I respect each of you. I voted for you, Vice President Gore, for President and were you the candidate in 2008, I would proudly vote for you again. Senator Edwards, I voted for your ticket, Kerry/Edwards and was proud to do so in 2004. You were my second choice for the Democratic nomination and I wish that you had stayed in the race and voters had sent Senator Clinton packing. I would have had no problem supporting your candidacy for President had you won the nomination. I have been proud of your leadership as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Speaker Pelosi. And I have been proud that as a woman, you have the guts and the tenacity to take on the Bush/Cheney criminals on many, many issues. So it is with confusion and diappointment that I write this open letter to the three of you today.
I don’t have your political clout. I am not an elected official. I have never run for President, I have never won a Nobel Peace Prize. Like you though, I love my country. Like you, I want to see an end to the Iraq War. Like you, I want to see universal, affordable health care and employment opportunities for everybody. Like you, I want to see our people transcend the politics of race, gender and exclusion. And so I don’t understand your silence in this vital election.
Like me, you have eyes to see and ears to hear. You are clearly not stupid. And I have some questions about your silence.
Why do you stand silent while a former Democratic President, whose wife is a Democratic candidate in this campaign, claims that his wife loves her country and Senator McCain loves his country and implies that her fellow Democrat, Senator Barack Obama does not?
Why do you stand silent while Senator Clinton claims that she and her Republican opponent, John McCain, have passed the threshold for the "Commander-in-Chief" test while her fellow Democrat, Senator Barack Obama has not?
Why do you stand silent while the media excoriates a Democratic Candidate, Senator Barack Obama, through a campaign of "guilt by association" with an endless loop of out-of-context sound bites?
Why do you stand silent while Senator Obama courageously rises above the politics of divisiveness to address the real issues and undercurrents of racial discourse in our country? Why did you not add your voices to ours in support of his vision?
Why do you stand silent while Governor Richardson, another Democrat, the only Hispanic governor in the country, courageously breaks his own silence to embrace a new politics of unity and transcendence at considerable personal political risk?
Why do you stand silent while James Carville, a Democratic strategist and supporter of Senator Clinton denounces a fellow Democrat, Governor Richardson as Judas?
Why do you stand silent while Geraldine Ferraro, a previous Democratic candidate for Vice-President, claims that a fellow Democrat, Senator Barack Obama, got where he is because he is Black and not by his own merit?
Why do you stand silent while Senator Hillary Clinton continues in the sad legacy of double-speak left over from her husband’s administration by lying about her experience in that administration: lying about her previous support for NAFTA; lying about her involvement in foreign policy when she was in fact trying on crazy hats, having tea in Ireland, photo-opping with refugees in Kosovo after borders were already opened, and greeting a young child at an arrival ceremony with her daughter in Tuzla rather than ducking sniper fire?
Are you really so misguided as to believe that the Republicans will not use Senator Clinton’s comments, lies and deceits against her in the general election should she be the nominee?
Are you really so misguided as to believe that Senator Clinton will energetically campaign for her opponent in the short period following the Democratic Convention or that her comments and those of her husband deriding Senator Obama’s character, patriotism and readiness to lead will enable either of them to effectively endorse Senator Obama once he wins the nomination?
Are you really so naive that you believe that the Republicans will not use Senator Clinton's comments against Senator Obama in the general election and are you willing to give her more time to make false, misleading, divisive and personal attacks on his character rather than on his policies?
Are you willing to permit Senator Clinton and her campaign of the "Kitchen Sink" to hold our party hostage with a message that, "either you vote for me or I will help the Republicans elect Senator McCain"?
How am I to interpret your silence? Is it leadership? Does it reflect courage or statesmanship? Does it even reflect a desire for party unity?
By remaining silent, you are becoming complicit in the politics of destruction practiced by one of our own. Do you really think that by allowing Senator Clinton to continue her divisive campaign all the way to the end of the primary season, our party will be able to recover in time to defeat Senator McCain in the general election?
It is time to break your silence. It is time to lead. Do you embrace the politics of the past that enabled George W. Bush to ascend the Presidency for the past eight years and has cost Democrats congressional majorities from 1994 to 2006? How will a McCain victory enable us to achieve universal affordable health care? How will a McCain victory enable us to end the War in Iraq? How will a McCain victory enable us to redirect our economic policy to build wealth for working people rather than line the pockets of mega corporations who expect corporate bailouts with taxpayer money to subsidize their foolish and disastrous monetary policies? How will a McCain victory enable us to enact environmental legislation that will reverse, to the extent possible, the destructive process of global warming?
If more people pull the lever for McCain, do you really think that they will split the ticket and vote for Democrats for Congress? Are you willing to risk a Republican President and Republican majorities in Congress? Will that preserve your own political legacies?
As I said, you have ears to hear and eyes to see. You are leaders of our party. You know which candidate has won the most state primaries. You know which candidate has won the largest share of the popular vote. You know which candidate has the most pledged delegates. You are probably much better at math than I am and so you know that Senator Clinton cannot overcome these leads.
You know which candidate has campaigned for the values of Democrats and progressives and risen above the scorched earth politics of the "kitchen sink" campaign. That candidate is Barack Obama and you know it. So what are you waiting for? It is time to lead! I encourage you to be the leaders I thought you were and hope that you are! Break your silence, now!
Nancy Pelosi
AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
John Edwards (contact info from campaign website)
410 Market Street Suite 400
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Phone: (919) 636-3131
FAX: (919) 967-3644
Al Gore
Honorable Al Gore
2100 West End Ave. Suite 620
Nashville, TN 37203