John Edwards is finding his voice. He's playing hardball. He's taking the fight to the enemy.
Guess what he's referring to? The for-profit insurance industry, of course.
I think he may be reading some of our diaries and listening to what we're saying. Certainly we know his top advisor Elizabeth, is a committed Kossack. She spends more time than most considering her children and busy schedule, responding to our questions in a totally candid and forthright manner.
I'd like to spend a few minutes discussing his health plan which most of us agree is by no means perfect. But moving beyond that fact, an equally important question remains: Is he paying attention? Is the health plan a work in progress--or set in stone? Like so damn much in life, I think it's a bold compromise.
I've learned from really smart people the secret to a good negotiation, and I'll share it with you.
The definition of a good negotiation is when everyone leaves a little angry--feeling they've given up just a little too much.
I'd like to have John Edwards negotiating for me. Something tells me he would recognize that you and I are his clients. I think he would also recognize that his most solemn responsibility is to you and me and the American people, not the lobbyists and corporate special interests.
It's been a long time since we've been represented, so this may come as a jarring concept to many of us. But don't ever forget we put them there to do our business.
What am I suggesting? Only what I've said whenever the discussion turns to John Edwards. My gut tells me he might be the sort of person who will grow and evolve during the campaign and even more profoundly if he becomes the eventual nominee.
So statements like the one he made yesterday in Iowa, take on heightened significance and may in fact be a peek into the soul of the man. Even more important, it tells me, perhaps he's beginning to "get it".
And there's plenty to get, so it's not a moment too soon.
This is what Edwards said yesterday. He's getting feisty, impatient. Fed up, like all of us, with endless bullshit deceit lies.
Presidential candidate John Edwards vowed Saturday to stand up to health insurance companies, which he said are contributing to surging medical costs and unfairly limiting payments for patient care.
"We need a health care system where individuals are not stuck trying to take on the insurance companies by themselves," he said. "Because you can't win. ... They've got all of the money. They've got all of the resources. They've got all of the power."
http://desmoinesregister.com/...
Everything you say is true Senator Edwards, and thank you for acknowledging this terrible American reality. You bet, you "can't win".
And allow me to take one additional step, when it comes to healthcare, not winning, is often a death sentence.
I've also wanted to write a follow-up diary since Elizabeth posted here and told us to expect John at YearlyKos.
You can and must register for YearlyKos here: http://www.yearlykosconvention.org/
I think the comment she made in her Kos diary is worth a second look particularly back-to-back with Senator Edwards own words.
They'll both take on, though not decapitate, the for-profit insurance industry. This represents imperfect progress, but progress nonetheless.
In the infamous words of someone we'd all sooner forget, read her lips. America can choose single payer.
America can choose single payer
The genius of John's plan is that it allows Americans to choose a single payer option. We all know that there would be incredible opposition from those for-profit health care special interests if the plan required single payer. Under John's plan, the for-profits get to play, but they have to compete with a government provider, and John (and Paul Krugman among others) think that the for-profits will not be able to oppose a plan like John's.
Join me at http://blog.johnedwards.com
by elizabethedwards on Tue May 22, 2007 at 05:37:42 PM PDT
I suppose the question I want to leave you with (and it's only, a question, not a capitulation) is the following. If the day comes when we collectively realize that we're going to have to settle for half the enchilada, who do you want sitting at the table negotiating for you--for the American people?
Ask yourself, who's going to sell us out--again?
Who might be the worst nightmare of the Murder by Spreadsheet industry?
Start by reading the tea leaves, then the words. Then look deep into the soul of each person who wants to be the next American president.