I'm a Barack/Edwards slut...(w/poll)

Reading many of the candidate diaries and also recalling my own fervent love and faith in past candidates (Bill Clinton! Jimmy Carter! what a fool I USED to be, as Johnny Winter would say), I am struck by what lovesick romantics so many of  us are when it comes to politics.  We project onto ordinary mortals abilities of mythic proportions that have nothing to do with a) ordinary mortals, and b) how our political system works. We could even discount "a," and elect Jesus Christ as president*, but if he didn't know how to get Congress to introduce and support legislation that forwarded his vision, he'd look like a dewey-eyed fool as they passed veto-proof legislation that had nothing to do with his ideas.

[Implies belief in JC as "other"--old Catholic habit.]

And that is why this girl who "cain't so no" to her romantic political impulses is considering voting for Obama, though Edwards is the passionate voice that makes her heart pound and the "at last!" ring in her head.

Almost everything Edwards says on poverty and income disparity and the need for national healthcare makes me think we breathe as one on these issues.  Also, his initial solution to simply start Medicare earlier in 5-year (or was it 10-year?) increments seemed brilliant and so easily doable, so quickly, that it represented "quick change, visible change" to me.  I have NO INTEREST in continuing to line the pockets of the cynical CIGNAs of this country, of watching the 50% of bankruptcies that occur because of unpaid medical bills, of a ridiculous duplication of effort (we have a VA system and a Medicare system that provide acceptable levels (well, the VA used to be acceptable...) of care, and I also have no interest in watching US businesses lose competitive traction because of the healthcare they need to provide--and they're not kidding when they talk about this.  Though CEO pay is a major factor, I think this is one reason wages even in many uinionized industries are so low.

[My 53-year-old brother earns about $16,000 a year working for a supermarket (union).  His medical bills (paid for by his coverage, the only GOOD part of his wage package) probably totaled about $65,000 last year. He is on 4 maintenance drugs for which he only pays co-pays. You know that insurance must be costly.]

So I love John. I am crazy about Elizabeth. They are both smart, and see things clearly. BUT...

Threatening the Congress to take away their healthcare (something he probably has no power to grant or deny as president) until they pass something similar for the country...

Talking about all corporations as if they are profit-driven monoliths determined to crush the last ounce of profit from over-worked employees and gullible consumers, all the while soaking the tax-paying public for government subsidy of their industries...

Saying we can't negotiate with pigs [my word] but have to force them to bend to our righteous will...

Even though I believe these things are justified in my passionate heart, I don't believe someone who actually says them out loud can lead this country to enough justified anger to make their elected representatives in Congress follow Edwards' lead. Don't think it can happen...It doesn't matter 100% what MOST of your constituents want, it matters what your financial backers want as well.

I'm not completely cynical...I think there are "relative" angels such as Russ Feingold, Jim Webb, Barbara Jordan, etc,...but most of our politicians are, well, politicians.  They need popular support and $$$ to keep their seats. And so they are centrist wafflers...

So I am seriously considering voting for Obama, becoming convinced that his more moderate rhetoric and approach may actually bring about some change in a progressive direction (and MOST importantly, land a non-hawk in DC--HRC scares me with how much she buys into hawkish crap).

In New York, it probably makes no difference if I sleep with O or E--family pride may make HRC's sweep of our state inevitable. (ACK--though I'll vote for HRC in the general if necessary). But I am still thinking about it.

Anyway--are others straddling (hmmm, sexual metaphor) this knotty problem? Have I been sold on "change" rhetoric that is just an illusion? (Because I do think O is progressive, though not as progressive as E.) Should I go with my heart or my head on this? And is this a kind of strategic thinking we as Dems need to be doing? Or is this the kind of "strategic thinking" that made us end up with John Kerry last time (my head still spins when I think of him as our candidate--how did that HAPPEN?)

I really need help on this. Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool...

•  Tip Jar

  by MmeVoltaire on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 07:57:35 AM PDT

•  I don't know if you really think of politics in

  such sexual terms or are just being snarky, but I would bet you that there are a lot of people out there who base their vote very directly (if unconsciously) upon sexual attraction.  This is the great unspoken.  It's one of the reasons Obama and Edwards have risen to the top of the pack, while the less sexy Hillary, Richardson, Biden, Kucinich gang have trailed.

  The MSM describes it as "star power" or "charisma" but let's face it -- at least since JFK every election has hinged to one degree or another on the candidate's f@#%ability quotient.

  by Kevvboy on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 08:02:48 AM PDT

  •  Might explain my wife's vote

    She thinks I resemble Edwards a bit, so I guess it's for variety's sake that she wants Obama to Barack her world.

    Unfortunately for me, none of the current crop can compare to the one and only one for me.

    by JR on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 08:10:47 AM PDT

    •  sweet...

      by MmeVoltaire on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 08:52:30 AM PDT

  •  Snarky, but also what I wrote...

    It's not just about looks, but about cathexis, where you feel the loved one's heart/mind is akin to yours, ie, your "soulmate." So often the people we fall in love with are not really who we think they are, but what we project onto them. So while my metaphors may be snarky, I'm grappling with genuine "romantic"--ie, idealistic--impulses. The thoughts/feelings I THINK  JE has are similar to the ones I have, thus I am attracted.  (I really am not drawn to his looks--my husband has never cut his hair or beard--freaks forever, I say...)

    BUT--that may be useless in terms of my dearest goals, which is to see progressive change effected in this country.

    by MmeVoltaire on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 09:03:09 AM PDT

•  When you think about it,

  George Bush has had his way on just about everything during the past 7 years (barring privatizing Soc. Security, thank heavens) by simply refusing to back down and by forcing the Congress to compromise with him, rather than the other way around. John Edwards is firm in his beliefs, and he's also savvy enough to know how to get around our pathetic excuse for a press corps by going directly to the people.

  Regarding your concern about Jimmy Carter, I still remember Carter's televised messages to the nation. He was decent, honest, straightforward and, unfortunately, utterly passionless. John Edwards knows how to convince a jury, and I think he'll know how to take his case to the American people.

  by grayslady on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 08:06:39 AM PDT

  •  George Bush had a GOP congress

    who were looking to see on which side their bread was buttered. Even when they didn't agree with him, he was ALWAYS with the moneyed interests, so if they were selling out their constituents on something they weren't alienaTing the $$$ backers. I'm not sure the analogy holds, though I do think Edwards is persuasive...

    by MmeVoltaire on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 08:54:37 AM PDT

    •  Bush has been getting the same results

      with a Dem. majority in Congress. Have the Dems stood up to Bush on anything since last November? Whenever Bush threatens to fight, the Dems back down. It makes me furious, but there it is.

      by grayslady on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 09:13:01 AM PDT

      •  I agree with you here

        and it really mystifies me...GB is a political pariah--what are they scared of? I can't stand it.

        by MmeVoltaire on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 10:52:06 AM PDT

•  My problem is a restricted choice.

  I haven't made up my mind who to vote for, but I know whom I won't vote for in the Primary.

  Over four years ago, back in October of '02, I promised never to support the primary candidacy of any Democrat who voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq.

  In this race, that's left me without Biden, Dodd, Clinton or Edwards as possibilities.

  And that's hard sometimes.  I especially like how Dodd and Edwards have been campaigning this cycle, with Dodd making impassioned pleas for the Constitution and Edwards renouncing his '02 vote and running on strong populist themes that, frankly, have been absent for far too long from our national campaigns.

  But they screwed up when it mattered most to me, so they're off my list.

  That's left me with Richardson, Obama, Gravel, and Kucinich.  I passed on an opportunity to work for Kucinich because he can't possibly win and may be considering a third-party run (he's certainly taken the right steps for one), and I've never really trusted him on abortion rights.  Gravel, sorry, but a singular act of courage thirty-plus years ago is not enough to make up for a stupid tax policy and postmodern campaign commercials.

  Richardson and Obama have both annoyed me with gaffes (Richardson with Wizzer White, Obama with Donnie McClurkin).  I'm still upset with Richardson for making that incredibly stupid statement calling for Musharaff's ouster last week, and with Obama for casting his lot with (and giving a microphone to) a flagrant homophobe.

  I guess my problem is that I actually like most of our candidates (hell, I even like Clinton), but because we have such a decent crop overall, the imperfections of each are magnified.  I'm happy to work to elect any of them in November, but for now I'm undecided.

  My wife, on the other hand, seems pretty solidly in the Obama camp.

  by JR on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 08:06:50 AM PDT

•  I agree with much of what you say

  but I also realize that my standards for a candidate are impossibly high--all human beings are fallible, and find themselves in awk situations that they try to play with the best spin--Obama/Donny etc, trying to minimize damage, even in cowardly ways. I think we have to believe people can change, that's why I forgive Edwards his Iraq vote, which he has solidly repudiated, and he of the 3 has gone farthest out on a limb about how quickly he'll withdraw from Iraq.

  I think we've all made a lot of mistakes in life--that doesn't mean someone can's take a look at us and make a bet as to our core values and our efficiency. We all mess up--but I think we have to try to find people who are the lesser of 2 evils, or the flip side, the best of many goods...

  by MmeVoltaire on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 08:59:00 AM PDT

•  You should read Conscience of a Liberal

  I met Paul Krugman at a book signing.  His opinion at the time was that all three of the top Dems are progressive to some extent.  That was about a month ago.

  I think it might be time to put Obama in the centrist category.  And mind you, the kind of centrists we have in this day and age would have been Republicans in the 1970's.

  Barack seems to think that he can get the two parties to sit down together and work out their differences.  I don't think that's possible, because the two parties have practically no overlap from a policy perspective.  I believe he has good intentions, but that as a President his initiatives would be rebuffed by both parties.  He would be a weak President, and likely defeated in 2012.

  by njheathen on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 10:13:39 AM PDT

  •  Not even thinking about 2012

    But you may be right--what's the point if there's no overlap? But I think there IS consensus that healthcare has to be addressed, and I do think he's way less a hawk than HRC--in fact, I think he might be closer to Edwards on Iraq, quite close.

    But Krugman is a hero of mine, and your point convinces me to put my vote where my heart is--and yet...

    The idiots who voted for Nader in Florida probably thought that way too...

    by MmeVoltaire on Wed Jan 02, 2008 at 10:56:14 AM PDT