Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Damn it.
You’ve probably heard: John Edwards has pulled out. Now the mainstream media needn’t do the wink-wink, nudge-nudge whenever they portray this as a two-horse race. Like it or not, that’s what we have.
It’s rare for a politician’s words to choke me up, but Edwards’s concession got to me. It reminded me of everything I’ve loved about him — first and foremost, his commitment to making this country a better place for ALL Americans, not just the wealthy.
Crooks and Liars has the full transcript. Here’s a snippet:
And we do this — we do this for each other in America. We don’t turn away from a neighbor in their time of need. Because every one of us knows that what — but for the grace of God, there goes us. The American people have never stopped doing this, even when their government walked away, and walked away it has from hardworking people, and, yes, from the poor, those who live in poverty in this country.
For decades, we stopped focusing on those struggles. They didn’t register in political polls, they didn’t get us votes and so we stopped talking about it. I don’t know how it started. I don’t know when our party began to turn away from the cause of working people, from the fathers who were working three jobs literally just to pay the rent, mothers sending their kids to bed wrapped up in their clothes and in coats because they couldn’t afford to pay for heat.
We know that our brothers and sisters have been bullied into believing that they can’t organize and can’t put a union in the workplace. Well, in this campaign, we didn’t turn our heads. We looked them square in the eye and we said, “We see you, we hear you, and we are with you. And we will never forget you.†And I have a feeling that if the leaders of our great Democratic Party continue to hear the voices of working people, a proud progressive will occupy the White House.
Now, I’ve spoken to both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. They have both pledged to me and more importantly through me to America, that they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.
And more importantly, they have pledged to me that as President of the United States they will make ending poverty and economic inequality central to their Presidency. This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause.
We can only hope the next President keeps his promise.
D.
i am just afraid that it may result in a negative for Obama. hook, line and sinker
Well, no big surprise, but a shame nonetheless. After him and Kucinich pulling out, that leaves me voting for Obama, unless something unexpected happens.
Yeah, me too.
I’m sorry. I was gonna vote for him. Now I guess it’s Obama… or Nader (that’s just a joke, okay? shhhh. I was kidding about Nader–call off your ferrets!!)
Nader runs I’m gonna run too. Run screeeeeeaming. What is that man’s problem?
Hope u dont mind, but have been rooled (under other thangz.
Thanks man
Add me to the list of the disappointed voters. I’ve never *not* voted before and don’t want to skip this election, but I have serious qualms about voting for either Obama or Clinton.
Stumping for Edwards gave me, for the first time in a long time, the feeling that I was supporting a real candidate instead of another political talking head. As it stands I think I am going to wait a bit and see which of our other,(flips a coin), choises we have, picks Him for VP. Later all…TR.