The Last Stand of John Edwards

[SHRED]

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I think Brent makes some very valid points here but I am afraid that the MSM has already labeled John as "negative".
I wish the best for Edwards and hope he gets the nomination.

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January 11, 2008
The Last Stand of John Edwards
(Brent Budowsky)
@ 8:45 am

Before suggesting how John Edwards might revive his candidacy, let me emphasize the most important predictions I am making here: that the nomination of neither party will be decided on Super Tuesday; that Edwards has a chance to break out in upcoming debates; and that the mainstream punditry, from the insider class to the contrary, is,
in my view, flat-out wrong, as usual.

~SNIP~

You heard it here first: John Edwards has a chance to thoroughly win the upcoming debates with a smaller number of candidates and a greater chance to get out his message, but he must retool the message. Angry populism alone does not win presidential campaigns, and he had every chance in Iowa, where he virtually lived for six years, and it did not happen.

Edwards should return to his 2004 roots, combining a progressive populism with an optimism about what America can be if he is elected. He should talk about two Americas among voters, but also the greater America that is possible with Edwards as president and a Democratic House and Senate.

As the economy moves to center stage and the injustice and bad economics of the Bush viewpoint come to the center of our national debate, Edwards should reach beyond mere anger and offer policies of hope and reach out to Middle American families and working-class voters with hard but uplifting visions that he would champion during the coming debates.

~SNIP~

MORE:
http://pundits.thehill.com/2008/01/11/the-last-stand-of-john-edwards/

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[glowing]

1. I really don't think that he has an angry message... I think he very controlled

and knows who he wants to go after.. I think this is spin.. trying to make him "angry" and confrontational... Its stupid and pathetic..

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Maybe He Can Talk Up His Hedge Fund, Which Specialized In Predatory Lending

That'll pull the middle class in droves - and then Edwards can foreclose on their houses.

Everyone will win.

[Two Americas]

5. this is not good

No one who sincerely supports the principles and ideals of the Democratic party could possibly see Edwards as the enemy, despite his faults. Yet your post implies just that.

I can only assume that in your zeal to promote the candidate of your choice, you are willing to sabotage the principles and ideals of the party, by smearing a fellow Democrat with innuendo and insinuation, and antagonize thousands of his supporters - your friends and allies with whom you happen to have a relatively minor disagreement.

This is short-sighted and destructive, regardless of which candidate is being smeared. Nothing good can possibly cone from it. I think you should be ashamed of yourself, and I call on all true Democrats to resist the temptation to emulate your very malicious and destructive behavior. It hurts all of us, and helps no one.

I strongly urge you to reconsider taking this path.

[MannyGoldstein]

6. So The Predatory-Lending Hedge Fund Was OK?

Personally, I can't fathom - in a million years - how someone who supports the average Joe and Jane could help manage a hedge fund that specialized in predatory lending schemes. It just doesn't compute. Add that to his voting for the bankruptcy bill, and co-sponsoring the Iraq War, and we have, I believe, a charlatan - not a savior.

But feel free to believe what you want.

[kurth]

3. Remember: The worse the economy tanks in 2008, the more urgent the need for REAL change

Not superficial empty talk, or the promise of change.

[Briar]

4. Weird

Americans licence their agents to torture "non people" (muslims held outside the US) but sensitively wince at politicians angered by gross injustices and insufficiently "optimistic" (whatever that means)?

[IndyOp]

7. Briar - My "passion" re: the election and politics in general is to STOP the slaughter...

to stop the torture...
to stop the empire...
to stop the militarism...

My sensitivity is ALL about ending the near-constant genocide committed by global corporations and public and private militias.

If I wince on behalf of any candidate, it will be a candidate who is working to end these horrors.