I'm sorry, but all this holier-than-thou-ism from Edwards supporters is just pissing me off.
I heard what John was saying -- all the right things.
Then I looked at his record.
They were in total conflict. He had his chance to stand up WHEN IT COUNTED in Congress for the people struggling the hardest in America. Why the FUCK didn't he?
How does someone who claims that poverty is the "cause of my life" vote for a bill that denies bankruptcy protection to those people who need it? I've never heard him offer a credible story of how that happened. I've only heard him say, "It was a mistake." That just doesn't sit well with me. Same with his vote for permanent normal trade relations with China. The day of the Iowa caucus, he ran an ad with a supporter offering a testimonial for him. The supporter was a middle-aged Dad who worked at the Maytag plant until they shut it down. He tearfully told the camera how John Edwards had gotten down on one knee and said to his 8 year old boy, "I'm gonna fight for your Daddy's job."
I wondered when I saw that ad if that Maytag worker knew that Edwards was one of the people who was, in part, responsible for factories being forced to shut down in America due to competition from cheap foreign labor in countries without labor rights.
Edwards has said this vote, too, was a mistake. But for someone who holds himself out as having blue collar values, a vote for PNT with China *shouldn't even have been an issue*. It's just so at odds with the image he has portrayed that I can't wrap my mind around it. Edwards has never framed himself as having any sort of "conversion" experience -- he basically argues that these are the values he's had his whole life. So what's the story -- how does he get from voting to deny desperate poor folks the protection of bankruptcy and factory workers the protection for their jobs to the guy he was on the stump this year, all while being basically the same guy?
The simplest answer is, of course, that he was just pandering to get my vote.
I don't want to believe that, but I can't pretend his record doesn't exist, and he never offered me a believable narrative for his changes.
I made a judgment. I believed that Edwards was a good man, because I was so impressed with Elizabeth Edwards, and I don't think you can fake a relationship like that. But based on his record, I just couldn't trust Edwards to actually follow through on his promises..
Still, I debated with myself about it, over and over again. I could still caucus for Edwards. Kucinich was out. Maybe I was being too hard on John.
AND THEN HE FREAKING DROPPED OUT.
I'm sorry, but when it's the "cause of my life", something that goes down "to the very core of my being", when you are making promises as recently as January 25th to be "in it for the long haul" (
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18418858 ), you don't DROP FUCKING OUT WITH NO WARNING. Not if you want to retain your integrity.
I respect why many Edwards supporters did support him. He said so many things I agreed with.
But I made my judgment on his record, and his actions now have proven me right.
Vote for Edwards if you want to make a statement. I understand that. But don't you dare castigate me for doing my due diligence and not supporting someone who couldn't even keep a week-old promise.