John Edwards Endorses YOU

[stickernation]

Hi - this is my first post to DU as an OP, and I wanted to spin this Edwards drop-out thing around strategically for a bit.

I have some very cool friends who are becoming Obama supporters. I look at them and truly must marvel - at their gullibility :) They aren't by any stretch political junkies like myself - they're coder types, Burning Man types, indie rockers, street art types. I do not agree with their choice of candidate - in fact I am very concerned about it. Let's hope my fears are unfounded; regardless, they simply are not the political people in my life, and I'm amazed and gladdened. Because one thing I know is that these people DO know how to throw a party (like an actual "trance, hotties and maybe even a hot tub" party).

I probably will go to this party. OK, sign me up, I'll go. I will, however, be going there as an Edwards supporter. I will be there to see where I can continue John's work - inserting the progressive agenda into the conversation, trying to break the grip of groupthink, and re-focusing people on the issues such as the war in Iraq and the teetering economy.

After all these celebrity endorsements for Obama, I have been feeling left out! :P But then I realized that *I* felt more "endorsed" than ever before as Edwards found his voice last year. I felt like I had the right to speak up once again, to speak up LOUDLY and at LENGTH as I once did before the paranoia set in. I suddenly felt that I no longer had to silence and self-censor my political voice as I have ever since 9-11. Edwards got me posting to this forum for instance. John Edwards Endorsed Me And Now I Can Speak Once Again. And today with his withdrawal from the race, brothers and sisters I feel that voice like never before. It is my DUTY to continue to speak out.

I am more than ever convinced that "change" will not be coming to the White House unless the supporters of the remaining Democratic candidates become a newly energized political force that holds their candidates to a solidly progressive agenda and will follow through to ensure implementation should that candidate be elected President. As a Democrat I do not want our Party to elect another Jimmy Carter or Lyndon Johnson. No evil weapons buildup or continuation of the war for ME, thank you very much, and I doubt that supporters of Clinton or Obama would feel differently. I want a long-term Democratic supermajority in both houses of Congress, and I want a Democratic President in the White House for as long as the Party continues to speak for the people over the war profiteers and the rest of the pigs who exploit us. It will only continue to do that if the people know exactly WHAT to speak, and hold the Party to its obligation to represent them. And that is where Edwards supporters come in.

In the multiple-choice test that has been this Primary, I refuse to believe I got the answer wrong. THE EDWARDS AGENDA is in my opinion the correct choice for the Democratic Party. It is that I plan to serve while I mingle with the people Obama is undeniably bringing back into the political process. I am not going to let their support be unquestioning; it is my RESPONSIBILITY to make sure that Obama supporters are as discerning and as articulate as I've found my fellow Edwards supporters to be on these boards over the last few months.

It is a time for new beginnings, not a time for endings. I have never been more certain that WE must reshape the world OURSELVES. We don't just want a "left" government - we want an OPEN SOURCE GOVERNMENT. Obama's popularity still *IS* open source. Obama's "charisma" leaves gaping voids into which I believe Edwards supporters may flood their messages. It hasn't coalesced into talking points yet - there is still a lot of room for setting the agenda. Edwards has endorsed OUR campaigns today, and we should be honored!!!

It is critical to me that if Obama is the nominee, that his supporters hold him absolutely accountable - and know to what standards they mean to hold him. If Obama is creating a swell in demand for a more active citizenship, I can't deny that that is a good thing - I would be very excited to see a Congressional and gubernatorial coattail effect for instance. But without the brains of Edwards supporters in the mix I think it'd be a pretty ineffective party. It'd just be another "my person won/lost, that's it for me" type democracy, which simply will NOT cut it anymore. I'm not going to the Obama party to support their candidate, but to continue to support mine. I'll be at the party, but I am not there to support Obama so much as to support democracy itself and the People who sustain it.

There are SO MANY ISSUES that John Edwards brought up in his campaign. Those issues haven't gone away. But attention to these issues is step number one to solving them. Obama - to me, these days, insert qualifier, whatever - pretty much NEVER brings up these issues - maybe strategically he doesn't want to get held to something later, but for now it just seems vacuous to me. Without the amplified advocacy of Edwards supporters, those issues may be swallowed up by a mass media that SO OBVIOUSLY CANNOT BE TRUSTED.

I feel sad that so many Obama supporters have seen fit to hurl insults at Edwards supporters rather than make me trust and like their candidate or acknowledge the guts and originality of mine. I believe Edwards supporters have ALWAYS held the issues and the agenda at the core of their political beings. I am the person who must serve this set of issues now - donating to Edwards will no longer finance a great person to articulate this for me. There are no easy answers; President Edwards in 2008 would have let me relax a lot more, sure, but I knew in my heart that my karma wasn't going to be that easy! Thankfully I can go back and watch his speeches and learn what it is again to be able to write and speak and motivate Americans as he has done. Maybe you feel the same way?

I will close this, my first OP, by expressing that Edwards supporters can make themselves the VANGUARD of the Democratic Party. Together, we can take this party to the next level. Obama's vagueness towards issues gives us an opportunity to bring them up ourselves and create demand for those changes within his own support base. I believe that we can and must communicate with Obama supporters and get them in sync with our agenda on OUR terms.

Everyone feels that supporters of other candidates are naive, and I'm no different. I'm not going to drop out of the Party, though - I am going to be the life of the Party. I think Edwards supporters in general ARE the life of the Party - here on DU, on Kos, Krugman, and in the real world too. While I admire Kucinich supporters a great deal I think Edwards supporters hit different chords with their communication style and attitude. We've just had a crash course in how to effectively communicate political thought in public and on the media. John Edwards has really shown us how it's done, as well as pointed out a few hazards for us, and it's up to us to take what we have learned in his "class" and apply it to the real world. The media might have kicked our candidate out of this race, but as it trembled before Edwards himself, it will run screaming to the hills when it sees us. Good.

Which means - Edwards supporters, whichever way you're leaning in the vote, you're going to be mingling with other Democrats. You know what to do !!!

-s

[matcom]

1. Don't need it. TIME Magazine already named me person of the year.

[IndyOp]

4. And you know who the next President of the United States is going to be?

Yep. That's right - you. TIME Magazine person of the year and the next President of the United States.


My heart broke a bit when Al Gore did not pick up the torch that we tried to hand him.

My heart broke a bit when John stepped down yesterday.

I've known all along, however, that the next President is just a figure head -- we must be the change we seek. No more false optimism or vague hopes, but get down to brass tacks and get the jobs done.

[Tennessee Gal]

2. I, for one, have no intention of keeping my opinions to myself.

John Edwards holds positions of critical importance and I will bring them up every chance I get.

I won't go quietly!

[mac2]

3. Since once again we have been betrayed by the party....

I'm voting Independent. That's what I have to do. I've been a Democrat for many years. Seems my party is only interested in the minority vote which can't win us elections. The vast "white, middle American worker" is ignored for corporate interests.