Some thoughts on Edwards
After John Edwards's strong second-place finish in last night's Iowa caucus, he had this to say:
[C]orporate greed has got a stranglehold on America. And unless and until we have a president in the proud tradition of Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, who has a little backbone, who has some strength, who has some fight, who's willing to stand up to these people, nothing will change.
He's certainly right about that, and I believe he's the only viable candidate willing to do something about the corrupting influence of money in our government.
This morning, he said this in New Hampshire:
"I am not the candidate of money, I am not the candidate of glitz, I am not the candidate of glamor. Nor do I claim to be," said Edwards, who has trailed Obama and Clinton in fundraising.
His campaign has been based on a populist message of shoring up the middle class and pledging to "fight the corporate greed that has an iron-fisted grip on our democracy." No other candidate seems to see this as a problem, which makes Edwards unique.
For me, the main selling point for Edwards is his approach to health care. Although Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate willing to support the much-needed H.R.676, which would adopt a single-payer health care system in this country, his chances of winning the nomination are essentially zero. Of the viable candidates, the health care plan put forth by Edwards comes closest to universal coverage of all Americans; that alone makes him a compelling candidate for me.
He also supports a complete pullout from Iraq within nine to ten months, and he wants to repeal Bush's tax welfare for the rich. He plans to shut down Guantanamo, restore habeas corpus, ban torture and extraordinary rendition, and end warrantless wiretapping. All of these are long overdue and would go a long way toward restoring our tattered liberties.
These are among the reasons I intend to vote for John Edwards in Tennessee's February 5 primary.
Kevin at Lean Left is pessimistic about the future of the Edwards campaign, but he had this to say about Edwards as a candidate:
He finished ahead of the establishment candidate based on a populist message and did it while being enormously outspent by Clinton and Obama. He also had almost no press and what press he did get was very hostile and mocking. Coming in second under those circumstances is pretty remarkable. ... He has proven that there is a hunger for progressive change in the country and he has done so in the face of establishment and press hostility. He has changed the race for the better in a way few candidates ever do.
And this:
Edwards speaks for the people who are uncertain about the future this country is speeding towards and the present that discounts their work and their lives so heavily in a way no other candidate really does. He has reminded the Democratic Party that those people exist and that they deserve a shot at a decent future as much as any one else.
Although I don't share his pessimism about the trajectory of the Edwards campaign, Kevin's evaluation of him as a candidate summarizes very well why Edwards will have my vote on February 5.