Reply #5: Don't trust those Mercerites! [View All]

[ThatPoetGuy]

But no, I'm pushing that theme. I'm an Edwards supporter in denial; I can't accept yet that he's out of the race and I'll have to take one of the squabbling self-involved twits who never pushed forward any big ideas.

HRC: "I'm the candidate with the experience to fight the Republicans and legislate well."

BO: "I bring change and unity."

JE: "This country is shafting its poor people, the workers, and the sick. Let's change this."

Clinton and Obama have made their campaigns about themselves: the messenger and not the message. All three had very similar policies -- Obama is different from the others on health care, because he opposes mandates, and justifies it dishonestly; Edwards was different from the other two on Iraq, because he was only planning to leave enough troops to guard the embassy.

If I had to rank them:

in terms of legislative history, Obama has the best record, followed by Edwards, followed by Hillary -- and even Hillary has a far better record than any of the Repugnicans.

in terms of policies, Edwards was best, followed by Hillary (who just copied Edwards), followed by Obama -- and even Obama has far better policies than any of the Repugnicans.

in terms of the message a candidate sends out into the world, affecting real shifts in the way people think about things, Edwards was the best in my lifetime. Hillary has been too cautious, putting her in a distant, distant second, and Obama's messages -- from "achieving unity" with evildoers to his attacks on mandated care to his refusal to condemn virulent gay-bashers to his dishonest criticisms of labor unions, trial lawyers, Paul Krugman, and others, to portraying a woman in politics as a witch -- Obama's messages have been the worst. Several Repugnicans have spread a more liberal message than Obama's: Giuliani's message was strongly in favor of gay rights, Huckabee's message is oriented more towards helping the poor and the sick.