When I supported Dick Gephardt for president, it was because of the great job he did representing me here in Missouri and because of his policies. As the election went on I remained positive and did so on this blog, but almost every Gephardt supporter could feel the end coming well before Iowa. When I see Dean and Clark supporters talk now I see a lot of that. They still hope there candidate can pull it out, but theres a big doubt in their mind if its ever going to happen.
Everyone agrees that John Kerry is the frontrunner, and I think John Edwards will be his challenger. Providing the campaign gets enough financial supporters now, I think John Edwards can win this. I'll be donating to his campaign next Wed. when I get paid and I sincerly hope others help contribute to his campaign as well.
John Kerry is not going to win this election for us. He takes to long to complete a thought (the dreaded three minute filibuster) and he is still reading his notes for his stump speech. He also misses things that as a campaign advisor I would talk to him about. Often times he stops his crowd from cheering so he can continue to talk. While you have to do this sometimes the smart politicians let the crowd cheer and even sometimes chant to show their support to America. John Kerry misses this extremelly simple concept. He also has trouble connecting with supporters and I just don't see how someone with the personality of Al Gore is going to be able to change this (although his wife is very personable). Overall I will support Kerry if he gets the nomination, but I just can't see how John Kerry will connect with voters enough to win.
Then theres John Edwards. Edwards is doing something amazing in this campaign which is connecting with voters by making them believe in themselves to in turn believe in him. When John Edwards talks about hope we believe him. Last night he gave a great speech and an MSNBC commentator actually teared up. John Edwards is a powerful speaker and debator who only lacks a strong national organization that the nomination would give him. Now I'm not going to talk about north-south but rather America in general. In this campaign I've seen Edwards be liked by Dean supporters, Kerry supporters, Clark supporters, and ever Gephardts folks. While he may not have connected with these supporters as well as their candidate, he does have a broad appeal.
I'm not saying John Edwards is the answer to all of our problems or anything like that, but every time I see John Kerry on TV I see a politician who can make me yawn and leave me feeling somethings missing. If this is a John Kerry vs John Edwards match, I say support John Edwards, he is our best hope.
Theres not much time, Kerry is very close to shoring this thing up, regardless of how many states have voted. If those here really don't want John Kerry as our nominee, your time is now. Please consider helping financially contribute to the Edwards campaign to at least give him a fighting chance against the Kerry Washington backed campaign.
Your time is now!