“It is as if the former Vice President is to the HuffPo what “Where’s Waldo?” is to the Pediatrician’s Waiting Room Table…”
-2Truthy
Maverick Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards appeared this week in Mountain View, CA for a Town Hall presentation at Google HQ and was welcomed by an enthusiastic and energized crowd of Googlers eager to hear the former Senator from North Carolina speak out on the Iraq War, healthcare, our growing divide between rich and poor and the sullied reputation of the United States given the last eight years of this administration of thugs. (I threw in the “thug” part.)
So why is it that every time Edwards makes an appearance, the MSM and supposed liberal blogosphere choose to instead promote the former vice president’s latest book or his weight or, whatever? I mean, Edwards IS the Democratic candidate, yes? Why can’t that boatload of PR $$$ be thrown at the Edwards campaign? It’s not like the former VP can’t afford it or anything.
Back to John Edwards, who deeply believes in the values of the Democratic Party.
Last night, I attended another appearance he made at San Jose State University where he delivered a passionate, moving speech to a wine and cheese shindig (only without the cheese, chips instead) reservation-only packed ballroom of approximately five hundred people, where he later greeted supporters, shook hands and signed autographs. To say that Edwards is even more compassionate and charismatic in person would be an understatement, where he spoke with such clear conviction and determination as he addressed the fine points of his campaign theme from the Iraq War -- how he made “a terrible decision to vote for the Iraq War” which was a “decision I will have to live with” and how on the first day of his presidency, he will “shut down Guantanemo Bay” to healthcare, where he proclaimed that under his administration, “no American will be without healthcare” and finally, perhaps the most compelling moment – when he playfully asked the crowd how we liked his $400 hair cut! Well, ok, I must admit that the roars were most definitely loudest when he mentioned the part about kissing corporate tax cuts goodbye…
Yes, this was a JOHN EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT crowd-pleasing moment, and he did not disappoint. But later on, as he shook the hands and greeted his supporters, an unmistakable, worried expression of disappointment or, at the very least, preoccupation crossed his brow and I couldn’t help but question the deliberate LACK of public and media relations for this most genuinely talented, kind and decent candidate. Was it the knowledge that mega- bazillion dollar Google is run by Kleiner Perkins -- the VCs that schmooze with the former VP who have major investments in green technology (which Gore is involved with?) Could it have been the daunting reality that the Democratic Party is being hijacked by these bipartisan VC’s and corporate executives into the Party of Big Money and that, sadly, the predominately middle class people who he was shaking hands with – who turned out to support him for President --- might not get to see the right guy win when the former VP and Friends of Google (FOG) could buy all the slick PR he wanted to get himself re-elected? Or maybe it was just a busy day and he was tired and hungry? Maybe.
Who better of ALL the Democratic candidates (not to mention that rumored, undeclared one) to lead this damaged country out of the darkness and corrupt, beltway chicanery bought by even more corrupt CEOs and their elitist sycophants? Think about it: Here is an enormously successful trial lawyer who, from experience like no other candidate -- understands the modus operandi of greedy and sociopathic executives who have gamed the system against the middle class and the poor of this country since Reagan took office.
So what do the MSM and most deplorable of all – the so-called Democratic, liberal blogosphere do? They promote and pitch the undeclared, former vice president’s book or whereabouts INSTEAD. Why are they afraid of John Edwards? If there is one truism the Republicans have muttered correctly, it is their observation that the Democrats fail by not protecting their own or uniting with one common theme. And if there is one absolute Republican truer truism, it is the certainty that no campaign is a campaign without a frat-boy/sorority-girl, mean-spirited smear or two to take out smarter opponents at any cost – not the kind of bile that a true Democrat of character such as John Edwards would stoop to.
Recently, during a free-trade discussion Bill Clinton pointed out that “money, along with resources -- has become scarcer” and that this changes the rules of what was once a “level playing field”, as he predicted that this will inevitably cause greater economic tensions not only here but abroad. It comes as no shock that elites of both parties have merged into one big, fat schmooze-fest party of Big Money and want to keep it that way by seducing a handful of impressionable wannabes to serve as netroots blog PR tag- teams. This leads to the calculated, cynical but powerfully backed undeclared former V.P.’s very expensive public relations campaign. If only he would do the right thing and stop the bleeding by directing those resources to the fabulous John Edwards! But so far, the kool-aid keeps flowing.So where is the democratic support for Edwards in the blogosphere?
Last time I checked, Arianna’s HuffPo has been doing the usual – plastering the pages of her blog with ‘all things former vice president’…It is as if Gore to the HuffPo is like “Where’s Waldo?” to the pediatrician’s waiting room table… he just “pops up” out of nowhere every time John Edwards makes an appearance and should get that placement instead. But then again, if certain blogs don’t want to see the only Democratic candidate who is capable of standing up for the middle class become president, I guess they wouldn’t want to promote that candidate.
Why should any Democrat care about this? Because the best candidate that the Party has to offer, John Edwards, is being ditched by a few bipartisan cultural elites and wannabes with a “lock-box” on green technology investments (yes- green is good/yes all former VPs who can spearhead clean technologies are good/and yes, even BEST if they disengage from the tech lobby greedsters who want to exploit them and outsource our jobs) at the expense of the middle class and John Edwards is, indeed, the biggest threat to this one world party, bipartisan, mutual admiration society. The best role the former VP could play in this 2008 election would be with his full support and endorsement for John Edwards.
Who else but this proven, charismatic trial lawyer could engagingly stare down the Chinese in 2012 when we are forced to default on our debt and still leave them smiling? We need Edwards to shore up our sorry ass of an international relations reputation while restoring our prosperity and faith in community here at home.
Will the candidate who stands up for the middle class and for restoring community civility be the next president? It is up to all the candidates – declared and/or otherwise --- to prove to the unwashed masses that they can and will deliver. At the very end of his speech last night, John Edwards asked that we not let ourselves down -- that we must unite and “can do much better” and that the upcoming 2008 election is “up to us and we have to win.”
Don’t let him down. Support John Edwards.
-2Truthy
ttp://blog.johnedwards.com/events
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