The Des Moines Register endorsed Hillary Clinton yesterday. They also explained why they did not endorse John Edwards.
Edwards was our pick for the 2004 nomination. But this is a different race, with different candidates. We too seldom saw the “positive, optimistic” campaign we found appealing in 2004. His harsh anti-corporate rhetoric would make it difficult to work with the business community to forge change.
Here’s John Zogby’s assessment:
John Edwards: He could gain the most from the Hillary-Obama drama. We know that John Edwards has honed a very popular message. It worked well for him in 2004, the notion of “Two Americas” that includes an alienated, anxiety-ridden middle class as well…
…His message at the moment of economic populism is probably too hot for the general election, but he can modulate that should he secure the nomination.
The Boston Globe endorsed Barack Obama without ever mentioning John Edwards. Instead, they simply stated:
In our view, the choice on the Democratic side is between Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Apparently, they thought that was sufficient to dispense with the campaigns of Edwards, Richardson, and the others.
Edwards is doing a tour of several of the Sunday morning political shows this morning, so it’s not like the press is shutting him out as it has seemed they were for much of this campaign. But it’s painfully clear that any politician that has the audacity to question corporations’ behavior and influence is going to get bad press and no endorsements. That kind of strengthens Edwards’ message…doesn’t it?
Consider that Washington DC is preparing to hand the telecommunications corporations a blanket retroactive immunity for lawbreaking without even getting information about the details in exchange. And who owns the press?
What have we come to when mention of the “poor” is the third rail of politics.
Edwards is the only one of the ‘top three’ that I could vote for with a relatively clear conscience.
anything but Hillary…she just like one of those orange drinks except she’s 10% Democratic & 90% Republican. And has warning label “Uses artificial democratic words to try to convince you she’s a real democrat”
John Edwards I would vote for him, we need a real Democrat to overturn all these years of “hard-core” Republican corporate give-aways.
P.S. I your life time when could you goto Wal-Mart or Target and buy toys with “lead” paint in them? Toys and other products being sold in the Untied States with “lead” paint because they haven’t been tested. Makes me want to vote for someone who will force corporations to follow the rules and regulations.
‘Oh, Man! look here! Look, look, down here!’ exclaimed the Ghost.
They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.
Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.
‘Spirit, are they yours?’ Scrooge could say no more.
‘They are Man’s,’ said the Spirit, looking down upon them. ‘And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!’ cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. ‘Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! And abide the end!’
‘Have they no refuge or resource?’ cried Scrooge.
‘Are there no prisons?’ said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. ‘Are there no workhouses?’
– Charles Dickens, 1843 from A Christmas Carol
“Slander those who tell it ye” Edwards is harsh, let’s hope he doesn’t scream.
We have really come a long way since 1843, haven’t we? This certainly fits the season very well. Too bad the message will blow by most with not even a whisper, especially our “esteemed MSM media”.
Edwards appeared on This Week this morning. He did a nice job. Alan Greenspan is on now to explain why Edwards’ prescriptions for strengthening the middle class will make matters worse.
There is the crux of the whole deal. The biggest mountain to overcome is the d ed press. Owned by a few large multinationals, they are part of what Edwards (or any real progressive) is attacking. While their negative reaction to him might strengthen Edward’s message for some, I simply don’t believe enough Americans of voting age are astute enough to see through the MSM’s version of the news to get it. I hope Edwards can get the nomination, I believe he would win in November, but the cards are stacked against him, and against us really. When I am faced, in Michigan, with casting a vote for uncommitted in the Dem. primary in order to “support” Edwards, I find it difficult to be optimistic.
If it comes down to Hillary or Obama, I guess I’d favor the guy from Illinois, but with little expectation of changing the basic game in D.C. And so it goes.
of the three main democrat candidates, i definitely go for edwards and his populism. the other two are too corporate for me.
personally i’d rather see kucinich or dodd as president. but i’ve always been more of a dreamer than a realist.
dodd should at least be the majority leader in the senate after this total absolute fracaso/failure of reid – omg could it get any worse. not even an opposition party in sight….
yeah, it’s so yesterday.
especially when everyones’s doing so well:
lTMF’sA
They would nominate Edwards. He can beat all of the GOP nominees. He’s the closest to the real issues most of America cares about here and taking on the powerful lobbyists is probably precisely why these corporate owned MSM outlets won’t endorse him. Honestly, this is just some sort of Dog n Pony show. Why, o why do Americans not vote for their own best economic interests?
(The book, What’s the Matter with Kansas asks this same question).
Why aren’t the netroots blogers going all out for him like they did Dean? He really needs all the help he can get.