Goodbye John Edwards

Today John Edwards threw in the towel. I was working up a big citation post about this argument between my brother and me, comparing why in the head to head comparison between Edwards and Obama I found Edwards more compelling. He had my support and I think the best Democratic candidate has now left the race. Here’s a snippet of his farewell speech:

And I want to say to everyone here, on the way here today, we passed under a bridge that carried the interstate where 100 to 200 homeless Americans sleep every night. And we stopped, we got out, we went in and spoke to them.

There was a minister there who comes every morning and feeds the homeless out of her own pocket. She said she has no money left in her bank account, she struggles to be able to do it, but she knows it’s the moral, just and right thing to do. And I spoke to some of the people who were there and as I was leaving, one woman said to me, “You won’t forget us, will you? Promise me you won’t forget us.” Well, I say to her and I say to all of those who are struggling in this country, we will never forget you. We will fight for you. We will stand up for you.

But I want to say this — I want to say this because it’s important. With all of the injustice that we’ve seen, I can say this, America’s hour of transformation is upon us. It may be hard to believe when we have bullets flying in Baghdad and it may be hard to believe when it costs $58 to fill your car up with gas. It may be hard to believe when your school doesn’t have the right books for your kids. It’s hard to speak out for change when you feel like your voice is not being heard.

But I do hear it. We hear it. This Democratic Party hears you. We hear you, once again. And we will lift you up with our dream of what’s possible.

I wish I had as much faith in the other candidates or the Democratic Party as I do in John Edwards. I don’t, but at this point what else do I have left? Maybe I’ll be able to vote for him in 2016.

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dave

Dave Slusher is a blogger, podcaster, computer programmer, author, science fiction fan and father. Member of the Podcast Hall of Fame class of 2022.

5 thoughts on “Goodbye John Edwards”

  1. I was broken up about Edwards leaving the race too. I’ve been an Edwards guy since 2004, when he was running for the Democratic nomination. I took it in stride and as soon as I heard the news, I went down to City Hall and cast my early Super Tuesday vote for Barack Obama. (Attn: Illinois readers – today is the last day to vote early. Look here: http://www.voterinfonet.com/pdf/evlocations%20chart_UPDATED%201_30_2008.pdf for times & places!)

    I think that if either Hillary or Barack eventually become president, that good things can happen.

    If Barack ends up as President, I think that he could become someone who can really lead us somewhere. Bush, besides his trainwreck policies, never really asked us to do anything toward any common goal. He never asked us to sacrifice, he never asked us to work hard for our country. In a very JFK-like way, I think that Barack could lead us together, as a nation.

    If Hillary becomes president, we get to watch the entire right-wing, conservative, republican establishment watch her exploit the power of the newly created (by them) unitary executive. I can’t wait to see the reaction when she treats half the country exactly the way Bush treated the other half for at least four years. I don’t think it will make us any better off as a country – but it will be entertaining.

    -adam

  2. Do you honestly beleive that he stopped and talked to a minister feeding the homeless on the highway by chance on the way to deliver his speech? Honestly? I will be happy to be shown to be wrong with a video of the event but this is nothing but rampant populism pandering to you. If you belive what he is saying it is working. He is a multi-millionaire trial lawyer who says whatever he thinks will make you happy.

    Honestly? You really beleive this man?
    In the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that I am a republican. I voted for George because I beleived he would do things I wanted done. I didn’t believe every word he said, and I fear a lot of the stuff his administration has done, but the worst of which are being torn down by shining some light on what the NSA and HSA are trying to do.

    If you fall for this garbage from your party you will fall for anything. I weep for this nation that this manner of politics works. Looks at McCain in my party. It is working on my side to. Populism works everytime it is tried.
    Luckily people come to their senses eventually.

  3. What does the end of poverty look like?

    John Edwards concluded his Presidential campaign yesterday, but not before securing pledges from Obama and Clinton that they would make the ending of poverty central to their presidential campaigns.

    Regardless the road we choose to take, be it a conservative path or a liberal one– at what point will we consider people out of poverty? Can somebody tell me. Not platitudes like “when every person is living in dignity and without fear” or some other claptrap. I can’t measure that, and unless we figure out how to achieve some communistic land of perfection, where everyone is robotically equal, we will always have different strata in society. The poor will always be with us.

    So, please somebody tell me– What does the end of poverty look like?

  4. Steve, your tirade is predicated on that being an accident, when there is no claim that it was. I’m sure it was on purpose. Nice try, no kewpie doll.

    Adam, you have a very good point about the asking for something. The fact that all Bush has ever asked of the American people is to go shopping shows what he thinks of us – sheep to be fleeced. This ties in with Tony, in that when you lift people up out of poverty, that isn’t a big gift to the shiftless, that is an investment in our future. Having an America without that poverty is a stronger more vital America with a better economy. It ain’t a zero sum game, you can win by helping others win too. That’s where conservatives fail, they want to win by making others lose.

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