Edwards Must Take the 2004 Presidential Election

[Tank in Texas]

When John Edwards talks about two Americas he means two competing ideologies. The America where the opinions and values of the citizen are the motivation for the country and a foreign country I know nothing about, where people are classed together, told what to do and how to think.

I only recently had the chance to read "Four Trials" (my wife read it first.) I was particularly struck by the closing speech made at the conclusion of the final trial. In the speech, he contrasted Valerie Leakey, the little girl eviscerated by a swimming pool drain, as pure innocence, lifting one hand. Lifting the other and making a fist he characterized the negligent pool manufacturer as corporate indifference. Then he made the two collide to illustrate to the jury what happens when the whims of powerful corporate interests meet a defenseless individual.

His point was, and is, well-taken. WE must be the defense of the people. It is you, I, our neighbors, the people we grew up with and who live next to us today who have the power to stand up, draw a line and tell those who would continue this nation on the course it is following that we will allow it NO MORE.

This election, should John Edwards win the nomination, will mark a turning point in our nation. Will we go forth in the optimistic spirit of my grandfather's generation, who overcame a Great Depression and won a World War? Of Martin Luther King, John and Robert Kennedy, who dared to rise against two centuries of oppression? Or will we succumb to the anti-values of the current administration? Are we blind consumers or producers? Tearers-down or builders? Soulless shells that shuffle our feet to the whims of a ruling class or living, breathing embodiments of the hopes and dreams of our daughters and sons?

It will do nothing to protest later. You'll be a gentle breeze in the middle of a cyclone. NOW is the time for your wind to howl. NOW we have the power. NOW we have our say. NOW we win the nomination and NOW we take back what is ours, what is entrusted to us, has been bled for and will always belong to every American- our sovereign government.

[citizen snips]

1. I have read some of Four Trials.

It is a very good book everybody should read it.

[katieforeman]

8. If everybody read it. Edwards would have the nomination locked up

by now.

[rucky]

2. ok I gotta read this book

too many people are swooning over it to ignore.

[DjTj]

3. You know I feel the same way...

...It would be such a huge mistake to let John Edwards slip away from us.

Thanks for posting here Tank. DU was once a lonely place for Edwards supporters.

[JohnLocke]

4. Kick (nt)

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[jenk]

5. kick FOR OPTIMISM!

[PurityOfEssence]

6. Great battles are often won or lost in simplistic terms

On all counts from this approach, Edwards wins. Kerry is not as direct in his answers, doesn't boil it down into simpler ideas, and is a more indistinct persona, hence more difficult to grasp. There's a distance and reserve to him that is not as winning a quality as the engaging direct warmth of Edwards.

Edwards has a finesse that even the uncouth feel comforted by: he's for real, and understands nuance.

Presentation is everything in the age of TV, lest we forget, and in this, there's no comparison. Many will make up their minds from a mere glance; Kerry won't bring in as many converts as Edwards will in these instances, there's simply no comparison on this level. It comes down to that. Were that my only argument, I'd slink away and be quiet, but John Edwards truly has the stuff of greatness: he could be a statesman for the ages.

Don't listen to me, though; listen to Hamlet instructing the players on how to act:

"Nor do not saw the air too much with your hands, thus;
but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest,
and, as I might say, whirlwind of your passion,
you must acquire and beget a temperance
that may give it smoothness…"

[katieforeman]

7. Edwards understands that this election is larger than

petty sniping between candidates. This election is about what kind of America we want to live in. That's why I believe in John Edwards and that's why John Edwards is the one who can beat Bush. He has a vision and gives people something larger than themselves to believe in.

[colonel odis]

9. thanks for such a thoughtful, eloquent post, tank. n/t