My View of the Presidential Candidates. Part IV: John Edwards

by: Hopeful

Sun Feb 04, 2007 at 01:21:20 AM EST

His intro music was "This is our Country."  There was a lot of applause welcoming him.  He opened by acknowledging the loss of Molly Ivins.

Then he began his speech.  He said that somewhere in America, a little girl is hungry.  He spoke of union picket lines.  Then, a young man who has been accepted to college, but puts the letter aside because he cannot afford it.  It doesn't have to be that way.  A mother hearing that her precious son who volunteered after September 11th is dead.  Refugee camps half a world away,  where a little boy tries to protect his even younger sister, now that their parents have been murdered.  It was astoundingly moving, I was ready to cry.  Some where in America there's a working dad who has to beg at the emergency room for treatment for his sick daughter.  Will you stand up?  The crowd roared and stood.  It was amazing.  I wrote Wow! multiple times in my notes.

It's not right for our silence to enable Bush to escalate this war.  Silence is betrayal.

A Non-binding resolution is not enough.  We have the power.

George Bush is counting on us not to stand up.  Silence is betrayal.  Bush, Cheney, Rove don't think we're up to it.

Well, he sure hit the nail on the head when it comes to how I -- and I think much of 'base' -- feel about the war.  Remember Dodd also condemned the non-binding resolution, saying we already know that Bush will ignore it, and Obama has presented a bill to withdraw by March of 2008. The Republicans really do think our party is weak and won't stand up -- remember that they said the same thing when they readied their negative ad blitz against Menendez and our other Democratic candidates.  Contrast Edwards with Hillary's speech, which I'll cover in my next diary.  She says the resolution will 'Send a message.'

Then Edwards turned to poverty.  One in five in America are in poverty.  He said that the problem is complex -- he's not promising simple solutions.  He used the word "politics" as an indictment of weakness.  Frankly, I took it all as a shot at the Clintons and other triangulators.

Silence on health is betrayal.  47 million don't have isurance.  The Democratic party should quit talking 'access to healthcare:  We stand now and forever for universal health care.

The Edwards crowd now raised signs with the slogan "TOMORROW BEGINS TODAY"  It was pretty well coordinated.

We are a party of action.  Not appeasement

He then invoked unions.  I am proud to stand with them.  Again the crowd went wild.  I've read he had a lot of union backing, now I see why.

The last two lines I wrote:

It is time to be patriotic about something other than the war.

We need to reclaim the Democratic party

In summary, I found it to be a great speech. The energy in the crowd was amazing. If you're looking for someone who is proud to be a Democrat and will advocate progressive policies, Edwards is making a strong pitch for you.  He also had the best organized campaign presence after Hillary Clinton.