Reply #74: The populist Edwards voted for the China trade deal in 2000. [View All]

[flpoljunkie]

Edward's populist campaign was born on the steps of the City Hall in Nashua, NH, on January 3rd with his "Two America's" speech.

Edward's populist rhetoric belies a number of his votes in the Senate. Besides the China trade deal vote in 2000, Edwards voted in 2001 for the bankruptcy bill, an egregious giveaway to the banks and credit card companies. Edwards also voted against increasing the renewable energy standards, to weaken the Safe Water Drinking Act, to continue factory farms (i.e., hog farms) and to limit the liability of the nuclear industry.

Consider these votes when you consider your vote for the Democratic nominee. John Kerry's lifetime record of fighting and voting for civil rights, consumer rights and the environment speaks volumes; his is not an election year conversion.

Edwards and Lieberman were considered to be the two candidates preferred by the DLC. Yet, despite Edward's increasingly populist rhetoric, his position in the debate Sunday that we cannot have it all and balance the budget is right out of the DLC/Clinton playbook. This devotion to balancing the budget is also a hallmark of the Dean campaign--courting Dean's supporters, perhaps?