First, honest to goodness: I'm undecided, I've contributed to two different Prez campaigns this cycle, neither of them Clinton's or Edwards'. I do like a lot about Edwards and how he's campaigning.
But the very issue so many cite as proof of his refreshing honesty and willingness to rise above political calculation, to me appears to be a pretty clear example of political half-truth and cold calculation, and I wish people would stop trumpeting it as so heroic.
To wit: I'm cynical about all the props Edwards receives for "admitting his mistake" in voting the AUMF. And not because it's relatively easy for him to do that from his perch outside the Senate, as some say. It's because I don't believe him when he tells us what he has learned since then that makes him different today.
What does he say he's learned? From last night's debate:
...what I learned in my vote on Iraq was you cannot give this president the authority and you can't even give him the first step in that authority because he cannot be trusted.
OK. Why did Hillary vote for Kyl-Lieberman? I suppose it's because she feels strong enough to lose some credibility among anti-war primary voters, and she's looking towards the general. If there has been no action against Iran by then, K-L does nothing but give the future Pres. Clinton more leeway to act with force. If there has been a relatively swift and airborne attack on Iran, without immediately obvious disastrous consequences for the US, she gains among hawkish voters. And if action has been disastrous, well, by then it's the general election and voters have to choose between her and someone even more belligerent and way less competent.
And you know what? I think Edwards' vote for the AUMF was a version of the exact same calculation. Better support the war, because if it goes well he'd pay for opposing it, and if it was a disaster, well, by then it might be general election time, and the war was clearly even more Bush-Cheney's baby than Edwards'.
(Also, I don't believe for an instant that an intelligent man like Edwards ever really thought he could "trust" Bush to be measured and diplomatic. Please.)
So this is beyond the pale, probably, but I would become an instant believer in Edwards' honesty and humility, and an instant supporter, if he were to say this instead (imaginary quote follows):
...what I learned in my vote on Iraq is that you cannot give any president authority for an illegal, undeclared war, you can;t even give him the first step, just because you think it might be for the best in your own complex political calculus. Some things, like the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions, and the standing of the US as the beacon of human dignity and the rule of law on the international stage, are and always will be more important than any electoral calculation.