Capitol Hill Blue: What Now for John Edwards?

[Catchawave]

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_5766.shtml

My favorite part of this article:

<snip>
Ferrell Guillory, an expert on Southern politics at the University of North Carolina, compared Edwards' position now to that of Ronald Reagan in 1976, after Reagan lost the Republican nomination to Gerald Ford. Reagan regrouped, made speeches and increased his visibility.
<snip>

[Radical Activist]

1. What can he do that will give him foreign policy experience?

It seems like that is his biggest weakness for most people. I wish there was an easy way to do that.
Nice article.

[AP]

2. I'd like to see him go sue a few sweat shop owners down in Haiti...

...but that's just me dreaming.

What he needs to spend the most time doing is accentuating his strengths. If he can find a way to translate them to foreign policy issues, that's great.

I know people jumped all over him when he talked in that one debate about US FP being screwed up because we organize it around making life better for Saudi sheiks when we should be organizing it around making it better for the citizens of countries like SA and Afghanistan, which segued into a discussion about building public schools in Afghanistan being the route to a safer America because it would mean that fewer people would go to the madras (sp?) schools where they learn to hate America. It would also mean building up a middle class and less inequity would mean less anger directed at a big cause of their inequity -- the US.

That was the most brilliant statement of what American FP should be that I heard in the entire primary season. It was subtle, but it was brilliant. Basically, it was a statement about what Edwards's domestic policies are -- about what he believed would make America better: good public schools, a wealthy, happy middle class, and a society that isn't organized around shifting all the wealth to people at the top who are already rich. He then lifted up that template and placed it on SA and Afghanistan.

It was brilliant. It was a coherent world view that made a ton of sense, and it's something that most Americans must believe on some subliminal level, and hearing Edwards say it has got to be the beginning, for many of people, of translating core liberal values into a sense of what policy should be (both domestic and foreign). Edwards wasn't just talking about what America needs to do overseas. He was telling people what he believed in and tying it all together.

Anyway, bottom line, Edwards needs to find ways where he can SHOW people what he meant when he said what he said in that debate. He needs to articulate this unified theory of the world (about what the role of the government should be, about building up middle classes, about the danger and inefficiency of oligopoly, and about the value of opportunity) and then fit that paradigm over both domestic and international issues.

Hopefully he will write another book and he'll flesh out these themes.

[Catchawave]

4. Well stated AP....

... and another book would be wonderful ! Plus it would give him more time with Elizabeth during her treatments, he can certainly tappy-tap one at home:bounce:

[AP]

5. Thanks.

And if Edwards needs a ghost writer so that he can spen even more time with Elizabeth...I can tappy-tap too.

I think I'm basically on the same page as Mr and Mrs Edwards...

:)

[Catchawave]

6. Yes, yes you are :)

And I think the Edwards family would appreciate you very much for the help:D

So, how do we get this project started ?

[DjTj]

7. I'll help too!

...we could write a whole book on DU then send the manuscript to Edwards...

Seriously though, it wouldn't be that crazy of an idea to have the One America Committee work more like a think tank - people like us to contribute essays ... if there's enough content maybe they could publish a magazine.

[AP]

11. I'd love to write a book on the primaries.

It would be really interesting to go back through the archives here and use that as the primary research.

[DjTj]

12. That's a great place to start.

An insider's view of the online world during the primaries might actually have some popular appeal, and DU is certainly one of the major front lines.

...Intruiging...

[AP]

13. Here's a transcript of the debate in which Edwards talked about FP

I think this is so brilliant, by the way.

JENNINGS: I'd like to continue in this vein a little, if I may.

Senator Edwards, many people, I think, believe that the greatest security threat to the United States in the 21st century is the possible confrontation between the West and Islam.

Now, I know and take for granted, having heard you before, that you respect Islam. But could you take a minute to tell us what you know about the practice of Islam that would reassure Muslims throughout the world who will be listening to you that President Edwards understands their religion and how you might use that knowledge to avoid a confrontation, which, as Tom alluded earlier, might indeed end up sending sons and daughters from New Hampshire to war.

EDWARDS: Well, I have been in these parts of the world. I have been in Pakistan, met with President Musharraf, been in Afghanistan, met with then interim chairman — interim head of the government Karzai. I have met with other Islamic leaders around the world, discussed with them the problems that their country and their people face.

I would never claim to be an expert on Islam. I am not. But I do believe that Islam, as in a lot of other faiths that we as a nation embrace and lift up, that I have shown respect for faiths that are different than mine my entire life. I think I do understand the tragedy of the day-to-day lives of people who live in Arab countries, who live lives of hopelessness and despair.

I think that contributes to the animosity that they feel toward the United States.

And part of our ongoing vision — my ongoing vision for America includes getting at the root causes of that animosity toward the United States, which means being able to communicate, not just with the leadership, for example, in Saudi Arabia, but being able to communicate directly with the people...

JENNINGS: Do you think, Senator...

EDWARDS: ... to express...

JENNINGS: Do you think that we suffer and will suffer at the policy level because we do not know enough about the practice of Islam?

EDWARDS: I think we have a responsibility when we deal with the leadership of these countries. Our relationships, Peter, have been at the leadership level. And we see the results of that. We have ongoing relationship with the Saudi royals, with President Musharraf, with Chairman Karzai. We have relationships with the leaders of these Islamic countries.

The problem is, we have no relationship with the people. And not only do we have no relationship with the people, it's absolutely clear that they feel great animosity toward the United States. We need to, first, be able to communicate directly with the people.

Second, find opportunities. For example, President Musharraf said to me when I met with him: They desperately needed a public school system as an alternative to the religious schools, where their kids are taught to hate Americans.

We need to take advantage of the opportunities available to us and our allies, to reach out, not just to the leaders of these countries for our own purposes, but also to develop a relationship for the people themselves so that they understand what Americans care about and that we actually care about the peace and prosperity of the entire world.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:oLQtYOjIOooJ:www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,109293,00.html+2004+primary+debate+transcript+Edwards+Afghanistan+schools&hl=en

[Radical Activist]

9. I'd love to see that too

I supported Kucinich in the primary but Edwards became my favorite candidate with a chance. It seems so obvious that his optimistic economic populist message is the most effective way to maintain the liberal base while appealing to swing voters in the south and midwest. I don't think most of the party establishment in DC and New York understand that.

[Catchawave]

3. Bush didn't need foreign policy experience....

...scary, huh?

[Radical Activist]

8. True, I kept hoping

during the general election that someone would mention that Edwards had more foreign policy experience than Bush had when he took office. If someone said that I missed it.

[Catchawave]

10. Come to think of it.....

Edwards didn't have any "missing years" in his resume either:D