Reply #166: First, let me thank you for your reply.

[DutchLiberal]

As you might have seen, most people start yelling and accusing and calling names whenever their candidate gets criticized. I'm glad you're not one of them.

I'm a little ticked off by the fact that Edwards is championed by the left as the true progressive candidate who will change everything and the one who will 'save' America.

Edwards voted for the IWR and for the Patriot Act. Which progressive in his right mind would do that? You mention the circumstances in which it happened, not too long after 9/11, within that paranoid political climate. That's a good point. But then, why were other Democrats not afraid to vote against both? Other Democrats resisted the pressure and were not afraid to do the right thing. So the question is: was John Edwards pressured into the 'yes'-vote? Or was he calculating and did he hope his 'yes'-vote would play out well later on in his career? Or was the simply deluded by George Bush? None of the three options would appeal to me to vote for this guy.

You said Edwards has changed over the last years. That change seems very opportunistic to me. You, for example, said Edwards, contrary to Barack Obama, wants to end the war in Iraq. But is it not correct he said in a recent debate he may not pull out all of the troops until 2013? I heard Dennis Kucinich say he would close down all the bases and give control over the Iraqi oil back to the Iraqi people. I haven't heard Edwards say something like that. Why is that?

And why doesn't Edwards stand for a not-for-profit health care system? In his plan, the insurance companies will still have a seat at the table. They will not change the way they work voluntarily. Never. Politicians have to make sure health care benefits the people who need it, not the insurance companies. How is Edwards going to do that when he still lets the very same companies have this big influence?

Here is my theory, but you probably will not agree: John Edwards was a centrist pro-war DLC corporate candidate back in 2004, when he ran with John Kerry. We all know how that ended. Since then, he has learned that people all over the US are longing for a radical different message. So he decides to change his image, not so much his plans, and he lifts all his talking points for Kucinich's speeches. And he gets popular with the progressive movement.

I haven't heard Edwards promise to repeal the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act. I haven't heard Edwards promise to close Guantanamo Bay as soon as possible.

I don't believe Edwards is a champion for the working class, let alone the poor. I don't think he will give the country the change it so desperately needs. I do think he is better than HRC. I don't know if he's better than Obama. Edwards prides himself on not taking corporate money, like Obama, but we both know that is not true, right? Obama may not have voted for the IWR, but that's only because he wasn't in a position to vote at that time. And he did vote to keep funding the war, like Edwards. Obama voted for the Patriot Act, like Edwards. Maybe they're much alike after all?

But at least Edwards didn't have a McClurkin-moment. Point for Edwards. :)