Unlike some of you here, I remember the Bush years. I remember years of demagoguery, erosion of civil rights, insane foreign policy, and fundamental failures to protect US national security interests both at home and abroad. I remember two Democratic presidential candidates who couldn't beat a man of intelligence similar to a German shepherd's in an open election. I even remember one of their running mates, a southern white male, just the kind you might hope would deliver a state or two down there...
You see, this year, I would like to see a Democrat win the presidency and even see a few new Democrats in congress. In my soul, I feel this is a realignment year, where the right candidate on the Democratic side could fundamentally change US politics for the better and that this change might just last a generation. My soul tells me that candidate is one who possesses exception talent as an orator and who focuses on inclusive themes that demonstably attract new voters to the Democratic side. You see, those soulful impulses within me say we need someone who taps into what people out there in the real world are feeling, not hysterics found on weblogs.
Most of all, in my soul, I want to win. That is why John Edwards' campaign stings that selfsame soul.
You see, not only do I remember the Bush years, years some here may have forgotten, but I remember the Clinton years as well. I remember a president, who in spite of his exceptional talents as a politician and his very centrist politics (some argue -- rather unconvincingly -- because of his centrist politics) could not get a majority in either of two winning elections, while, of course, many Republicans have accomplished such majorities in the past generation or so.
You see, President Clinton ultimately weakened an already weak party when he needed to rebuild it by bringing in new voters. Right now, his wife Hillary is running. In my soul, I feel she comes from the same political tradition as the former President Clinton and while she's somewhat less centrist in her approach, I don't like her poll numbers and there is a great foreboding in my soul that suggests she just might not be able to cut it. My soul loathes the notion of nominating a loser.
Deep inside, I am stung, not just by the prospect of a losing bid by Hillary or of a mediocre presidency that fails to undo the damage of recent years. My hurt originates in my feeling that a small slice of the vote that might thwart Hillary's nomination is instead going to someone who obviously cannot win even the primary and has even less chance in the general. Though some won't admit it, citing public opinion polls of people who mainly remember a good looking, southern, conservative Democrat, Edwards is viewed by most who follow the primary as a flip-flopper at best and a phony at worst and polls best with conservative Democrats, whose conservative souls presumably don't like the odds of a woman or black man in a national election.
We have a two way race here and it's either Clinton or Obama. Yes, Edwards is on the ballot and you can vote for him, but you could also write in Mickey Mouse -- either way the outcome is unchanged, unless you're one of those who, in your soul, feel like I do: That a Hillary campaign would ultimately not bode well for the party and would probably not result in any lasting damage to the opposition.
You see, in my soul, I know that it's not about who's angrier about Bush or whatever in public, or who has the most leftish position papers on irrelevant issues. What's important is the ability to bring new voters to the Democratic side -- this is especially important for Democrats because as the ravages of time erode the Republican base, inevitably they will come to the younger generation for support. In all of our souls, we know that it is of paramount importance that those younger voters tell the Republicans they are spoken for.
This is how Edwards' stings my soul: Every blogging type running around crowing about how "progressive" Edwards is helping the next generation of Republicans by giving them another Clinton candidacy to rally their people against and draw from what could have been our support. You see, it doesn't matter if a lot of Edwards voters would go to Hillary, what's important is that ones who should know better aren't going to Obama -- ones who keep up with politics and know what sort of politician Hillary is, but instead continually attack the superior viable candidate for the stupidest reasons they can find. This too stings my soul.