I am very diappointed in JK..

[saracat]

I personally do not think he should have endorsed anyone.This is the only time ever I have thought less of one I thought was a great man.But he has the right to his opinion I guess.If things keep going the way they are it appears I may not vote in November. I will not vote for Barak.At one time I thought I could, but after his "inclusion" speech after NH and his willingness to give insurance companies and corporations a "seat at the table just not all the seats" and wanting to ",disagree without being disagreeable" I see a man who is not willing to get his hands dirty or get in a fight.I see a man who will do the polticaly expedient thing.He wants to "reach across the aisle and unite."The GOP will bite his arm off.

JK was a fighter.Whether one likes him or not John Edwards is a fighter.I love you all and I still love JK, but this has made him look small to me.I would have thought he would have been above this. I never thought he would carry a grudge.I am planning on writing and telling him so and that is going to be very painful for me.

[sandnsea]

1. That is political bullshit spin

Look at his record in Illinois. Look at what he accomplished. He really accomplished things for people. Really important work. Children's health care. Taping muder interrogations. He got legislation to circumvent Bush's overtime changes. He has a very real progressive record in Illinois, as good as John Kerry's for certain.

Look at Edwards' record.

It's pretty clear.

[saracat]

4. I am not saying he doesn't.I am quoting from his speech.

And Edwards has a much more progressive record tha he is given credit for. But to each his own.I am disappointed in JK. And I have the right to be just as he has the right to endorse whomever he pleases, I have both the right to disagree with that endorsement and to be disappointed.I am sorry sandnsea.I respect you, But I can never vote for Obama.I just can't. I guess I am not a very good Democrat, though I have tried to be. I have been a democrat all my adult life but this may be the end of the road. Sigh.

[Mass]

2. Read his endorsement. It makes clear what mattered to him. And I agree with him.

I understand that you may be disappointed, but how is it a surprise to any reasonable person.

And, honestly, the venom of many Edwards's supporters does not make him endearing, far from it.

[saracat]

5. I haven't posted anything and none of the nicer posters I know have either.

It doesn't surprise me that he didn't endorse John.It surprises me that he endorsed anyone.

[sandnsea]

6. You would rather the Clintons get elected?

Is John Edwards not calling them the status quo?

[saracat]

9. I do not see a bit of difference between Obama and Clinton. Sorry.

John does call the Clintons "the status quo" but Obama is only a new version of them,.He wants to work in a "broken system". It is becoming more likely neither will get my vote.If either is the nominee. I guess I might not have a vote.For the first time .Ever.Sigh.

[Mass]

7. He said early on he would endorse. And, honestly, this is probably the least anticlimatic

endorsement since Clark endorsed Clinton. It has been predicted for weeks now, whether those predicting it had sources or not. (not that it is not important. Given the reactions on the blogosphere, it is).

[MBS]

3. Sara, JK's statement went beyond the expected to emphasize that

any of the candidates would make a fine president. That is typical JK class, and Edwards' response was also classy..

[Dr Ron]

8. Fighting for different things

They are both fighters but they are fighting for different things. Obama represents the same values that Kerry has supported, in contrast to Edwards. I would have been very surprised if Kerry supported anyone else (at least if after his Senate colleagues in the second tier were excluded).

Edwards represents the opposite of the values Kerry has supported, and he is just a mirror image of George Bush from the populist left. His brand of reactionary populism is no better than what the Republican offer and in some ways worse. There is no way John Edwards would ever get elected in this country.

[saracat]

10. If that is true it explains a lot about what is wrong with this country.

[beachmom]

11. To put it bluntly, John Edwards will not be the nominee. He has

placed 3rd in the first two states, and will not do much better going forward. I am puzzled by your saying you think less of Kerry. You KNEW he wasn't going to endorse Edwards (way too many stories about their falling out in the press to deny that it was real), and Kerry said when he dropped out of the race that he planned to get involved with the presidential race. Kerry was going to endorse someone VIABLE, obviously. So it came down to Hillary or Obama.

And your reasoning to me is weird: I don't have a problem with corporations having a voice in putting our bills together. I do mind when it is the most powerful voice or the only voice. Anyone who says corp.'s won't play any part in reforming healthcare is lying. They will break that promise when it comes time to getting it done.

I strongly disagree with your post and reasoning, but I really enjoy many of your thoughts on things, so hopefully when this is all over, we can join together again.

Seriously, I am tiring of "I will not vote for president if candidate X gets the nomination". I will vote for the nominee, whether it be Obama or Hillary, and everyone here knows my opinion of Hillary. But I've looked at the GOP field, and it is imperative that none of those bozos occupy the WH.

[Dr Ron]

12. True about corporations

"Anyone who says corp.'s won't play any part in reforming healthcare is lying"

It makes absolutely no sense for Edwards to claim this. Even if you want a single payer Medicare for all system, corporations play a part as the Medicare intermediaries. As Edwards is preserving the system with insurance companies they will obviously play a part. Insurance companies are the ones who currently do the job and it is totally absurd to try an end around and ignore them in reforming the system. Edwards is just being demagogic in his statements as he tries to give the false impression that Obama would allow insurance companies to actually call the shots.

[saracat]

14. I said what I meant.I am sorry to puzzle you. If JRE drops out, I won't have a candidate

I support.So I guess I don't have a vote. My vote is important to me and I can't cast it lightly. I never supported Kerry because I was ABB. I fully supported JK and was "proud" to cast my vote for him. I have already stated that I am by now , probably no longer a good Dem.I will not just vote for a "D" after a name.I thought I could .I do not think I can. I guess you can call me naive and silly if you wish but that is how I feel.If either of these two are the nominee, I don't really see a difference.I feel really badly about how I feel too.This is hard for me.But it is what it is.I hope I can come to a different place if this should happen. I am even trying to convince myself that at least Hillary has a bit of "fight' in her if I have to choose between the two, and you can imagine how bizarre that is for me!

[rox63]

15. If you can't vote for the Dem nominee because you don't support them

Consider your vote to be against the rethugs. This country can't take another rethug administration after all the damage * has done. I've decided that, if HRC is the nominee, I will vote for her. Even though she's my least favorite of the remaining candidates. She was actually my least favorite before Iowa, when we had a much bigger field. I may hold my nose while voting. But I'm willing to do that to help save my country from the rethugs. At the very least, think about what would happen to the SCOTUS if another rethug gets elected.

[saracat]

16. I am trying to convince myself of that.I don't really trust either of these guys to do anything

different than the rethugs.I am not convinced either won't sell anything out for political expediency. But as I said, I am trying to force myself to vote for Hillary if she is the nominee.

[rox63]

19. Just keep thinking "Roe v Wade"

If the rethugs get one more pick for SCOTUS, Roe v Wade is a goner.

[ElizabethDC]

13. I'm disappointed too, but only because

I knew he'd never endorse my candidate. :) Frankly, I like Obama the least of the bunch, but I sort of had a hunch all along that that was who Kerry would choose. So I guess I'm not too broken up about it. :shrug:

[karynnj]

17. Things are not always so black and white

Kerry's own position on working across the aisle and with the corporations involved has always been one of diplomacy and negotiation. This is closer to how you dismissed Obama's. I can think of many examples on this - Kerry answered a Pepperdine College question by speaking of the desire to have legislation written that the broad middle of the Senate - as many as 80 people could except as a goal. This is a healthier model than either side demanding everything there way. Look at the many time on the Small Business committee where he spoke of getting the companies to pursue technology for the good of their bottom line, as well as for science. Remember him praising HP for building a very energy effective plant to reduce the costs to a level where they kept the jobs in this country. Edwards has gone at least to the brink of demagoguery on this.

Kerry is against corporate and government corruption - it's in his record with real efforts. John Edwards did NOTHING on this issue in the 6 years he was in office. Obama really has done more on ethics, both in Illinois and the US Senate.

I think it presumptuous to say Kerry did this because of a grudge. There are many other possible reasons - some might be that the only 2 who have a real chance to win are HRC and Obama. Or, it might be that both on issues and on temperament - he prefers Obama. Consider that MANY Kerry advisers went to Obama. It might even be the issue you site - Kerry values diplomacy and putting everything on the table and pushing everyone - with carrots and an occasional threat of a stick - to work things out. (Look at how he got the Patriot game covered - not a big issue, but the methodology is there.) Edwards is 180 degrees away from this - it is very hard to see how he can achieve his goals by making things more angry and polarized. (If you ask why, given that this is how Edwards is, why did he pick him - remember that the 2004 Edwards was NOT like this at all. Not to mention, EDWARDS' own story of refusing to use the campaign slogan makes him sound like the VP candidate from hell. )

[saracat]

18. That is as may be. I still can't support Obama. And I still feel Kery should not have

endorsed "anyone" but that is my opinion.