Another reason for progressives to vote for John Edwards, whether you trust him or not!

cascadiance

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Tue Dec-11-07 11:13 AM
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Another reason for progressives to vote for John Edwards, whether you trust him or not!

As a progressive, I'm torn up about the prospects of who we have in the White House in 2009 onwards, and that there are very critical challenges facing our nation that we need progressive approaches to do radical changes in fixing what has become very badly broken over the last two to three decades with this country.

I'd at first hoped Russ Feingold would run, but resigned myself to other choices when he told us he wasn't running after the 2006 election.

I then sincerely hoped that Al Gore would get in the race. Though it still is a possibility, I think we've crossed that threshold where it's an optimal time for him to enter now vs. a few weeks ago, and therefore he's probably not getting in.

I love Dennis Kucinich on many issues and have put money into his campaign as well, but whether is a MSM only fabrication that he's not electable or not, I still think it's a very uphill battle for him to get both the nomination and elected in the general election.

Then there's John Edwards. Of the other candidates, he is the only remaining one in my book that is putting forth what I would consider a progressive agenda and being outspoken about it. Obama might, but his non-commital attitude isn't good enough for me.

Some have complained that John Edwards has a checkered past with his votes in the Senate not necessarily matching up with his stances of today. Yes, those are real concerns for me too, and if those votes weren't there, I'd be even more on board with him now than I am already, and I'm pretty firmly in support of him now. I'd like to think that he's wised up, much like Al Gore had wised up since the 2000 election too with experience of what goes on behind the scenes, and what the American people want and need based on how they've been savaged by this administration over the last 7 years.

Think of it this way. If we put Edwards in the White House, despite his lower amounts of campaign financing than Clinton or Obama, and is done so by millions of us speaking out and saying we want what he's saying as his agenda implemented, in my book that is a mandate coming from the nation of what we want from our leaders. The votes will be there showing what the nation wants, and it will be hard for either the congress or Edwards himself to contend with that mandate.

So even if you think he will reverse himself on some of the stands he's campaigning on now, and even if he does later, it still doesn't take away from the mandate that America would have issued that we want what he's been touted implemented by our government officials, and perhaps both he and Congress will keep that more in mind as they run our country 2009 and beyond. If Edwards backs off on some things, perhaps Congress will remind him of the mandate he rode in on, knowing that they have to live up to that mandate themselves too, and that the people's will sometimes trumps heavy special corporate interest spending and that that is something they will be careful not to contend with too in the coming years as well.

For me, Edwards is providing us the mandate we want. We vote for him, and if enough of us vote for it, it will send a message to those in Washington about what America wants! Those in Washington know that the special interests aren't there to help Edwards get elected and that only the people's will would have done so, unlike other politicians in the mix that are trying to work for their backers as much or more as they are working for the people now.

Vote for Edwards, and vote for a "PROGRESSIVE MANDATE"! It is damned important folks!