I used my last two diary entries to talk about what I saw as symptoms of growing Precarity in America.
I'd like to use this entry to beg my candidate, Hillary Clinton:
"Listen to John."
Long ago, when this contest started, I made an appraisal.
I asked myself, "Which candidate is most likely to take a Progressive or Liberal political agenda all of the way to the White House and implement it?"
It has seemed to me from the beginning that that candidate was Hillary Clinton. She has the natural intelligence. She has the natural ability. She has a record of achievement -- one that is in fact independent from her husband's. She proved herself in two successive Senatorial elections on rough territory in the state of New York, the first being overtly hostile. She spent seven long years doing the unglamorous grunt work of sitting in committees, reading bills and -- yes -- fighting her colleagues for pork.
And she has a sterling record in the Senate on fighting for Progressive and Liberal causes and for supporting workers and families against the interests of big business.
In reviewing her record, however, I saw that all was not roses. A couple of huge mistakes -- the Iraq War vote -- looked like something that could doom her campaign from the beginning. She would also be limited by prejudices against women when it came to national security and other issues.
Looking at other folks in the race, however, I thought:
"She's my girl."
Or "empowered woman," rather. Because, let's face it, someone like her must have developed tremendous reserves of strength over the years. She could probably kick my ass.
One of the things about her that inspired hope in me was her domestic platform.
In the early days of her candidacy, I wrote about her commitment to Social Security. Her commitment to health care. Her commitment to working people. What I read about her platform seemed very balanced, very well-thought out, very "wonky," very solid and, well, like just the right thing for the times.
Times have changed.
In the last ten months, we've seen:
- Wages for working people continue to fall
- Inflation, especially food inflation, on the rise
- Energy costs remain at all-time highs
- Property values plummeting
- Food bank shelves empty
- Reports of increased homelessness
- Reports of increased hunger
And, of course, a financial services industry meltdown that no one can seem to adequately characterize except with the words, "Oh, my freaking God."
I guess I expected the Clinton campaign to parse the national narrative as days went on and to show us how she can remain relevant whatever are the issues of the day. I expected her to grasp the sense that American workers and families have -- that we are on the precipice -- and for her to speak out about the issues that we care about.
But she wasn't the candidate who did this.
John Edwards was.
I guess this was natural. Mr. Edwards's campaign was primed to talk to Americans about these issues. He has made the Two Americas his issue for the last three years. He already knew what language everyday Americans were speaking.
When asked about NAFTA at the recent Democratic Party debate, Sen. Clinton responded by saying:
"We need to make it clear to rest of world we don't want to be trade patsy of the world."
WTF.
This was her opportunity to say something like, "If you are an American who plays by the rules, I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that you can keep a good job, a decent home, a full cupboard and a dignified retirement. If that means changing NAFTA, we're going to change NAFTA."
I'm starting to wonder if she really knows what the average American thinks about. We have no idea what "trade patsy" is. We want a good job with a fair salary and reasonable (but not irreasonable) job security. We want a good school for our kids. We want to be able to see a doctor when we need to. We want to be able to plan a catfood-free retirement.
If I'm not mistaken -- given the way these things are flipping around -- New Jersey's primary election is on Feb. 5.
I'm now putting the Clinton campaign on notice.
Make your campaign relevant for me again. Show me that you are going to do something about jobs. About homes. About schools. About doctors. About retirement. Make me believe it. Listen to John Edwards and understand what he is saying about the Two Americas.
Otherwise, I just might pull the lever for someone else.