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With all the talk about how much candidates have raised, John Nichols has a good article at Common Dreams called More Than the Money Primary that is worth reading.
The question for Democratic voters is this: Do they want to replace Bush with someone who is acceptable to the same people who gave us Bush? Or do they want a real change?
If the only measure is money, then the same monied interests that defined the Bush era will define the post-Bush era, whether the next president is a Democrat or a Republican.
But if the goal is to end the Bush era of misdeed and miscalculation, and to set a new course, then grassroots Democrats must look beyond the money primary — toward the ideals and idea primary where Edwards continues to be a frontrunner. That may be why, when delegates at state Democratic conventions have cast their straw-poll ballots — most recently in Wisconsin — Edwards has frequently come out on top.
3 comments:
The problem with John Nichols statement is that he's assuming people are not buying into Edwards because Edwards has taken on the "progressive" mantle. I'm afraid that's not the case at all. Take a close look at John Edwards record when he was in the US senate and point to me if he was a champion "progressive" like he's making himself out to be now. How many times back then was he talking about poverty issues? No one is buying the 180 degree turn for Edwards, and that's his major problem. With the haircuts, offshore hedgefunds, huge mansion meme, his two Americas theme has all but been destroyed in terms of credibility. Can you tell me that a real progressive candidate goes around flying in a celebrity barber/hair stylist over a three year period who was charging in some cases $1,000 per haircut as reported recently in yesterday's Washington Post? Really?
Like some wise folks say, scratch the surface and you will see a different picture. Presidential politics does make for strange metamorphosis.
I posted about a former politician that lived in a fancy house and had a ritzy lifestyle, yet pushed for progressive policies and helped the poor. His name was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Don't knock a person for making money.
The America of 2007 is VASTLY different from the America of 1932. The acceptance of "nobles oblige" has been converted to a distrust of "white liberal guilt", or worse, an outright rejection as hypocrisy.
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