Well folks, John Edwards just got off of the sidelines and back into the game! In a surprise move, he just showed up with Barack Obama and gave him his endorsement.
According to Yahoo! news:
Edwards, who received a thunderous ovation when Obama introduced him to a crowd of several thousand, said, "brothers and sisters, we must come together as Democrats" to defeat McCain. "We are here tonight because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I."
He said Obama "stands with me" in a fight to cut poverty in half within 10 years.
Edwards also praised Clinton, saying "we are a stronger party" because of her involvement, and "we're going to have a stronger nominee in the fall because of her work."
He said Clinton is a "woman who is made of steel. She is a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done."
I am very pleased with this move, because I think that an Obama/Edwards ticket would be unstoppable. I truly believe that Edwards' dedication to the poor is genuine, and I would really like to see what he would do to stop the financial hemorrhaging of America's working class.
(I also know that Professor Tracey is going to call me and curse me out for speaking favorably about John Edwards, ha ha)
Moreover, I also believe that a Clinton/Obama ticket would have been amazing as well. I know that I will get hate mail for this, but I do not want to see Hillary Clinton sidelined on the political scene.
Hillary Clinton is a force to be reckoned with, and while I'm still ticked off at her for maximizing racial polarization for her political ambitions, I still think that America will need her political prowess in the tough years ahead.
So there you have it, folks. The end of the primaries are in sight, although I must add that Hillary Clinton has vowed to continue her fight for the nomination, and I believe that she plans to use everything at her disposal to get it. It would take a miracle, but stranger things have happened (I'm thinking about the 2000 Bush election).
See the video here:
Do you think that Edwards will be on the VP ticket? Will he close the gap between Barack Obama and less educated white voters? What do you think the future is for Hillary Clinton?
14 comments:
I saw a snippet on ABC World News tonight. I am happy for the alignment but wonders if it is effective at this point. I admire Edwards for his commitment to the poor and underprivileged; something that I find conspicuously absent from both Obama & Clinton. I am unsure what determines a VP choice but either Clinton or Edwards I think would be excellent choices. I have heard a number of pundits saying that to sideline Clinton could really hurt Barack especially amongst women so the choice for a VP for the democrats seems to be as important as the Presidential nominee! I will listen to NPR tonite for sure.
I personally just want Clinton to disappear... I just think she got too transparently dirty -everybody knew what she was doing!- and the world will do better without her politically. I don't want young girls to look up to her after the stunts she pulled this year. I do like the prospect of a Obama/Edwards ballot though.
I was actually an Edwards fan and wish he hadn't dropped out. I hope Obama selects him as his VP.
Hello there,
I was worried that Obama would choose Al Gore...whew!!
John Edwards would be a suitable running mate... it would have been a HUGE MISTAKE for Obama to choose Hillary as a running mate...she's not trusted in the black community...or the Latino community...she really doesn't have a lot of credibility with people of color (except for the feminist crowd, I guess).
Obama's campaign seems to be picking up steam...he knows he's won the nomination and he's trying to be gracious about it since Hillary can't count...it's now impossible mathematically for her to have the nomination...even with the superdelegates that she has committed....she can't get the nomination...unless some scandal breaks with Obama....
Thanks for opening up this dialogue with your readers SheCodes!
Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa
Edwards better watch his back. I know the Clinton's are not feeling him now. Notice how Richardson JUST came out of hiding after endorsing Obama.
I don't understand the hold the Clinton's have over these democrats. I was watching Charlie Rangel introduce her the other day with great praise right after he criticized her stupid "hard working white american's" comment earlier that morning. It's like this woman could talk about your mama and still get your endorsement. I'm convinced the Clinton's have sex tapes on these people or something! lol.
I think a Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton ticket would be a disaster. If this women is such a fighter and such a shrewd politician, why has Barack Obama out thought and out witted her this entire election? I think people give this women too much credit. She was the favorite to win this in the first place. This was her nomination to loose and she's loosing it to a young, 1st term, black senator, with little name recognition and a funny name at that and a "mysterious past". He's had the kitchen sink thrown at him and still has bounced back. I think people underestimate Obama, but he comes from Chicago politics, he's seen it all.
I remember reading an article in the Times a while back that compared her campaign to the war in Iraq. She thought this was going to be over after her "shock and awe" in the first few primaries and she wasn't prepared to actually have to fight for the hearts and minds of people. So she's had to come up w/ her own doctored metrics for success - "I win the big states", "No one can win w/o West Virginia", "I can win white voters", "I pass the commander and chief threshold", "I can answer the phone at 3am", "I've been vetted" blah, blah blah. Notice how none of her reasons have anything to do with who has the most delegate, which is how the nomination is actually won. I remember her saying very early in the race, after Obama one Iowa, that "this is a delegate race", to undermine his win. Well Hillary your right, this is a delegate race and your loosing. How can you claim to fight for the little people, but seek to undermine their vote?
I'm convinced she's only staying in this race to raise enough money to retire her debt. How can you ask voters to donate to you so you can pay yourself back for loans to you made towards a race that you had almost no mathematical chance of winning? It's her choice to leave when she wants to, but I can't imagine how any hardworking American would donate money to a multimillionaire for a loosing cause? Especially when there are people dying from Earthquakes and Cyclones right now. She needs to really stop playing herself!!
She's a fighter all right - she fights for herself. There are plenty of democrats capable of campaigning hard for Obama. Unlike Clinton, most of them actually had to fight hard to get their Senate seat. The Clinton's have embarrassed themselves.
I doubt Edward's would be interested in running VP again. I still think he should choose Richardson. It's a strong ticket IMO. Might be too much for America to handle, but hey why not go for the gusto?
Hello! I am running for Massachusetts House of Representatives, and I want to remind you that the same companies that contribute to John McCain's campaign are contributing for Barack Obama's campaign, and Hillary's.
What does Barack have to say about the WTO, the NAU, CAFTA, depleted uranium, 9/11? How would he respond to news that the $5 trillion energy industry is withholding patents from us that could run cars on water and reduce our infrastructure and eliminate our need for foreign oil?
Would he vote to impeach George Bush, who has confessed to torture, which is a war crime?
What does he think of the 16th amendment and the case of Tom Cryer, who beat the IRS in Federal court?
What does he think of e-voting fraud, Diebold and Sequoia?
Would he vote for campaign finance reform?
Would he vote to call a corporation not a person?
When he answers these questions I will consider him a serious political candidate in the intelligent community.
He is a media promoted candidate. He does not represent true change to me.
But among the three media soaked candidates, yes, he is probably the best choice. I will vote for Ron Paul in November.
Obama would not want Clinton as a running mate, and I don't think at this point in time Clinton would take the position. Too much bad blood between them over this bitter battle for the Democratic nomination. Clinton has hinted in the past about Obama being her running mate. I don't think at that point in the game she thought he go so far. Obama wants the title of commander in chief, he will not settle for second place.
Like shecodes, I am interested in John Edwards-regarding his stance on the poor and helping students in higher education with loan debt. We don't know if he will be Obama's running mate yet. This whole Democratic election is like a soap opera that's detracting from the real issues.
@anonymous: It would definitely benefit Barack Obama to offer Hillary Clinton an appointment of some kind.
Although I do NOT endorse bailing her out for the 11.6 million that she put into her own campaign! I did not even know that kind of thing was done until recently. She took her own risks and lost. She's still a fabulously wealthy woman. End of story.
@mari-djata: I don't think that Hillary Clinton is dirty, but I do think that she is unethical. Meaning, I don't think that she would willfully break any laws, but doesn't mind doing unethical things (to a certain extent) to further her agenda. I also believe that she better suited for the Republican party in a lot of ways, although they would never have her.
@is that so: I'm still getting to know Edwards, but the broad strokes are very appealing to me too. I believe that he would seal the deal for the Democrats in November.
@Lisa: LOL @ Al Gore! There is no chance that would happen. Did you forget that he is married to an outspoken, smart black woman? Even if he didn't have enough sense to avoid Gore like the plague, his wife would shut that nonsense down in a hot minute.
@William Bunker: congratulations on your political bid for the MA HOR.
Yes I am aware that many of these politicians have the same financial backers, and in my mind, that is good politics (on the sponsor's parts) that black women should emulate. It ensures that their needs will always be given priority.
Until there is massive change in campaign finance, I don't see any other way.
When black women cling to one party/nominee, we are locked out of the process for years if that nominee doesn't win.
I do, however, strongly agree with your assessment that all of these candidates, including Barack Obama, have narrowed the topics of discussion to subjects that are safe for them and disempowers the public. The media is complicit in this collusion, which is why bloggers take the internet and what we do so seriously.
If you would like to discuss your political bid on our podcast - and have something substantive to say about what you can do for black women - I would love to have you on our show. Email me.
@phoenix_sun: Not only do I agree with you that there is too much bad blood between them -- I believe that it still won't be over when/if Barack Obama becomes president. I think that she will become a sharp critic of the Presidency, setting up her presidential bid for 2012.
"See? I told ya you picked the wrong guy" etc
The Clintons are being sued for campaign finance fraud by Peter Paul. After many dismissals and appeals and time [6 years] a trial date for November 08 has been set. And now she has to lend herself millions for her Presidential run...perhaps this is also a reason why she won't give up the nomination battle. Neither Al Gore nor John Edwards would be adequate running mates for Obama. Does Hillary want to go back to Senate? I have been paying attention to those that make contributions to many candidates and to both parties. They're placing bets as an even spread to make sure they always have access. That is very strategic. Oh and everyone's overjoyed in Cali today as the gay marriage ban was overturned [for now]. Woo hoo!!! I will never agree with Newsome's Care Not Cash homeless program but I do commend him for his support of legalizing gay marriage. It was what Mrs. Loving had asked for.
Hey shecodes! Don't know how I missed this one, but I've been wrapped up in my own world!! This is great news! I'm glad he finally got off the sidelines, but I saw this coming when he left the race. But understand his needing to wait. I would love to see an Obama/Edwards ticket! WooHoo! I have mentioned this on other blogs, and I actually would have voted for him had he not left the race.
I bet Hillary is pissed!
Hey everyone! {waves}
Is it ME...or does it strike anyone ELSE as being less-than-flattering for John Edwards to remark that Hillary is "made of steel"?
Steel is cold, inflexible, imposing.
This made me think about how many men seem to REQUIRE a category for strong women. Many men think I am a feminist. They are shocked when I tell them I have never been a feminist and I've never been a womanist.
Clearly, John Edwards thought he was complimenting Hillary with the "made of steel" characterization, but I would not want to be described as being "made of steel" simply because I am strong, opinionated and forceful.
Maybe it's just me...
(smiles)
Lisa
I think Hillary Clinton is the heir apparent to Ted Kennedy. Both benefited from the popular presidency of their kin. Both managed to build a political career amidst scandal (though Whitewater, presidential pardons, and the Lincoln bedroom "hotel" hardly compare to killing someone). And both are Democratic attack dogs who keep the Republicans on their toes.
HRC had to tone it down a bit these last few years to set up her presidential run. But, now that she's lost it, she's free to bash the Republicans with all the hatred she really has for them. I think she'd be perfect as a Democratic Senate-fixture whose voice is too big to for the opposition to shout down.
The presidency was a bad job for her, because ultimately a good president has to broker deals and compromise for the greatest possible good despite their own idealistic convictions. At her core, HRC is not a negotiator. Her greatest gift is her unflinching commitment to her own classic liberal ideals. But this was exactly what made her and Bill fight over policy when he was president - she never wanted him to compromise on anything. You can't be president like that - just look at Bush to see what the down side of "unflinchingly principled" can be at its worst.
I like Hillary - I've come to like her less because of the campaign. But, I still like her. But she's not JFK. She's Teddy. And that's okay by me.
Post a Comment