Thank you, John Edwards.

[smoogatz]

I don't know if anyone here besides me bothered to watch Hillary's speech last night, but I was struck by the degree to which it was different from her usual routine. She actually talked at some length about taking America back from corporations, restoring power to the people, the country belonging to us and not the insurance, banking, oil industries, etc. She sounded almost like a populist, of all things (almost, but hey, it's early in the primaries). In Iowa and then in New Hampshire, Obama also took up a populist theme—blending it with his usual "uniting America" shtick. I could be wrong, God knows, but I'm guessing that the viral spread of the progressive message through the early primaries started with John Edwards. Not being idiots, Obama and now Hillary have siezed on the rhetoric (at least) of progressive-populism, hoping to peel away a few Edwards voters—with evident effect. This is a good thing, I'm pretty sure. I hope Edwards follows through and stays in the race until the convention. He's moving the debate, and for this we owe him our gratitude. And maybe a contribution, so he can keep holding the front-runners' feet to the progressive fire.

[acmavm]

1. She doesn't mean it. Look at her record.

[smoogatz]

3. Pot to kettle: Dude. You're black.

Edwards' record is anything but progressive. The point is that he's moving the debate to the left a bit, and that's a fine thing.

[acmavm]

4. Edwards has been saying the same damn thing since he started

running for president. Hillary says something new every damn day EXCEPT that she regrets voting for the IWR. That's pretty much the one thing she's been firm on. And she needs to either own up that she was wrong or just quit pretending she'd end the occupation.

Edwards has made no bones about where he stands and what he'd do. Hillary will have us there forever.

[smoogatz]

5. An apology and $5 will get you a latté at Starbucks.

Actions/words, etc. If Edwards can stake out the populist left despite his center-right record as a legislator, why can't Hillary?

[AndyA]

2. I think Edwards and Kucinich were the first ones to really have a progressive message.

Kucinich best reflects my interests, but I never thought he had much of a chance of winning. And that's unfortunate. It was a money problem from day one. Money ultimately seems to elect our Presidents these days. :(

My concern is this is a relatively new theme for Hillrack, so I wonder how sincerely they mean it. Will they give back all those corporate donations? Will they refund all that lobbyist money? If they did, I would have more faith in them, but for now I suspect they're saying whatever they feel they must say to get the most votes.

Follow the money, and the truth shall be told.