Did Edwards lose because of an alleged speech?

[unc70]

Probably the biggest problem for Edwards winning support was his vote for the IWR. Any discussion of this soon got a response that said that this other candidate had better judgement from the beginning as shown by his speech on Oct 2, 2002, the week before the Senate vote. We all know the script.

I recently realized I had never seen any video of the speech amd thought I should. Guess what? Apparently we only have a 14 second fragment of video. Nothing more. There is an audio of it, but that turns out to have been "recreated" back in 2007. There is a text version, but no news reports of that speech or any other by Obama during that period. Strange that I had not noticed this in the last 18 months.

Now more-than-a-little concerned, I looked for the source of the text version. It had been submitted by Obama to a newspaper weeks later, after the IWR debate, Senate vote, and reaction. As far as I can tell, unless I missed something or some attendee is found with their own video, there is no independent evidence that "The Speech" was the same as what he said on Oct 2.


Maybe I am wrong and have missed something. At the moment, I am disturbed as I consider the implications of this.

Any of you know where to find the missing pieces?

[saracat]

1. Very interesting. I wonder if the Clinton Camp knows about this?

I assume he made the "speech" but what if it wasn't the same as the text. Hmm... Actually, I think there is a lot more to Edwards "loss" than just IWAR. I am not certain he "lost" anything.But that is for another day. But I wouldn't put anything past the Obamites.

[LiveLiberally]

2. You might find this piece of interest....

Link: http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/03/obama_knows_how/

It begins with your question, about there being only a recreated audio of the 2002 speech, but goes on to discuss reactions by those who heard it in person. Even in today's YouTube era, the best sources we have are still real people who were actually there. But, as this article illustrates, no two people react to or remember an event the same way.

[jackson_dem]

3. Which is revealing

If he said what he claims he said it would have stuck out in the mind of people, given the climate at the time and how few politicians spoke forcefully against the war.

[Catchawave]

4. JRE represented a very red, pro-military state

Two of the largest military bases in the world are in North Carolina, not to mention a huge population of dependents and retired. One must remember also, he defeated a wildly popular republican incumbent. In 2002, we still trusted Bush, well, sorta. Who knew he'd abuse the authority Congress handed him? So soon after 2001, almost 80% of Americans believed if we didn't "get Saddam" there will be mushroom clouds in our cities!!!!1!

Obama gave a very safe anti-war speech in a very blue state in front of an anti-war crowd. Where's the political courage and leadership there? He's also stated he wasn't sure how he would have voted if he were in the Senate at the time. What has he done since he arrived in the Senate to "end" the war? Where's the leadership since he took the oath? He does keep voting for funding? :shrug:

My husband was in Viet Nam (2d tour) when Congress finally cut the funding. Simple. The troops came home within months. A decade later, my husband was in Beirut (after the barracks bombing thank goodness), Reagan brought them home because "it just wasn't working". No screams of "cut and running" there?

Great leaders take risks, make mistakes, learn from them and become greater. Edwards was such a leader, and I sorely miss his voice now. Unfortunately, I think the media didn't find him as exciting as the "historic" Obama and Hillary, so they ignored him, except for the "hair, home and hedge funds", then portraying him as "too angry". Imagine, if only John sent a tingle up Chris Matthews leg :silly: