Great campaign memo from Edwards:

[babylonsister]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/30/438803.aspx

Here's the full memo:

EDWARDS CAMPAIGN MEMO
TO: INTERESTED PARTIES
FROM: CONGRESSMAN BONIOR, CAMPAIGN MANAGER
SUBJECT: REAL CHANGE OR MORE OF THE SAME
DATE: 10/30/2007

In this critical election, our nation faces a crossroads. There are two paths ahead, but only one will lead us to the America we believe in and the government we deserve. As John Edwards said yesterday in New Hampshire, the road we choose will determine what kind of country we leave to our children, and whether we restore the promise of this great nation:

“Down one path, we trade corporate Democrats for corporate Republicans; our cronies for their cronies; one political dynasty for another dynasty; and all we are left with is a Democratic version of the Republican corruption machine.

“It is the easier path. It is the path of the status quo. But, it is a path that perpetuates a corrupt system that has not only failed to deliver the change the American people demand, but has divided America into two – one America for the very greedy, and one America for everybody else….Or we can choose a different path. The path that generations of Americans command us to take. We can get up and take our country back. And be the guardians that kept the faith.”

Unfortunately, the Clinton campaign has made it clear -- through its choices, its words and its silence -- that it intends to defend the broken system in Washington, where the interests of the American people are bought and sold every day by an army of lobbyists, instead of taking the path that the American people want – a path that leads to ending the corruption in Washington and bringing the big, bold change we need to America.

The real question as we enter tonight’s presidential debate on MSNBC is why, in the face of the great challenges we face as a nation, Senator Clinton chooses to so passionately defend this broken system and the damage that Washington lobbyists are doing to our nation every single day. It is these lobbyists, the corporate interests they serve, and the policies that they pervert, that are destroying the promise of America. Let us be clear - no candidate for president should be standing with lobbyists, instead of standing with the American people, and believe they are “ready to lead.”

If the American people want to take their country back, they need a leader with the strength to reject the corrupt system, say “no” to Washington lobbyists and finally make our government work for the American people once again. This election is about our hope for a better future for our children -- but we will never build that future until we elect a leader who will end the broken system in Washington.

At the end of the day, the Clinton campaign may attack, but it is only Senator Edwards who has the real strength and right experience to lead this nation, while others seem determined to continue to play the Washington game.

It is this passionate belief that we must lead this nation to greater heights that explains why Senator Edwards has led on issue after issue, and was the first candidate in this race:

1. To refuse to take a dime from Washington lobbyists or PACs;
2. To call on the Democratic Party and all Democratic presidential candidates to say no to lobbyist money;
3. To introduce truly universal health care and be honest about the sacrifice we must make to achieve it;
4. To introduce a bold plan to deal with global warming;
5. To propose policies to end poverty and restore the hope of the American dream for millions of American families;
6. To propose middle class tax relief, and a plan to make sure the wealthiest pay their fair share in taxes;
7. To propose a bold plan for a new global alliance to deal with terrorism;
8. To lead the fight to end the war in Iraq and oppose further funding requests by the Bush Administration that do not have a strict timeline for withdrawal;
9. And to learn the terrible lessons of NAFTA that cost countless of American jobs, and oppose the South Korean and Peru trade deal.
It is this leadership that makes Senator Edwards, the strongest candidate for president, and the only one who is ready to lead the fight for the change America needs.

[Sweet Pea]

1. Definitely not

I will never get over his hedge fund debacle, his $400 haircuts, his "poverty center" that sent campaign staffers to conventions, his HUGE house, his lack of military service, charging $50,000 to talk about poverty to college students, etc so on and so forth.

Not my candidate.

[FrenchieCat]

2. But, but, but.....

being the white male from the South IS "real change" in 2007......or didn't ya know? :sarcasm:

[ChiciB1]

3. I AGREE With You... But Get Ready For The LONG Knives!

DU has changed so much I hardly recognize the place I chose to blog at way back when! It's really sad and I'm just SICK of seeing attack after attack, and not only about Edwards. Obama has been ragged on so much lately it sickens me.

And no, I WILL not reply to any comment! Some people just want to rile others up and bait them into an argument! I'm not your punch bag!

[knight_of_the_star]

6. Trust me this isn't that bad this time around

I was here for the first primary season and that one was UGLY compared to this one.

[GreenArrow]

4. snap judgements

1. Good for him. Bad for him; he won't win without it.

2. Unless both parties are required to do so by law, a very bad idea. The Republicans would love it though.

3. Funny how easy it is to make something "Universal" by simply making it "mandatory".

4. A "bold" plan is not necessarily a workable plan, or an apt plan. Nice action verb, though.

5. Poverty is not some monolithic issue.

6. Good enough on the surface, but why not a reallocation of what we spend our tax dollars on? Slicing the defense budget anyone? Ending the war on Drugs? Just to mention a few.

7. There's the "bold" action verb again. Maybe it could be his version of GWB's "resolve." Terrorism isn't created in a vacuum. It might be a worthwhile endeveour for us to actually look in the mirror, take inventory, and make some changes, rather than offering arrogant, condescending crap like spending a bunch of money on western style "education" for poor benighted heathens of other cultures and races. (It could, however, be lucrative to do so...) The White Man's burden rears its ugly head.

8. "To lead the fight"? Sir, your ambition oversteps your ablities. You have just joined the fight, and it remains to be seen which side you really take, though it appears to be whichever side is winning. Leadership? To this point, you have demonstrated base followership.

9. Can't argue with that.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

5. Edwards has the best policies of any of the three viable Democratic candidates.

He's probably also the one with the best chance of winning an election, although that's more debateable.

It's a shame he's so unlikely to win the Primary.