From one of my favorite bloggers:

[Catchawave]

http://montanamaven.com/2007/11/24/cowdogs-roundup-reasons-to-join-john-edwards.aspx

Some Random Thoughts on John Edwards for this week.

BRINGING BACK RESPECT FOR WORK.

HE'S A KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATOR:
Who do you want to be in charge during a real crisis? You know, the one that we haven't thought of yet. Or a crisis like the Great Depression. Who has the organizing knowledge for survival? Who would want to make life and death decisions? Who gets in the lifeboat and who stays on the ship? Well, of course, someone like Bill Pullman in "Independence Day" who had to battle aliens from space would be perfect. But of the people running this year, I want John Edwards. He's a connect the dots kind of out of the box thinker. He thinks in a non-linear way. He's a generalist not a specialist. He can take fragmented ideas and put them into a cohesive policy plan. He's a big thinker; a big picture guy.

HE HAS A VISION:
He's not a one issue guy or a laundry list many issue i.e spaghetti theory (i.e. see what sticks) guy. He takes all the issues i.e. war and peace, economics, health care, climate change, taxation, job creation, trade agreements, and he weaves them all into a vision of how to work towards a One America together. It is a vision of value. It is a moral vision. "He is the heart of the party", said E.J. Dionne recently. He's a leader, not a horse trader.

THE OPPOSITE OF HOPE IS ACTION,
not despair. The opposite of cynicism is doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.

IT'S NOT ABOUT HIM aka HE'S A GROWNUP:
Back in 2004, he was called the most mature of the candidates by the Portland Maine Herald. That's because he's not needy. He doesn't need approval. He is determined to bring out the best in us. Instead of a candidate who runs of the "me" meme, he runs on the "we" meme. Instead of a "me" society, he talks about a "we" society. He's running on an idea of fixing the deepening divide of the 2 Americas; one for the powerful and one for the rest of us. He's running on united the rural workers and urban workers. He's running as lobbyist for those who do not have one or can not afford one. He's running for those who work for a living and who have been pushed to the back of the line. He' running for a person to earn a decent living and to also improve his or her life if they wanted to. He can unite the urban and rural, the town and country by the values we hold in common of faith in family, community and democracy.

HE'S MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Well, it's neither left nor right nor smack dab on the fence. He moves up and down and around and through to get to where most Americans want to be i.e. to a common sense position that seeks to protect our nation not isolate it. He's sees us not conquering the rest of the world, but working with the rest of the world to begin the walk back from annihilation. He's moving toward a better economic policy than the one that has ruled for over 50 years. He's moving towards a society that judges its progress by the quality of life for all its citizens, not by its Gross Domestic Product or its Dow Jones Average.

HE WILL SEEK JUSTICE:
Who will get our money back that was stolen from us during the last 4 years or more? I trust John Edwards to work towards that goal. Who will bring back our civil liberties and restore the constitution and renounce the unitary executive?
He warned us about Roberts and Alito. Just as Musharaf got rid of judges that would rule against him, so Bush and the cowardly Dems set in place a Supreme Court that could side with the president and agree to martial law. I trust John Edwards to work to restore the rule of law and not the rule of men.

HE'S GOT TALENT:
His talent has nothing to do with looks. Charisma i.e. talent is an ability to connect with your audience; to make them feel that you are right there with them. A leading man can look like Cary Grant or Spencer Tracy or Paul Giamatti. John Edwards is our leading man who knows that the star of the show is the script i.e. the message.

STYLE AND SUBSTANCE:
HE is not a rhetorical populist or a laundry list populist. He delivers the message with clarity and conviction. He's a man of few words, but he "tells it like it is". He speaks to the issue , not around it. And he doesn't tell jokes. He doesn't use barfy phony folksy sayings. In other words, he's not condescending to the audience. He believes that we are brothers and sisters. He does not believe in being a father figure.

HE'S A RISK TAKER. HE HAS COURAGE. AND DISCIPLINE.
HE'S GOT BACKBONE and makes us stand up straight too.
Courage will be needed in the coming crisis. Caution is always good, but sometimes you need to stand up to both your friends and your enemies. You have to take the bull by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. And you have to practice, practice, practice.

HE'S A GIFTED HUMAN BEING NOT A POLITICIAN AND WELL ON HIS WAY TO BECOMING A STATESMAN.
He's the antithesis of the bully. He's not a rock star. He's a champion. A champion of the people.

STEAL THIS MESSAGE:
Other candidates out and out steal his phrases and ditto his policies. May as well take the original.

HE'S THE MAN WITH THE PLAN.
He's not just a shiny brochure, he also gives you the repair manual. You drive his agenda around, kick the tires, look under the hood. He has specific and creative ideas on how to fix things. Kind of reminds me of the scene in Apollo 13 when the engineers are trying to figure out how to get the astronauts home.

HE WILL TAKE HIS CASE TO THE JURY AND NOT SETTLE OUT OF COURT AND OUT OF OUR SIGHT.
If he will have an open administration instead of a secretive and clubby one. He will shine a light on Washington, so that the cockroaches will scurry somewhere else.

[saracat]

1. Wow.This is great!

[asdjrocky]

2. Very, very nice piece.

Wish I would have written it.

You know my pick for 08!