Why I'm supporting Edwards (repost from sinking thread)

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Wed Jan-21-04 05:38 PM
Original message

Poll question: Why I'm supporting Edwards (repost from sinking thread)

Edited on Wed Jan-21-04 05:44 PM by AP

This is from an exchange earlier, and I didn't want it to slip away without more people seeing it).

economic justice (600 posts)
Wed Jan-21-04 12:18 PM
Response to Original message

37.�AP......question

First of all, I am impressed how you are using the "advocacy" program that Edwards has going with his site. Good stuff!

I have been a Clark guy for many months but am having second thoughts due to some of the things that have come out recently concerning his London editorial and appearance before the congressional committee. I am looking at John Edwards and am more impressed each time I look closer. My question to you personally is this --- After looking over the candidates, what two things more than anything persuaded you to join the Edwards campaign? And, did you support anyone else before? I feel kinda guilty wavering on Wes, but these latest revelations were very troubling for me and his responses maybe even more so. Bush has GOT TO GO and I am thinking Edwards just may be the ticket home. Thanks for your time in responding.
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� AP� (1000+ posts)
Wed Jan-21-04 01:04 PM
Response to Reply #37
41.�Here's my history at DU

I hope this establishes my sincerity:

I hate Bush with a passion. 2000 was very upsetting. I knew from the start that the Democrats were not going to have an easy time winning in 2004 and that it was important to pick the perfect candidate. I knew Gore was a mess because (1) in my eyes, he has little conviction -- I can't tell what his motivating principles are, and (2) on the issue of class, he's terrible.

If you ask me what is the biggest issue in America, I'd say it's so obvious that Bush is creating an America with a permanent underclass and where all the political, economic and cultural power is distributed up an increasingly steep and narrow pyramid which few people at the bottom will ever have a chance to climb. EVERY other issue falls under that umbrella, including war and terror. Those are just tools the Republicans use to get people elected who are down with the power redistribution program.

Because this is what I care about, there are two issues which were more imporant to me than anything. I wouldn't be surpirsed if my first two posts at DU were about these two issues: taxes and race. To me the tax code is the NUMBER ONE TOOL BAR NONE which the Republicans use to transfer power. It's a great tool, because nobody understands it. How many times did I hear Juan Williams on TOTN in 2000 and 2001 outright lie about how the tax code works? In 2000, I saw a survey which suggested Americans did believe that a progressive tax code was the way to go. Yet Bush STILL won -- and it was clear to me, but to few other Americans, that he was going to immediately use the tax code to change America into that tall, steep pyramid. Guess what? He did. That second issue: race. To me the black man and woman are the canaries in the economic coal mine. If America is not working for black America, then the entire middle class is next. Race is an issue I care deeply about. Deeply. (Only more recently, I'm adding a third major concern to my nexus, and that's well paying jobs with a future -- along with taxes, destroying job opportunities is the other way Bush is making sure the people at the top stay at the top).

So, read my early posts at DU. These issues came first for me. More important than the candidate in 2004 were the issues. I always expected I'd have to compromise. And I always knew (and, to a degree still know) that my candidate is going to break my heart, no matter what - win or lose. Nobody is going to be perfect, and politics in the US has a way of destroying things that are good. I'm a realist. I'm a cynic. But I have my issues which mean more than I can say. And I want to win. I want to win because it really really matters.

So, in this climate, I was looking for my candidate. I've heard a few things about a few people. Sometime in, perhaps, Feb 2002 I was watching CSPAN, and there on my TV is John Edwards. I'd heard of him, perhaps at the old MWO discussion boards. One person said he was handsome. Another said he had a big distracting mole on his lip. Another said Gore looked at him. And another said Clinton likes him and he beat Faircloth. So I didn't turn the channel.

What did I see? I see a guy talking to a group of middle class Americans about TAXES. About progressive taxation. And what do I hear? I hear him making an argument, simply that people are UNDERSTANDING. Heads are nodding. What's this? This is a guy explaining one of the most complicate mathematical, poltical, economic, philosophical and important issues of our day, which I've never seen any politician ever communicate well in my life. And people are getting it.

I could go on and list all the things I discovered about him subsequently -- about race, about jobs, about the redistribution of power, about his wife, about his children, his parents, about the things I read in Four Trials, about how he has comported himself as a senator, and as a candidate -- but I've done that many times here. It suffices to say that every new thing I hear about him even more impressive than the previous thing.

So that was my introduction to Edwards.

As for my experience chosing a candidate as it relates to how others go through the same process, I think if you read through what I've written, you can see that there are things in there which make it obvious why Edwards is at the top of my list. I REALLY like Clark and I REALLY like Kerry, and I love Kucinich. I think I could vote for any of them and support them with MORE enthusiasm than I had voting for Clinton.

� But, the route I took to Edwards is way too much a part of me to not give all my energies to arguing his case. If people haven't taken this route, I think it would make sense not to put up the Edwards avatar just yet. Stick with Clark, or Kerry or whomever you like. Keep their avatars up. The important thing right now isn't falling behind a candidate. The imporant thing right now is the discussion. And I think there can be a great, honest discussion about these three candidates. I'll keep making the argument for Edwards, and I really hope that people stick with the candidates they support after taking their unique routes to where they're at, whether it's Edwards or anyone else. Maybe their routes will change (hopefully to Edwards!) Maybe my route will change (hopefully not!). But the journey's the important thing, right?

In any event, one thing I'm very confident about today is that the best candidate is going to come out of this discussion we're all having and will have a great chance of beating Bush.

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