Tuesday, September 04, 2007

John Edwards For President

It’s the day after Labor Day, the traditional day when political campaigns begin. But we’ve already thrown tradition out the back door, haven’t we? The presidential campaign has begun in earnest since early this year – months ahead of schedule. Unprecedented, but think of it, here we have the most divisive president in office . . . ever, and an open seat in 2008. It’s the first time since Ike Eisenhower ran against Adlai Stevenson that we have had an open seat in the presidency. Yes, I am counting elections where VPs tried for the office.

It should be no surprise that I am supporting John Edwards for President. I have mentioned him here, here, here, and here. I have also contributed honestly-earned education dollars to the campaign.

Now, why do I support this rich white guy, another rich white guy, for US President? Mainly because of the top three, I think Edwards will gain the most support from the middle. The Democratic base will go with Edwards as the nominee because he is, for the most part, a progressive on many issues. His stance on Labor is, in my opinion, the strongest. He makes the point that America is great because of its strong middle class, and the middle class was made possible by labor unions. So I’m not worried that Democrats will opt for Toad Face or Crossdresser. The one I want running on my party’s ticket needs to appeal to the middle. Polls have shown that over 51% of voters will opt for a Democrat over a Republican, so this election is the Democrats’ to lose, it seems. I want to ensure that doesn’t happen, and the only way we can lose this election is if we put up a candidate who is divisive.

Not saying that the Hillster or Barack are divisive, I’m saying that of the three, Edwards is the least divisive.

Do I think John Edwards will get the nomination? I am characteristically pessimistic. If it’s one thing I’ve learned, sometimes my thoughts and opinions are not mainstream. But this time I know of some of my fellow Texas progressive bloggers are also supporting Edwards: Vince at Capitol Annex, Refinish69 at Cafe Press, Perry at Brains and Eggs TxSharon at Bluedaze.

We can’t all be wrong, can we?

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