There is a fundmental difference between the core views of John Edwards and Barck Obama and it shows up in what Ian Welsh on HuffPo calls the "Politics of Compromise."
Then there's Barack "Consensus" Obama.
It's hard to even take this seriously. In 2007 the Republicans in Congress killed, through technical filibusters, almost twice as many bills as any Congress ever has. For the last 7 years, George "I won the vote that matters 5-4" Bush has ruled the country by running rough-shod over the opposition party, giving them essentially nothing. There has been no consensus-driven voting or decision-making in the U.S. in 7 years, and there wasn't that much in the '90s, either.
Huff Po: Ian Welsh, The Edwards Imperative: Because The Politics Of Compromise Have Failed
More, after the fold.
We need partisan Democrats now, and not Broderism.
Paul Krugman discusses the need for partisanship in the concluding essay in his book, The Conscience of a Liberal, entitled "On Being Partisan":
The central fact of modern American political life is the control of the Republican Party by movement conservatives, whose vision of what America should be is completely antithetical to that of the progressive movement. Because of that control, the notion, beloved of political pundits, that we can make progress through bipartisan consensus is simply foolish....
To be a progressive, then, means being a partisan—at least for now. The only way a progressive agenda can be enacted is if Democrats have both the presidency and a large enough majority in Congress to overcome Republican opposition.
Paul Krugman, The Conscience of a Liberal, quoted in Review by Michael Tomasky of The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman
Krugman outlines an agenda for change in his book:
The Conscience of a Liberal outlines a program for change. It shows how universal health care can be the centerpiece of a new New Deal, just as Social Security was the core of the original. It explains what can be done to narrow the wealth and income gap. And it shows how a new political coalition can both support and be supported by reform, making our society not just more equal but more democratic.
The Conscience of a Liberal,
"My generation grew up in a nation of strong democratic values and broadly shared prosperity. But both those values and that shared prosperity have been slipping away.
"We can reverse that trend. Political and economic reform turned the oligarchic America of the Gilded Age, a place of vast inequality, bigotry, and corruption, into the imperfect but far better society of the postwar era. The challenge now is to do again what the New Deal did: to create institutions that will support and sustain a decent society."
Krugmanonline
Bipartisanship is a ruse. It won't work and may not be intended to work. It will never get a new, New Deal.
Ian Welsh sees what Krugman and many others see:
There's no middle left and anyone who thinks that the vast majority of Republican Senators will respond to good will is living in a world of denial. Nothing, absolutely nothing, in Republican behaviour in the last 7 years indicates that will happen. Just as nothing in the behaviour of oil companies and health insurers indicates they're interested in "compromise" when not compromising has done so very very well for them and taken them from victory to victory.
Which leaves us with John Edwards: who wants to kick ass, take names, and help the middle class stop getting reamed out by credit card companies, banks, oil companies, Wall Street and all the other invertebrates whose existence is based on sucking blood from ordinary people while denying they have any responsibility for how pale and weak the middle class has become.
snip
So perhaps the key to getting Republican votes isn't to come forwards sniveling on ones knees asking what the price for the votes is. I suggest the key is to have a president aggressively make the case that the American people want health care, want lower oil prices, want fairer credit card policies -- a president who is willing to go the wall over it.
That's what John Edwards is offering. What Obama and Clinton are offering is, in effect, nothing more than what has already been tried and failed.
Huff Po: Ian Welsh, The Edwards Imperative: Because The Politics Of Compromise Have Failed
It's worth reading his entire post: Huff Po: Ian Welsh, The Edwards Imperative: Because The Politics Of Compromise Have Failed
John Edwards sees the need to fight for change:
"Since the founding of this country, we have fought for change, and changed history. When America was founded, there were people who wanted to negotiate with King George. Imagine if we had followed that path.
"There were people who wanted to contain the trusts instead of bust the trusts. Imagine if we had followed that path. But look what happened when Americans of great conviction led America to stand up for its principles and reach for higher ground. We fought for change, and we changed history.
"During the Great Depression, FDR stood up to powerful, entrenched interests to lead this nation out of our darkest hour. He called on us to remember ‘the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid,’ and told us we have a moral responsibility to look out for one another; to help the millions of Americans living in poverty lift themselves up; to bring the millions being left in the shadows back into the light; to show all those who have been forgotten by their government and left to fend for themselves that they are not alone, because this is America. We fought for change, and we changed history.
"Martin Luther King and the leaders of the Civil Rights movement, which I saw as a child growing up in the South, fought against centuries of entrenched bigotry and oppression. They called on us to live up to the best within ourselves, and the best within our nation. We fought for change, and we changed history."
Edwards delivers new remarks defining the type of change America needs
Can you see George Washington giving a speech saying: "There are no redcoats and no bluecoats, just citizens of the British Empire."
Or FDR down on one knee to powerful interests and compromising away social security or the Wagner Act?
I can't. They fought and we must also if we want a new, New Deal. It will not be given to us; nor can real change be won through compromise.
Sometimes you have to fight for real change. This is one of those times. Barack Obama has shown that he will not fight for the changes we need. John Edwards will fight that fight.
"Over the next 36 hours, I'm looking forward to meeting with Iowans across the state who are as restless as I am for change – and who understand that making change happen is going to take a fight," said Edwards. "Middle-class families are working harder and harder every day just to get by – and they need a president who will fight on their behalf. Together we can take on the corporate greed and powerful interests that are corrupting Washington and stealing our children's future, and make our government start working again for middle-class families."
Edwards Launches 36-Hour "Marathon For The Middle Class"