I love it when the right wing dingoos try to hijack the comments section of an article that hits them where they hurt!

Michael Moore is a loyal and proud American. He is also more intelligent and funny than the average person. I know his passion has led him to hurt equally fine Americans whose ideas are worth listening to, such as Ralph Nader. Kucinich is another who mystifies me with his Obama endorsement.
Now Moore redeems himself for all but endorsing Edwards, and I hope that Kucinich will come around to that too. I feel like it is very important to unite the wise and intelligent peace activists behind Edwards, because Hillary promises to be more of the Bush authoritarian government.
Whoever Edwards chooses as his running mate -- Gore???? Kucinich? Obama? Richardson? -- he will be one of the finest U.S. Presidents this country has ever seen. And he will be loved like JFK!
Whether or not Iowan's make him their first choice, I promise to send him some $$ and will urge everyone I know to do the same, so that he will be our nominee for the next U.S. President.
(I will also send some to Common Dreams).

If Michael Moore (and John Nichols and Tom Hayden and Ralph Nader) would insist that Kucinich is the only "viable" candidate, i.e., the only one who stands for what most Americans really want out of Washington today, he might indeed be a viable candidate. Instead, they bow to the "front-runner," "electable" line-up created by the DLC and corporate media, looking for someone, anyone, to support. This isn't the road to a new politics. It's the same old corrupt business. The Left's pundits are as bad as all the rest, alas.

I suppose this thread is about dead. But I gotta some back to good old predictable Daniel David the Damn Democrat. For a while his never ending parroting of the superiority of the Democratic Party and his statements that Billary would be better than the repug candidate, whoever that was irritating, then for a while it was amusing. Now it is just plain ridiculous.

I ain't votin' for Billary, no way no how. John McCain, looser that he is would be better that her! And at this point he may actualy be back in the running. Not that he will get my vote either. Sorry DD but if the best the Dimms can do is Billary I, and many others will be voting third party, or not at all. You and your beloved Dimms will likely get the pants beat off you if the repugs manage to nominate McCain.

i guess all this bitchin' and cryin' on CD makes you all feel like you are doing something worthwhile. Well, it ain't doing shit. first of all, your vote ain't counted in 7+ years why would you think it gonna' count today or tomorrow. don't you kids know the fix is in.
the only way you gonna' change anything is to go to the whitehouse and arrest the murderous thugs, go to congress and arrest them too and then get the scotus. but that wont happen. so, you guys dont deserve habeus corpus nor the bill of rights--you gave that shit up a few years ago. it is too late kids. too bad for you!

Like the phoenix, rising from the ashes of the 2004 election theft, Edwards is the man!

The question is whether Dan David likes them because they're Dems by name, or because of presumed ideals of particular Dems in question. I mean, if Romney ran as a Democrat would everything be o.k. then?

The GOP smear machine will tear Barack Hussein Obama to shreds over his statement of taking drugs in his younger days, his Muslim name, for having lived in Indonesia, a Muslim country and attending a Muslim school there, and for not being a WASP. Voters in the U.S. just aren't mature enough to put a woman or a black (mixed)in the White House. In addition, the south will never vote for him because of his race. If he's the Democratic candidate the Democrats will lose, as they always seem to want to anyway.

Moore is a coward. If Kucinich is the best candidate, then SUPPORT HIM. Declare it, campaign on his behalf - be the Obama's Oprah. Don't sit back until the mainstream media officially calls candidates 'out' and then try to claim any progressive creds. Moore, you suck - again.

Why not give Wesley Clarke a call? I hear he's not doing much of anything of late. Or would that compromise your anti-war creds?

If Kucinich doesn't win (he won't) I am voting Green.

Voting for a third party is not a waste of a vote, it is an active way to protest the two party system and corporate dominated politics. The only sure way to waste a vote is acting like an election is a popularity contest and refusing to vote your conscience.

I don't buy anything Edwards says he represents. And if he gets elected, four years hence, I will be here to say "told ya so."

Now Edwards will withdraw the troops. And tommorow Edwards will back the drive to impeach if he thinks it will get him a last minute bump. Without a muscular shadow government, this same Obillawerds crap will be going on long after we are all dead and buried.

"Michael, you Fat Fuck..."

Yeah that is really going to add legitimacy to your remarks.

And for those of you who question why others doubt Kucinich's viability, the question must be asked--Why does Kucinich question his own viability when he sells out his supporters for some questionable motives?

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, it must be a duck. This article is as close to an endorsement of John Edwards, or at least John Edwards' positions, as it could get. Of course, Michael Moore and Ralph Nader "endorsing" John Edwards may turn off as many people as they persuade. Still, anyone who thinks that Moore and Nader have consistently been on the side of the middle class against the "corpocracy" should listen to what they say about Edwards, and then make up their own minds.

Brian Moore for President. Stewart Alexander for Vice President. Vote Socialist in 2008!

More info:
www.votebrianmoore.com
www.socialistparty-usa.org

Brian Moore and Stewart Alexander are the Socialist Party USA candidates for President and Vice President of the United States in the 2008 election.

Platform Summary
It is important that we question recent developments resulting from 911 and the Iraq War:
• Congressional support and implementation of the Patriot Act
•Warrantless searches of Americans
• Condoning of domestic spying on both antiwar groups and average American citizens
• Turning a blind eye and tolerating any form of prisoner abuse and torture
• Allowing the deprivation of American citizen and foreign prisoner rights
• The intimidation of free speech and lawful dissent in our country

1 Stop the Iraq War, bring the troops home immediately.
2 Implement a national health care system, single payer form.
3 Design and Initiate a guaranteed income for all American families, working or not.
4 Cap and REDUCE corporate profits and executive salary levels WHILE FOSTERING THE TRANSFER OF CORPORATE PRODUCTION, SERVICE, OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL TO WORKERS.
5 Mandate labor union representation for all American workers to assure fair salaries and equal benefits.
6 Implement a national housing plan for all Americans.
7 Encourage fair trade over free trade and stop America's participation in NAFTA, CAFTA, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, WORLD BANK, IMF, etc.
8 Stop the guaging and ripoffs of consumers by legislating limits and caps for costs in services and products in the market place.
9 Abolish poverty in all its forms in America by assuring every American family with the basics in income, health, education and housing.
10 Promote a more equitable society by enhancing citizens rights and participatory control while requiring the private sector to practice and implement a fairer economic sytem of consumer costs, proftit-margins and regulation and policing of its services and products.
11 Reduce defense spending significantly in the areas of high tech and military equipment and weaponry while enhancing protections and benefits for the common soldier.
12 Reinforce and enhance government support of the arts, sports and culture.
13 Respect and assure the equal rights of all citizens, whether it be in the area of gender, race, age, sexual orientation or religion. Eliminate special priviliges for any and all interest groups.
14 Promote universal access to education on the college and vocational school level. Promote liberal arts, along with engineering and science, in colleges and universities. Remove the influence of corporate and military entities on our higher institutes of learning.
15 Promote and enhance a multi-party system, public and fair access to debates and public funding of elections.
16 Brian supports a woman's right to choose in matters of abortion; and opposes all restrictions on access to abortion.
17 Brian opposes the U.S. embargo against Cuba, and calls for ending all travel restrictions to the island.

SOCIALIST PARTY PLATFORM SUMMARY:

INTERNATIONAL:
1 Close all U.S. military facilites that train foreign military and paramilitary personnel.
2 Immediate withdrawal from Iraq & Afghanistan
3 End U.S. occupation of Guantanamo, Cuba
4 Call for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank-East Jerusalem and Gaza, and all U.S. aid to Israel, as a precondition for peace.
5 Cut off all U.S. military aid to Colombia
6 Abolish CIA, NSA, Homeland Security Agency and all other covert warfare institutions
7 Call for unconditional disarmament by the U.S.
8 Call for treaty outlawing all weapons of mass destruction
9 Call for immediate 50% cut in the military budget, with priority given to social services
10 Disband NATO
11 End U.S. arms sales in world.
12 Pay off U.S. debts to UN
13 Advocate constitutional amendment requiring binding vote of people on all issues of war or military intervention.
14 Support right of soldiers to form unions

LABOR:
1 Support right of workers to form a union anywhere
2 Support right to strike
3 Recognize union based on cards signed
4 All workers have a right to collective bargaining
5 Repeal of the Hatch Act and Taft-Hartley Act, Landrum-Griffin Act and "right-to-work" laws.
6 Same benefits for full and part-time workers
7 30 hour work week, six weeks annual paid vacation
8 Stop using union funds for electing candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties.
9 Give equal rights to all immigrants and recognize their presence in large part is due to unfair U.S. economic policies toward their countries, war, famine, or bad human conditions.
10 Give sanctuary to illegal immigrants in the U.S., full social services and impact immigration influx not with walls or guns or threats of imprisonment, but with fairer policies toward all other countries to enable their economies to thrive and expand as well.

HUMAN NEEDS:
1 Support arts and culture, universal education, single payer health system
2 Right of all people to high quality, low cost housing
3 Public transportation in urban and rural area such as rail systems, foot and bicyle paths, pedestrian ways, renewable fuels and control of the airlline industry and its public ownership

ECONOMICS:
1 Withdrawal of U.S. from NAFTA, CQAFTA, and FTAA
2 Worker and community ownership and control of corporations
3 Minimum wage of $15 per hour, COL
4 Support livable guaranteed annual income
5 Re-regulate banking and insuance industries; and all financial and insurance institutions to be socially owned and operated by a democratically controlled national banking authority
6 Call for a steeply graduated income tax and estate tax, and a maximum income of no more thant 10 times minimum.
7 Cancel 3rd world debt
8 Expand welfare assistance and unemployment comensation
9 Support massive federal investment in urban and rural instrastructure reconstruction and economic development, and more

ENVIRONMENT:
1 Public ownership and democratic control of all natural resources to preserve wilderness areas and restore environmental quality.
2 Support Kyoto Protocol and participate in controlling global warming, clean up of toxic wastes, and protect workers and communities from any harmful products.
3 Phase out all nuclear power plants, shut down waste incinerators, landfills and open-pit mining.
4 Support large-scale environmental restoration efforts.

ENERGY:
1 Develop alternative energy sources including solar, geothermal, wind, hydropower, and biomass to end dependency on fossil fuels.
2 Ensure all people have access to utility services.
3 Mandatory encapsulation of all spent nuclear fuel, etc., and ban on all nuclear materials.

AGRICULTURE:
1 Support system of ecologically based, sustainable, organic agriculture based on family farms and farming cooperatives guaranteeing full workers' rights, etc. See platform.

CIVIL RIGHTS:
1 End all restrictions in law and work place, marriages, and sodomy laws
2 Prevent student violence and discrimination in schools and all of society
3 Federal ban on all forms of job discrimination, on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender or economic status
4 Oppose English as the only official language

Michael Moore is a bit soft on his old sweetie. Thatcher was tough, too, but whether or not you agreed with her, she stood for something other than personal aggrandizement.
A problem with Hillary is not that men would not vote for her, but that some women, many who would know little about her bogus health care plan or senate votes, would vote against their own interests and for her solely because she is a woman.

TO: rjmart01 January 2nd, 2008 12:28 pm

LET EM TALK

Why should you be so concerned about the length of another persons contribution. If you don't like it don't read it...but apparently you did.

AND WHAT SHOULD THE LIMIT BE TO SATISFY JUST YOU

"It's hard to get past the hair, isn't it?" Okay, Michael, I know you can't resist going for a cheap zinger, but come on! This was supposed to be a 'serious' article, right? And then you go on to nearly endorse Edwards! Well, whether you endorse him or not, he has my vote. Personally, I love the "Roosevelt/Truman" talk -- it's exactly what the country needs right now, and John Edwards is the only viable candidate providing it.

Look, I support a good share of the points in the first comment (from holaraphi), but if Kucinich is a sure loser, the Socialist party doesn't get within a mile of the starting gate! That being true, that post makes a compelling case for a length limit on CD comments.

MICHAEL MOORE -- Yes, a very good start to understand the basis of it all: corporate greed & power.

We need clarity and definition of this crucial generalization, for people to really get their teeth into it.

I would appreciate the elucidation (a "talking point") of why candidate Edwards has a champaign funding challenge:

The FCC and Congress have sold off the publics right to freely hear the candidates ideas, on what is rightfully their air waves (now sold to highest bidder).

¿ Who represents the publics' objective and equal access to honest information ? None of the the M$M outlets.

Instead of democratic access, only the very rich can pay for TV (and radio) ad time. This extraordinarily high profitability for the M$M, solidifies another cycle of corporate domination, when they later fund contributions to their chosen candidate's election funding (who supports greater usurpation of all media by corporate interests)

1. The air waves for campaigning must be free or equally available to all candidates.

2. The M$M must no longer be allowed to fund any candidates (re-)election.

3. Our Constitutional Free Speech guarantees and access to unbiased reporting and monitoring of gov't officials, without corporate manipulation of information is the central pillar of the publics ability to participate in our democracy.

4. Without this, it is an illusion that the public has a representational democracy.

5. Our current M$M is incapable of telling this fact to the American people, while being captivated by billion$ of yearly profits from this current superflicial appearance of honest elections.

Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world »
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed »

Clearly Kucinich is the real choice in this election.

Interesting that Michael Moore waits for Kucinich to make the statement about Obama and the Iowa Caucus to have an excuse to endorse Edwards.

Why didn't he endorse Kucinich before and help him gain more voters?

Michael Moore thinks FORCING us to purchase insurance is Universal Health care?

I am beginning to question the intentions of Michael Moore.

I am still waiting for a candidate worth a vote to rise from the armpits of politics and the media. Right now, there isn't one. Maybe we should hang on to what we have.

Michael Moore's analysis is soft. The platform of the SPUSA and Brian Moore makes alot more sense.

Smitty writes: "A problem with Hillary is not that men would not vote for her, but that some women, ... would vote against their own interests and for her solely because she is a woman."

That's a commonly heard and always laughable statement in light of how many (white) men have always voted and will continue to ONLY vote for other (white) men because they ARE (white) men!

It's well past time we had women running this country. Males as a gender have made a mess of this country and of the world. Just read the daily headlines. I was born a feminist, it's just that Hillary's not the one for me.

Sorry to disappoint you, Smitty.

If you want corporate controlled drones in congress, who ignore the poor, manipulate the middle class, and cater to the wealthy, then vote Democrat or Republican.

If you want, honest, effective, accoutable leadership, vote for Green Party candidates. Greens accept no PAC donations or corporate donations.

www.GP.org

Ron Paul on the GOP side or Edwards on the Democratic side. Edwards is willing to give hemp a chance though I wish he'd lay off on the "war on drugs" crap. Peace.

Michael just slightly hinted at something at the end of his article when he said:

"On second thought, would you even be willing to utter the words, "I absolutely believe to my soul that this corporate greed and corporate power has an ironclad hold on our democracy?" 'Cause the candidate who understands that, and who sees it as the root of all evil — including the root of global warming — is the President who may lead us to a place of sanity, justice and peace."

Put more succinctly "we need someone who hates Wall Street as much as he hates Washington insiders". That's what transformed FDR from just another Democratic politician into the greatest American President of the 20th. century.

You guys are on crack. Every single one of these "Players" was bought and paid for by Richfilth & Corporate interests long before you knew their names. They know who their Daddy is, it ain't us.

DK is a wind-up doll who lays down and plays dead.

Face it - It's BROKEN. Get over it. Nothing you do within the System OWNED by Master will ever produce anything meaningful in your lives. How could it? Every face that Master hires as Overseer on HIS Plantation knows their job: The Spice must Flow to Master and his minions.

Your election is simply to confirm which of Master's Overseers you like best.

Maybe Michael could dig up Leslie Clark for a last minute cameo.

Amen! Watch the Democrats commit suicide, as they always do. Watch them race to the public toilet known as Politics USA, arrive first, setting a world record, and dunk their heads in the excrement of presidential campaigning. George Wanker Bush defined the term shitface one way; the Democrats will define it in yet another way.

Corporate money in politics is a major, if not the major, issue.

Check out:
http://www.opensecrets.org/

Look for your congress people, specials interests, parties. They're all listed.

Asnswer: Kucinich

Boy is this country in big trouble...undoubtedly much bigger than even the most pessimistic like myself think it is. Politics as usual in any form will not rescue us from the incredible mess that has come out of over three decades of misrule here. I have given up hope and am planning to move to one of the countries with a sane social democratic system. You can wait here until you're ready for the grave...or longer, and the political establishment will never pass the reforms we need. The country is de facto corporate fascist, and there is no real alternative anywhere on the horizon. Socialism is great, and their platform is wonderful, but you'll never see it here, so why waste you life hitting your head against a wall. The country club fascists-the Cheneys, Bushes, the anointed successor Romney and their rich buddies know how to wield the reins of this country and won't give them up in an election. Of that you can be sure.

I'm afraid that we will get to vote for the candidates that are selected by the Israel Lobby. Either Republican or Democrat - it's all the same now.

I believe if D.K. is the candidate most in line with your values then he is the candidate you should vote for. As far as Edwards, I believe that any person who couldn't see through the rush-to-war-for-oil-profits is too stupid to be president. And I don't think Edwards is stupid. Almost all the politicians were for the war because it was good for imperialism (using another country's resources for our profits). He now claims to be against it (as the polls show most Americans are). He recently refused to rule out bringing the troops home before the end of his first term if elected (2013). He now claims he would bring them home in less than a year. Is this not the definition of politics? Say whatever you think the voters want to hear in order to get elected and then do the bidding of the rich and powerful. On principle, I for myself will not vote for any candidate that supported the illegal war in Iraq and occupation of Afghanistan (no matter how stupid they claim to have been). Wasn't it Nader that spoke of the "evil of two lessers"?

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

The question most commenters on this site seem too immature to face is, "What are you going to do if Kucinich does not win the Democratic primary?"

As Mr. Moore points out - and even Celebrity seems to recognize this on some level ("It should be obvious to anyone with a brain that D.K. made his Iowa statement because he knows he has NO CHANCE in Iowa because of the way they have been jerking him around."), it is unlikely in the extreme that Kucinich can win in Iowa - and let's face it, he will face the same types of barriers everywhere else.

This really breaks down into two questions:

1. How best to insure a Democratic victory in November? This is critical because, while the difference between the Dems and Reps is not nearly as wide as I would like it to be, there is a real and significant difference. To suggest otherwise is simply willful ignorance.

2. How to get the best candidate not named Kucinich nominated? In my mind, this is almost anyone except Clinton because of her tendency to continually move to the right. I would prefer Edwards but I can live with Obama although I am deeply concerned that he seems to think it is actually possible to compromise with the radical right. It has been clear since Gingrich that these people have zero interest in compromise.

The answer to number one is simple. Regardless of who gets nominated - even Clinton - it is critical to vote Dem in November.

The answer to number two is more complicated. If you assume Clinton or Obama will win, then go ahead and vote for Kucinich in the primary. If, like me, Edwards is your second choice (after Kucinich) and you think he has a chance, you need to vote for him. If Clinton, Obama and Edwards can all remain viable throughout the primaries, there is a very real possibility that no one will win enough delegates to take the nomination. Getting to the convention with the nomination open is the best chance we have of getting someone other than Clinton.

Yeesh, Michael Moore is now insufficiently liberal for you people ... the mind reels!

Why do we look towards the democratic party for change? They aren't going to change a thing. It's bipartisan consensus.

who is ron paul?

Luckily for everyone here, there is a primary.

It is after that we get to choose a presdient.
So, for all those on the Kucinich Only bandwagon, please vote for Edwards if he does win the primaries.

Love
Zero

The MSM, Diebold and the other owners of the electronic voting machines, Geb Bush (who will deliver Florida to the candidate the world elite want), Gov. Arnie (who will do the same for CA), have already have everything all set up.

Not that you shouldn't vote your ideals - I certainly will. But none of our votes will make any difference at all in agenda of the the world elite (read The Banking Industry - Rothschilds, Bilderbergs, many many many wealthy jews and non-jews and their progeny).

I will vote simply to retain my right to complain.

To brissot:
The answer to number one is simple. Regardless of who gets nominated - even Clinton - it is critical to vote Dem in November.

Oh, b.s. the difference between a right-wing Democrat (Hillary Clinton or Joe Liebermann) and a moderate Republican is really not that great as great as you would have us believe. Bush could not have gotten his way on everything if Democrats had not given him significant support. Whether you get a right-wing Democrat or a moderate Republican one thing is for sure: the wars will go on!

THE REAL ANSWER IS THAT WE NEED A THIRD PARTY NOT A DEMOCRAT!

Well said Michael Moore. It is probably smart NOT to endorse Edwards (while hinting) because Edwards challenge is holding the "left" while getting votes in the middle... and Moore could drive away the middle with an endorsement.

I don't know if Edwards is sincere or a purely tactical politician.... Evaluating politicians for "sincerity" is a hopeless exercise.

What he is doing is saying what needs to be said about corporations. What he is doing is to proposing to govern from outside of corporate America instead of from within it. What he is offering is a campaign that if successful would give him a mandate to do so.

I fear that voters are too scared of corporate America to vote for someone who says the truth about it. And many people just don't carry the anger that we in the blogosphere feel in our bones. Many democratic voters have good jobs in corporate America. They think that their corporate jobs are the solution.... and even if they know abstractly that their corporate overlord is involved in corrupting the government, hey, it is feeding their children in doing so.

Edwards is speaking some truths that if we said them aloud to ourselves would call into question the very basis of our ordinary lives. Unless things are a lot worse out there than I know, I find it hard to believe that Edwards can have national success. It would be incredible if he could. It would be testament to a lot more pain than I think is really there yet.

I hope Edwards wins, but I'd bet on Obama, and pray it's not Hillary.

(Yes, the system really is hopelessly corrupt, and perhaps no Democrat is capable of standing outside of the corporate fascist power nexus... maybe Edwards is all talk.... but maybe his election would at least legitimate the kind of talk that got him there, even if did not immediately change anything....)

(For 2008, I'm asking everyone to think about political justice and democracy based on "Sortition" Learn more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition .)

Obama supporters thank you.

Not that I dislike you. In fact, I saw you speak on the day before the 2004 election in Tampa, FL (after a long day and before a full night of volunteering). It's just that many Americans think you are disliked for being too liberal and so they many now see Edwards in the same light.

Re: Edwards: It is better to vote for someone who is talking the right message on a lot of issues but may be lying and likely will back out of major portions of his campaign platform. However it would be unlikely that he will not keep the troop withdrawl promise.

Re: Kucinich: He just suggested the delegates implement their own ranked choice voting and suggested Obama as their 2nd choice. This makes sense as a tactic to defeat Clinton and create a momentum in favor of new blood vs a continued aristocracy. Obama is so close to Clinton in the polls. However it is giving up a lot of policy matters and settling for "anybody but Clinton".

Re: Moore: "I'm not endorsing anyone..." It seems clear he is endorsing Edwards. This article is a good introduction for Ralph Nader's endorsement of Edwards. I wonder if Ralph had anything to do with Edwards' change of heart regarding the full troop withdrawl.

Re: Nader: Ralph is still running for the Green party ticket in case Clinton or Obama ends up winning. This is great as it may keep the issue of full troop withdrawl alive in the debates and certainly on the ballot.

Re: Iowa: Not a winner-take-all system. Even if Edwards loses the top spot, he will have a number of delegates and will know that his message and personality resonates with the middle America who actually got to hear it.

I suggest that if Edwards had more people financing he could pull away votes from Clinton and Obama in other states. All he needs to do is become #2 and he will either be the "king" or be the "king maker".

Dang, I can't believe the Common Dreams blog has become so depressing. When it seemed there was no chance of getting rid of Bush - ever - we were so excited to have found each other. We became better than we are individually as we hung together to fight the common enemy of everything we love. Now that it appears we really will get rid of Bush, everyone is at each other's throats and trashing each other better even than the rightwing nuts do. It almost reminds me (sob!) of family ties.

I understand now why Dems so often shoot themselves in the foot and why progressives have never become a majority. Repubs, on the other hand, generally shoot the enemy, not each other.

Corporate money and monopoly media control our democratic process right now, but we are entering a new phase of history as people like us get together to talk and discuss issues, candidates, and strategies. Kucinich and Edwards get almost no attention, but more importantly is that most issues get no attention.

I must continue to push the ABC--Anyone But Clinton--strategic approach to the primaries as she is no more than Bush-lite like her husband, and they must have as little power to influence events at the Convention as possible. Sure, I think DK is head and shoulders above the rest and will primarilly support him. But we must keep the worst of the Corporate Raiders from the nomination and deter DLC from skewing the Platform.

no one seems to notice that Bill Richardson is not in this conversation.....he would have my vote, hands down....and would make a good VP....

hoping Hillary does NOT win.....

To brissot:
"The answer to number one is simple. Regardless of who gets nominated - even Clinton - it is critical to vote Dem in November."

I will not vote Democratic in November because;

A. They have refused to perform their Constitutionally mandated duty to impeach Bush and Cheney.

B. They have done nothing to end the war in Iraq which they promised to do in 2006 in order to get elected.

Lobo Gris

mike2: I think you made a very good point here - " fear that voters are too scared of corporate America to vote for someone who says the truth about it. And many people just don't carry the anger that we in the blogosphere feel in our bones." You've identified what's been worrying me about Edwards' message. I prefer him to Obama at this point, but the public is desperate for a hopeful message and I fear Edwards' anger is putting many off for the precise reasons you've stated. I think he would be wise to spell out for his audiences exactly why and how corporations are stealing our democracy, our incomes and even our safety (think Blackwater). Don't focus on anger so much, focus on education. He comes across as a decent, patient man, and I think he could do it.

Other than that, I agree with a friend that an Obama/Edwards team might be very good.

YO MIKEY

Who is Barack Obama? A smart, committed progressive who now stands within reach of the White House and power to bring real change. A man running not to squeak through the Iowa primary on pseudo-populist rhetoric but to win in November on a landslide, using the rhetoric of unity and breakthrough solutions.

Who is Barack Obama? A young man whose lifetime commitment has been to making things better through politics. A former NYPIRG campaigner and community organizer, who could as easily have chosen to make millions in business or law. Start by reading his bio.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPtg-gvgWhE&feature=PlayList&p=11D5123E4731FC63&index=4

Oh, and who is John Edwards? A former trial lawyer who made himself a millionaire by playing on the sentiments of juries. A former centrist senator with a record to the right of Hillary Clinton's. A man who exudes all the sincerity of a televangelist as he plays the notes he knows Democratic primary voters want to hear.

Then we have the theory that if it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. Unless, that is, it's a White man in a duck suit going "quack."

John Edwards may be talking the talk, but Barack Obama is walking the walk. All his life he's had to walk it. How do I know that? Get a color TV, Mike.

Oy-vay-is-mere.