Here's a little secret: none of the big three candidates is perfect. None is pure. None is above the fray. Not is a radical departure from centrist Democratic orthodoxy. All are politicians. All play political games. Some do it better than the others.
I'm now supporting John Edwards, because I love his populism, but I am under no delusions about his Senate voting record. The only real change candidates are Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel, but neither is remotely viable. The big three are just nuanced differences apart from each other, and none is going to take on the military-industrial complex or the military or health care industries in anything close to the degree they should.
None of the big three promises to get us all the way out of Iraq. They all talk about trainers and strike forces and guards for an embassy that is the size of some small nations. None promises single-payer national health care. None talk about radically reorganizing our transportation and energy system. None calls for legalizing gay marriage. None has campaigned cleanly, and none has been completely honest.
The flip side is that all three meet the "scientific gold standard," by calling for an 80% emissions cut, by 2050. None of the leading Republicans do. All understand that we have a serious problem in Iraq. None of the leading Republicans do. All believe in science and choice and economic and civil justice, and all of the Republicans have just different nuances of denial and dishonesty. Anyone who believes that any of the leading Democrats is even in the same universe of corruption and incompetence as the leading Republicans is not functioning in reality.
We're getting to crunch time. Candidate partisans are getting desperate and angry. The Shrill is strong, on Daily Kos. But everyone needs to look at the big picture, and everyone needs to stop deluding themselves about their favorites. We have three candidates that are so much better than any of the Republicans that it's not even debatable. None walk on water.