Slate article about Edwards

[CDY]

I watched Edwards in New Hampshire on Monday, and I was extremely impressed with him. I have seen several bashings of his appearance on this board by the Deanie Babies. Dean will take this party straight to a defeat in 2004 in my opinion. Edwards has a very good chance of winning; he is gaining momentum, and I believe that he is the only candidate who can beat Bush. Here is an article that was published in Slate.

Dean vs. Edwards vs. Bush
Why I'm rooting for an Edwards surge.
By William Saletan
Updated Tuesday, July 8, 2003, at 3:45 PM PT



A golden boy with a golden message

Unless we learn something awful about Howard Dean in the next several months, the Democratic race for president will probably come down to him and one other, more openly centrist candidate. If money, experience, and military service govern the decision, that candidate could be John Kerry. But there's one other candidate I can see filling the centrist slot, surviving the Dean insurgency, and giving President Bush a tougher fight. That candidate is John Edwards...

See the rest at: http://slate.msn.com/id/2085343/

[blm]

1. CDY...

You have to edit your post to 4 or 5 paragraphs and link to the rest of the article.
Welcome to DU.

[CDY]

5. Is that better?!!!

Sorry, I didn't know I had to limit my posts to so many paragraphs. I guess I should read the rules!!!! Thanks.

[tjdee]

2. GREAT article--but...

I don't think Edwards wants to move the party to the right, I think that's ridiculous on its face. I also don't think Dean is a liberal, and I'm getting sick of hearing it.

His message of optimism and opening doors is extremely resonant, and Democrats would be well served not to discount him.

[CDY]

7. True

Edwards is not moving anywhere to the right, but I think he can pull in some of the swing votes from the moderate Repugnantcans. He is fiscally Democratic by all means. He stands up for civil rights, environmental issues, and will uphold the Constitution. I do not see how that is going right either. The only reason anyone usually wants to say that he is moving the party to the right is because of the war resolution. Blah, blah, blah. I guess Hillary Clinton is moving to the right as well!!!!!

Dean is much closer to the right when it comes to his fiscal policies than Edwards will ever be. Most Dems and Reps are fiscally right and domestically left in the NE. He is no different. He has had to explain several comments about how to balance the federal budget. Several years ago, he was talking about cutting Medicare and Social Security. Now he is trying to change his tune again. I hope that our party makes wise choices in the next few months. If not, I am afraid that we are going to be stuck with that talking monkey for 4 more years. Even the Rep's have admitted that they fear Edwards. I think he is the only one with a fighting chance.

[blue america]

3. Here's what I wrote about Edwards after the debate in SC

It was on DU and on my site. I've since changed my tune a little bit (especially on John Kerry), I'm not as high on Edwards as I was immediattely after the debate. But I saw him on C-Span the other night in NH, and I started to get those feelings again.....

John Edwards
North Carolina Senator

For the past few months, I've been saying the same thing about Edwards: he's a pretty face, a nice smile and a very inexperienced politician with little depth. After hearing him speak first in Iowa, and then last night, let me add one more word to my opinion of Edwards: wow! Talk about the "It Factor," this guy IS It. I've heard him described as "Clinton without the scandals" and boy, whoever said that was on target. Assuming that he's as clean as everyone says he is, this man could be the next President.
He's a great speaker, he seems incredibly genuine, and in tune with what's wrong in America. As much as I worry about his overall inexperience in policymaking, I just think of him debating Bush and I smile. Why? Because a Bush-Kerry debate would be a carbon-copy of the Bush-Gore debates. Kerry will come off as a liberal elitist using big words and Bush will crack a joke, a smile and come off as the winner. That won't happen with a Bush-Edwards debate. Edwards summed it up in his closing arguments, saying that Bush may talk like a regular guy, but he still has corporate interests in mind. He may live on ranch and wear a big belt buckle, but that doesn't mean he knows about the real problems facing America today.

Edwards spoke passionately about Enron and corporate fraud. He was eloquent and inspiring. He was the real deal. He has It, and being a Southerner most definitely helps the Democratic cause, seeing that no Democrat has ever won the Presidency without carrying one southern state.

In a perfect world, I would still prefer John Kerry to be the President of the United States in 2004. But this isn't a perfect world. We have a very conservative, very dangerous trigger happy corporate crook sitting in the White House right now. This isn't the time to play fantasy politics. The Democrats, the American people need a strong candidate capable of going toe-to-toe with a very popular president. America needs John Edwards

[Classical_Liberal]

4. If you worry about a trigger happy crook

being in the whitehouse, why would you want someone that endorces Bush's trigger happyness?

[CDY]

6. Find another argument Deanie Babie

Is there anything else for you people to use as a tool against all of the other Dems? I don't think so. Dean has brainwashed all of you people into believing that he would have done something different with the war resolution. Bullshit. Here is a man that can do nothing but name-calling and lying. That is right; he is a LIAR. He LIED about things Edwards had said, he has lied about his position on the issues, and he will continue to lie to get elected. I do not trust him; I think he is a fraud. He changes his positions every week or so. I really don't understand how this is acceptable to you people.

You are living in a fantasy world if you think that this man is the answer to your prayers. He will do anything to get elected. I would rather have Edwards, who is honest and tells the truth about his positions, than Dean, who is just going to feed you what you want to hear to get elected. Wake up!

[dfong63]

9. an evasion worthy of ari fleischer

edwards' vote on the iraq war resolution is a completely legitimate, and important, issue. calling people names won't make it go away.

[CDY]

10. What about telling lies about Edwards?

I suppose that you think that is okay for Dean to do that as well. Yes, the war resolution is one issue; but for Dean supporters it seems to be the only issue worth talking about. I just wish that Dean supporters would come out with other topics other than this one. It is getting old and wearing out.

[carolinayellowdog]

12. Edwards would make a fine running mate for Dean

Hey--

It's certainly a case of the pot calling the kettle black for you to deplore the behavior of Dean supporters, while at the same time resorting to namecalling, telling us that we are brainwashed, etc. The only thing worse for a Democrat than voting for the war resolution IMO is voting for any Bush tax cuts. But I'll gladly vote for *any* Democrat against Bush, and accept a running mate choice based on pragmatism rather than ideological purity.

If you want to know how genuine each of these guys is, ask the people in Vermont about Dean, and ask the people here in North Carolina about Edwards.

CYD

[CDY]

14. I am a North Carolinian!

I consider the names I use much more acceptable than being called a Rep. because I support Edwards. Those are fighting words to me! I live in NC, yellow dog, and most of the people I know like John. The only ones that I hear spewing this "Edwards is a Rep" crap are the Dean supporters. I will support whomever gets the bid; but I do not like Dean, and I doubt I ever will. If he does do some great things in the future, I will be the first to commend him for it; but for now, I fail to see anything impressive about the man.

I will quit name-calling when the Dean people in NC quit referring to Edwards as a Rep. Dean is closer to the Rep party than Edwards will ever be, especially in the fiscal arena. Again, can anyone rely on something other than the war resolution to attack Edwards on? At least he has been honest and consistent with his views during the debates and, unlike Dean, has not had to rely on insulting his fellow candidates to gain public notoriety.

[carolinayellowdog]

15. that is scapegoating

insisting on your right to trash *all* Dean supporters as long as *any* say things you don't like.

The complaints I hear about Edwards aren't that he's a Republican, but rather that his constituent service is poor (something never said about ole Jesse!) and that the people of NC are ill-served by his running for president in his first term of elected office. Dean has done a lot more for Vermonters than Edwards has for North Carolinians, whether or not that predicts what either of them can do for the country. I bet their relative margins of support in their home states reflect that difference.

CYD

[alaine]

16. I have never heard this.

Also a Carolinian, I have heard back from John Edwards everytime I contacted him, got two responses this week. He has never failed to acknowedge the specific content of my letters.

It is Elizabeth Dole that has no respect for her constituents, she took Helms senate seat and I have never gotten an even an auto-responder acknowledgement from her office.

[CDY]

17. What constituent services are you referring to?

I have always received responses from Edwards office. I usually receive a letter in the mail that details his positions and is courteous. I have telephoned his office as well and always receive a friendly response. I would like to know what you are referring to specifically. Jesse Helms never sent me a detailed response to my comments, just a thank you for sending your comments tidbit. It takes a miracle to even find contact info for the Wicked Witch of the South (sorry, I know you hate name-calling). Has she finally put info on the Senate site?

The only other politician in NC that sends detailed responses is Sue Myrick, who I cannot stand! At least she responds though. Where do you get this info about Edwards?

[sandnsea]

11. What if you'd been wrong about Iraq?

The far left just doesn't seem to be able to factor that little detail into their thinking process. I looked at the years of intelligence available from the CIA, IAEA, Dod, State and everywhere else, just the stuff that's online, not even the meat of it that isn't available to the public. It IS disturbing. To ignore that would be incredibly irresponsible of Congress.

Congress gave Bush authority to work within the bounds of the UN. They also gave Bush authority to protect U.S. security. If Bush misused the actual authority Congress gave him by creating threats where they didn't exist and using forged documents to make his claims, that's on Bush, not on Congress. Maybe you don't understand the framework Congress laid out in their Authorization.

If you want a President who lives in happy land and thinks that nobody would really want to hurt anybody else, you actually don't have a candidate to vote for. I want a President who understands the reality of the dangers in this world while at the same time understands the corporate corruption that is contributing to that reality. Dean is NOT that guy, Edwards absolutely is.

[CDY]

8. Amen!

!!!!!!!!

[sandnsea]

13. Would you sign the International Criminal Court treaty?

Edwards: Yes.

How do you know a phony?

You put the counterfeit next to the real thing and then it's easy to see the difference.

No bullshit with this guy and that's why he can win.