North Carolina resident comments on Edwards

[abburdlen]

I'm a North Carolina resident and I happily voted for Edwards in his senate campaign. I respect his bid for the democratic nomination but feel he is doing a disservice to the people of North Carolina putting his duties as Senator second to his White House aspirations. Too often in the past year he hasn't been on the job for North Carolina.

• On the 'Partial-Birth' Abortion Ban bill, a bill that I fear is just the beginning of the assault on Roe -vs.- Wade Edwards didn't show up. He was busy campaigning.
  
  
• The agriculture Appropriation Bill to provide nearly 80 billion for agriculture, rural development and nutrition programs, something you would think Edwards would campaign as someone coming from a rural background. But again Edwards didn't show up.
  
  
• 2004 Homeland Security Appropriations: Almost 30 Billion for Homeland security. Edwards didn't vote.
  
  
• The ill-conceived Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003: Edwards didn't vote.
  
  
• Anti Spam bill? Didn't vote. Do-Not-Call-Registry bill? Nope, didn't vote. FCC Media Ownership bill? Edwards did not vote. Reporting on Guantanamo Bay Detainees? Once again he didn't take a position by voting.
  

I understand that Edward's vote may not have made the difference in whether some of these bills passed. But I voted for Edwards to represent me in the United States Senate. I don't feel his done a good job lately. We have a democratic Governor in NC and as I understand it, if Edwards were to step down from his Senate seat Gov. Easley could appoint someone to the position until the 2004 election. The democratic senate candidate would then have a leg up on the republican challenger, the democrats would have a better shot at holding onto the senate seat and most importantly NC could again have a full-time Senator. Heck, Edwards then could also run as an outsider.

As far as Kerry, Lieberman and Kucinich, I'd likely feel the same if I was one of their constituents.

[GiovanniC]

1. I Agree Wholeheartedly

I like Edwards okay, but he's being paid to do a job he isn't doing.

[abburdlen]

4. write him

I wrote him a letter and asked him to step down.
If he got the nomination I'd certainly vote for him but I think he would help NC, the party and if he spun it correctly- himself- if he step down from the senate.



edited: stupid spelling mistakes

[KC21304]

2. Here we go, we're off !

[gWbush is Mabus]

3. My problem with Edwards

1. campaigned as the guy "from outside of washington"
that is a crock of shit

2. campaigned as the "positive" guy
then called dean's campaign a campaign of anger

3. talks about the Patriot Act going too far
he wrote the goddam patriot act


i don't trust him and i don't trust that southern drawl.

[anti-bush]

37. Didn't write the Patriot Act

Get the facts straight.

[YNGW]

5. AWOL

I agree with most of what you said, but for different reasons. If he were running again, I'd vote for Erskine Bowles over Edwards.

[DU9598]

7. Price of success

Sour grapes anyone?

He is running a great campaign and has blossomed into a national leader for this election cycle and several to come.

Plus, his senate staff is still on the job, so I doubt any constituent services have been lost. It's not like he personally goes and walks over the the Social Security Administration when a check is late ... get real.

He has run a positive campaign, I hope he continues to stay positive even when others try to tear him down.

[abburdlen]

10. Could he do a better job

If he wasn't running for President? Yes.

Could he help the democratic party if he stepped down from his senate seat? Yes.

[YNGW]

11. No Sour Grapes

Not even worth consideration. I just want a Senator who is there for the State. He isn't.

Tell you what, you worry about Iowa, let those of us from NC decide how we feel about our own Senators. Capache?

[Ripley]

6. And for those who attack Hillary...

She beats all of these candidates hands down in every poll. But she made a promise to finish her term in NY and has kept it. So lay off knocking a woman who has kept her oath to the people who put her there instead of running on ego as some others clearly are.

[abburdlen]

9. who attacked Hillary?

eom

[MattNC]

8. agree completely

I really like Edwards, but I feel he would've been better served to wait until '08 to run. I agree with the comment about Bowles as well. He's an incredibly guy and I really hope he can with this time, but beating Burr is not going to be easy.

[Clark Can WIN]

12. GO PANTHERS !!!!!!!!!!!!

I used to live in Willow Spring and had to put that in there.

I find Edwards lack of voting kind of troubling. He isn't being paid to campaign, he's being paid to be a senator. At the very least, he should donate his salary to a state charity of some kind to make up for taking money for a job he's not doing. To continue to accept the tax payers money for a job he's clearly absent from is wrong in my opinion.

[abburdlen]

14. salary

isn't too big an issue in my mind.

My biggest fear is losing the senate seat to republicans.

[elsiesummers]

13. Just remember

that if Kerry becomes nominee this claim that Kerry is neglecting his constituents will be a Bush talking point.

Meanwhile, if Edwards wins the nomination he'll be able to do more for NC residents than he ever could do as a Senator. He'll also have more clout towards bringing Bowles in than he would have otherwise.

This line about neglecting votes has been used against sitting elected politicians running for office since the beggining of time, and simply doesn't wash.

And if Edwards withdraws in a month and goes on to (A)campaign for Bowles and (B)show up for votes, will all the complainers come back here and apologize to him? No, I doubt it.


I hope we all complain about Bush neglecting his presidential duties because of campaigning as much as some complain about Edwards (and previouly Gephardt, I noticed) neglecting congressional responsibilities. Why aren't we screaming at the top of our lungs that Bush is neglecting his presidential duties because he is too busy raising dough?


If there is anyone who deserves a complaint about this, BTW, it is Joe Lieberman - because he is staying in past his finish line.

[abburdlen]

15. If he campaigns

for Bowles or any other democrat to fill his Senate seat I will withdrawl my criticism.
I will not apologize if he starts voting on the Senate floor- That's his job
I would very much like to make it a campaign issue that the president is using his office as a fundraising tool but it doesn't work too well if our nominee can be accused of the same thing.

[AP]

16. He hasn't missed a single vote in which his vote was needed

to change the outcome. In fact, until September, after Kucinich he'd missed the fewest votes.

He has cancelled campaign events to fly to washington to make votes where they would have made a difference.

There was an article about this last summer which revealed a candidate who was walking the line between candidate and senator better than anyone. He has gone way out of his way to avoid this invetible criticism (unlike Gephardt, who'd missed something like 85% of the votes -- which actually makes sense because his vote, as a Democrat in the House is worthless, and maybe if Kucinich campaigned rather than beat a dead horse by showing up for almost ALL his votes, he'd be doing better in the polls and with money).

It's also important to note that the Republicans are in control of Congreass. They're scheduling votes for the candidates to miss so that they can make campaign issues of this. If Democrats were in charge, they'd all have great records.

So this criticism is simply a rule that prevents Democratic Senators from ever running for president in years when the Republicans control the Senate (ie, when we probably most need a good Democrat, perhaps a Senator, running).

This is simply bad spin that is easily refuted in Edwards's case.

And obviously, if the guy has the best chance of beating Bush in the GE, he's better off running for President than staying a Senator, watching some NE Liberal, or political neophyte take on Bush, not only loose, but have no coattails, so that Edwards can spend another 4 years excercising ONLY the very limited power of the filibuster.

NC will understand this if he gets nominated.

Also, I have to say, there is an exceptional number of NC'ians on this board! Where are all the residents of Mass who are upset with Kerry for missing more votes than Edwards?

I can't help but think this issue, for some reason, is thought of as being powerful to attack on some other aspect of Edwards's persona, rather than it being valuable as something that is true. For example, if Kerry ran as someone in touch the common man of Mass., we'd be hearing this about him. However, since his persona is built on something else, the factually-challenged smears attack that other part of his persona.

[GiovanniC]

17. For Me, It's Not Just About Voting Only "When It Will Make a Difference"

His job is to represent the people of North Carolina in the Senate. That is accomplished by, among other things, VOTING. Making the voices of the residents of North Carolina heard. So if there's a partial-birth abortion bill on the table, North Carolina deserves to have their vote on it, whether it will "make a difference" or not. And if there's a vote on the treatment of the prisoners in Cuba, then the people of NC deserve to have their voice heard even if it won't "make a difference". If Edwards wants to run for Pres, fine. I've got no problem with that; I like the guy. But the people of NC shouldn't suffer for the decision in hopes that "maybe" Edwards will win the nomination, and then the White House, and make things better for NC then.

[AP]

23. He's not representing NC very well if he sits back and

watches the Republicans win so that all the power he has is the power of the fillibuster for four years. He's serving NC better if he can win the presidency and then pull a Dem in on his coattails -- unless you mean he should be serving the REPUBLICANS in NC better.

Or would you simply prefer a de facto rule that no Democratic congressperson should ever be able to run for president in a year in which Republicans control congress, and, therefore the schedules?

[abburdlen]

28. I'm not asking him to sit back

and take it.
I'm asking him to step down and run for President full-time.
Our democratic Gov. could appoint someone to fill the position until the Nov. which would give them a leg up on the republican callengers for the seat.

[AP]

31. It's not going to help the Dem who replaces him.

That's what has been proven, historically. There was an article about that here about a month ago.

And you know what would happen to Edwards? They'd introduce him as "Trial Lawyer and Former Senator." I know that's a minor complaint, but the fact is Kerry, Lieberman, Kucinich and Edwards are doing a GREAT job balancing campaigning with governing. And if they're good enough to be great presidential candidates, they're good enough to be in Congress protecting our rights (well, except for Lieberman -- let's say we argue that he should step down?). I think we're all better off, NC'inian or not, having Edwards in gov't for as long as possible.

[spooky3]

34. further, like every other Senator, he has staff that are working

full time keeping up on legislation and other matters. I don't know why they should be thrown out of work if they keep him posted and he gets back for the votes that matter.

Finally, as Beaconess pointed out in several prior threads on this same topic, do we want to have a system in the country where the only people who can run for office are the independently wealthy or the unemployed?

[abburdlen]

18. The reason I'm calling Edwards on it

rather than Kerry or Lieberman is because I'm a NC democrat.
I don't dislike Edwards position and I don't mind him running for President. I don't like him not skipping out as his duty as NC senator

Where is that article last summer that showed he had a good record? It must have been before the campaign started heating up. There is also a article in a NC newspaper that shows Edwards missed 90% of the votes
http://www.newsobserver.com/edwards/coverage/story/2894511p-2666082c.html

When Edwards announced he was not seeking a second term in the Senate so he could focus on his bid for the Whitehouse, I think he should have stepped down from his senate seat. It would given the democrats a better shot at holding onto the seat after the 2004 election.

[AP]

24. Why don't Mass and Ct dems ever call on Lieberman and Kerry

on this issue? Are there more NC'ians here? Mass+Ct have more electoral votes, so you'd think, statistically, this complaint would come up for them at least as often as it comes up for Edwards.

Perhaps it's because their personas aren't built on being the people's representatives and so it would be worthless to point it out for them.

Everyone missed 90% of the votes in September, by the way. Before that, Edwards had the best record of anyone running from the senate.

A note about the N&O: I posted about 5 positive comments on their chat board on Edwards, everyone extremely mild. They were all deleted by 9:30 the next morning.

Incidentally, statistically speaking, Senators who are filling in for a Senator who steps down, tend to lose. The Dems running for his seat are better of campaigning and raising money, for the SAME EXACT REASONS EDWARDS AND KERRY AND KUCINICH AND LIEBERMAN are having to make that compromise.

[spooky3]

25. You've done it again, AP! I wish everyone were so careful about

making sure the evidence supported their views before criticizing. Thanks.

[tryanhas]

19. Problem for Edwards is simple

It's just like following Dean Smith at UNC Chapel Hill.

He is following Jesse Helms in the Senate and a lot of people from NC expect him to be like Jesse Helms.

They expect Senators to only want to serve forever in the Senate because that's what that racist bigot Jesse Helms did.

They expect Senators to not want to demand that cigarette and tobacco industries stop targetting children, because Jesse Helms was loose on tobacco farmers.

They expect Edwards as a DEMOCRAT to be like Jesse Helms, the the most conservative Senator since John C. Calhoun.

They are southerners, and a lot of them don't feel like Edwards has..."PAID HIS DUES"...and therefore he shouldn't be running for the White House.

That's the REPUBLICAN DOGMA BEING SPREAD THROUGH NC.

It doesn't matter that he kills the other Dems in polls in NC. It doesn't matter that over 50% of the people in NC approve of his run for President. It doesn't matter that if he is the nominee, you will have the largest voter turnout in NC history in 2004, which would bode well for the Democratic party. None of that matters, because so many North Carolinians stupidly expect him to WANT TO BE SENATOR FOREVER, and be more like Jesse Helms.

Good thing though that MOST NORTH CAROLINIANS don't think that way, but a lot of them do...

[abburdlen]

20. Ummmm...no

It has nothing to do with wanting him to be senator forever.

I want him to do the job he was elected to do. If he has other priorities, no matter how noble, he should step aside.

Thank you for bringing up Helms though, it reminds me that Edwards loves to imply he beat Helms in the Senate. Helms, of course, had already retired and it was Lauch Faircloth that Edwards defeated.
http://newsobserver.com/front/digest/story/3243545p-2900132c.html

[tryanhas]

27. UMMMMMMMMMMMM....NO!

Edwards never says that "HE BEAT JESSE HELMS IN NORTH CAROLINA."

You are here trying to put Edwards down, and you don't even have your freaking facts straight.

He says he "BEAT A POWER INCUMBENT IN NORTH CAROLINA WHO WAS HANDPICKED BY THE JESSE HELMS MACHINE" and he is right, he did.

Even the article that you posted says the exact same thing: In 1998, Edwards told an audience in Davenport on Sunday, he ran for the Senate against an "incumbent Republican senator, handpicked by Jesse Helms."...

...As the election approached, Edwards told the crowd, "everybody said, 'That young fellow thinks he's going to take on the Helms political machine in North Carolina? Who does he think he is?"

"Well, I took on the Helms political machine," Edwards said. "I beat that incumbent Republican senator, and now I'm the senior senator from North Carolina, not Jesse Helms."

So get your facts straight, or else I will.

Now, for the rest of your post. You said, "I want him to do the job he was elected to do. If he has other priorities, no matter how noble, he should step aside."

He has more than done the job he was ELECTED TO DO. Have you even taken the time to look at his voting record or are you just taking in all of the REPUBLICAN DOGMA that is constantly spread in NC about "ABANDONMENT" when it comes to Edwards???

Even during the election campaign, he still has made more votes than any other the other Senators running for President.

Here is Edwards' roll call analysis, meaning the amount of time that he attended votes:

Roll Call Vote Analysis

Year Voting Participation Party Support Presidential Support

2002 100% 84% 76%
2001 99% 91% 67%
2000 100% 94% 92%
1999 99% 92% 87%

Source: Congressional Quarterly

As for 2003, he has been running for President, and if my fellow North Carolinians are STUPID ENOUGH not to understand that if he is running for President, he is going to miss votes, and MEAN ENOUGH to overlook his perfect attendance from past years before he decided to run for office, then both shame on you for overlooking his perfect attendance, and GROW UP for complaining about him missing votes to run for President.

I will tell any North Carolinian who does to get a brain. It's unfounded criticism, and totally uncalled for!

Besides, people are complaining about MEANINGLESS VOTES. I could care less, as a North Carolinian, whether he misses a vote about what to name a park in Guam! That is the reality of a lot of things they vote on. They don't mean a thing but they still count towards his "VOTES MISSED" percentage.

Grow the heck up, North Carolina.

http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=CNC68243&PHPSESSID=d558f2275d3c3863a2bbb7d3484238f6

[abburdlen]

30. Gosh this doesn't sound misleading at all.

"Well, I took on the Helms political machine," Edwards said. "I beat that incumbent Republican senator, and now I'm the senior senator from North Carolina, not Jesse Helms."


Did he out-right lie? heck no.
Did he intend folks to think he beat Helms? Gee, you think?

[tryanhas]

33. Actually, no, it doesn't sound misleading at all

considering the fact that he ALWAYS starts that qoute out by saying the same thing that was included in the article that you posted, when he says...In 1998, Edwards told an audience in Davenport on Sunday, he ran for the Senate against an "incumbent Republican senator, handpicked by Jesse Helms."

What part of HANDPICKED BY JESSE HELMS don't you get?

He always says that he ran against an incumbent Republican handpicked by Jesse Helms!

He never says that he ran against Jesse Helms!

Now, how many people have you told that in your everyday life.

And that's what makes me so sick of people, and how foolish RUMORS like that get started.

He never says that he ran against Jesse Helms, DUH!

[Bombtrack]

21. When you run for president, it's accepted practice to miss some votes

President is an important enough vote to miss some non-deciding votes. Every serious candidate that has been a sitting congressperson has done the same thing.

Also, Edwards has missed the fewest votes of any congressperson this time around excluding Kucinich

[abburdlen]

22. This time around?

What do you mean by "this time around." Show me some numbers please of his voting record since Jan 02 2003 when he announced his exploratory committee.

[Bombtrack]

26. A major news publication did a story

a couple of months ago which showed that of Edwards, Kerry, Lieberman, Gephardt, and Kerry, Kucinich and Edwards missed the fewest votes.

here:

http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/print/44796

Gephardt, a Missouri representative, missed 91 percent of the 601 House roll call votes this year through October, according to a Gannett News Service analysis of votes compiled by Congressional Quarterly, a nonpartisan publication that covers Congress.

Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, missed 62 percent of the 432 Senate roll call votes during the same period. Lieberman missed 54 percent and Edwards, a North Carolina senator, missed 36 percent.

The average House member and senator missed 4 percent of votes this year, according to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly.

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who is not considered a front- runner, missed only a little more than that, 6 percent.

[AP]

32. I have bookmarked this thread.

Thanks.

[abburdlen]

36. Nice points in the article

Most Americans don't believe a member of Congress can be effective while running for president, according to a new CNN-USA TODAY-Gallup Poll conducted Oct. 24-26. Of the 500 people surveyed, 61 percent said members of Congress should resign if they want to run for president.

But I suppose I'm just one of those folks that should just get a brain.

[AP]

38. Hmmmm. That couldn't be an opinion formed by all the anti-

Edwards stories in the media during that time complaining about Edwards (and NOT Kucinich, Gephardt, Graham, Kerry and Lieberman) not resigning his seat could it?

If I were given the control of the media for one week that the Republicans have had for the last 30 years I could get that number down to 15%.

[AP]

29. Search the archvies from last August. There was article

we discussed here so much that it became common knowledge. Kucinich had made almost ALL his votes until September. Edwards did the best among the Sens (with over 85%). Gep did the worst, missing about 88%.

Edwards didn't miss any vote where his vote was needed to win, and there were examples of times he cancelled events to vote.

In fact none of the Dems individually or collectively missed a vote where they would have made a difference. (And I believe that this is still the case.)

In September, they ALL missed 90% of the votes, however someone here searched the votes they missed, and they were generally BS bills, like naming a federal highway. Republicans control the scheduling, I presume and probably loaded up Sep with stupid votes, so that they could turn that 90% number into a news story over which DU'ers could attack each other.

Furthermore, remember the CBC-sponsored debate? Remember how the Republicans scheduled a vote for a bill they knew the CBC was against. They scheduled it when they knew they'd all be at the debate. You want to reward the republicans for that by complaining that kucinich missed the vote? Do you really?

[redqueen]

35. I don't know about Kucinich

He has missed only one vote. I think if I were one of his constituents I'd be pretty happy with his record. (Leaving aside of course the times *over two years ago* that he voted pro-life, of course.)

[AP]

39. If you wanted him to be president, regardless of whether

you were his constituent, would you be happier if he were getting his message out or using your donations to fly back to DC to vote in no-win blow-outs in the House?

Obviously there's a balance you have to strike.

[abburdlen]

40. Honestly can't answer that.

If I had my druthers he wouldn't be running for president while serving in the Senate.

[tryanhas]

41. No offence, but Kucinich has never had a chance of getting the nomination

With that said, he can say things that others cannot say, and make the majority of his votes.

I like Kucinich. I like his fire and passion, and he seems to be a good guy. He and Edwards are friends, he said he's closer to Edwards than he is with any of the other candidates, so I like him.

But let's be serious.

Kucinich has never been a major contender for the nomination, and that's just the reality of the situation, so he could make a lot more votes than the others, but I still think it's admirable of him to make most of his votes, because, who knows, if he wouldn't then he might be doing a little better.