This has been brewing in me for weeks now, but in lieu of recent developments I have made the decision to support the candidacy of former Senator John Edwards for President.
Senator Edwards may not be the perfect candidate, but there is a lot to like about him. If I had my druthers I would have loved to have seen a President Russell Feingold. For that matter, Dennis Kucinich, or even Chris Dodd would have been comfortable choices for me. However, in the real world, even though the media and the DLC say otherwise, there are 3 candidates to choose from.
After initially supporting Edwards I had gotten turned off to him after his performance on the debate on glbt issues on Logo. It wasn't that Clinton or Obama were any better, but Edwards hardly inspired me. However, his anti-corporatism message resonates fully with me. Additionally, 2 recent events have made me realize how silly I was to have backed away from supporting his candidacy to begin with.
The first is the absolutely ludicrous performance of the mass media, especially since the New Hampshire primary. In the exit polling there, the economy emerged as the #1 issue for Democratic voters, so we then got bombarded with populist messages on our faltering economy by Clinton and Obama. Despite the fact that this has been Edwards' message all along, and these 2 were co-opting it for opportunistic reasons, the media acted as if this focus on the economy was somehow new and revelatory. It was, and for a long time has been, as if John Edwards was invisible.
No....it's more that the media has adopted a pack mentality and its reporting on the campaign has been stunningly inept and incomplete. They have focused on non-issues like the man's haircut and his wife's illness and have completely ignored the substance of Edwards' message.
Adding more fuel to the fire, and convincing me that I am right to support John Edwards, is the recent statements by leaders of the DLC, that this is a 2-person race. They have chosen to render John Edwards irrelevant.
All that action has done is make me realize that the DLC who are the irrelevant ones. They want the Democratic Party to be exactly like the GOP. They are in the pocket of the corporations and are trying to be bullying king (or queen)-makers.
Personally, I will never contribute money or time to a national Democratic Party organization again. I will only support individual Progressive candidates. In fact, I am so disgusted that I am considering renouncing my party membership and registering as an Independent.
The recent petty non-issue over race between Clinton and Obama is mindless. The media are not the only ones at fault here. So are the respective candidates for continuing to ratchet up the rhetoric. It makes it all the more easier to support the only candidate who seems to be speaking for me and not the corporations that control America.
That person is John Edwards.
Put that in your pipe, DLC.
