democrats will never nominate. He had low negatives. He suffered no “problem” with race. He was strong in the South. He was experienced. He was very thoughtful and progressive. And he seemed to be a genuine human being. As has been noted elsewhere, it was John Edwards who presented many forward-thinking concepts about health care and other major issues, only to have his ideas almost immediately co-opted by the Clinton and Obama camps.
If the Democratic Party weren’t such a scrum of diverse interests, egos and viewpoints, Edwards would be the nominee today. Someone would have made sure of that. He was, as they like to say, electable. It remains to be seen whether Hillary or Obama can manage that same feat and whether the Party will have, once again, cut off its nose to spite its face. A face that should blanch in abject embarrassment if they lose this election.
ditto Pilt
Thats what i told people. Apparently no one looked at electability going into the general. Im not really attached in this race and quitely dissatisfied. So when i see their supporters throwing hissy fits and threatening to have a riot if their candidate doesnt win… i think to myself, ehhh this is really annoying.
I was an Edwards supporter, too
John Edwards was my first choice, too. I really felt he the potential to be as powerful and effective as president as LBJ had been in the senate for progress in America.
The main thing that hurt his campaign, though, was the return of EE’s breast cancer. But, on the wishful thinking side, maybe in a brokered convention, both camps would turn to him as a compromise candidate.
pd
Brokered
PD –
If I were scripting a feel-good movie, that’s exactly what I’d do. “Out of the ashes of a contentious campaign comes the one man who the entire nation, in all its pain and bitterness, can rally behind!”
He’d make Obama his Veep and Hillary Secretary of State and we’d all live happily ever after….
The question of Elizabeth’s cancer is interesting. At that point in the campaign I guess voters looked at it as a deal-breaker, but that’s back before the gloves came off. I doubt it would even register on the Richter Scale at this point….
Pilt
EE's cancer
Pilt, I recall at the time she had a recurrance of her cancer, he stopped or put his campaign on hold. That put him behind the curve. I don’t think her cancer scared voters off at all, but it put him in a real bind whether to continue on or be with her full time.
pd
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