The 2008 election is an history opportunity to shift this country back to it's liberal roots and so begin to repair the injuries inflicted by the GOP in the last three decades. We have a cadre of compelling candidates, all of whom can defeat anything the Republicons currently have in their stable of Old White Men. With this in mind, Democrats are in a wonderful position—we can actually choose a candidate that represents true progressive principles, instead of merely choosing the "lesser of two evils." We can, in essence, choose a president that will be the flag-bearer for a revitalized, constitutional country that values work over wealth, health over profits, and fairness over bigotry.

To a large degree, the policy positions offered by the candidates are more similar than not. They all have good ideas. And all the candidates have weaknesses as well, no doubt about it. Hillary is being dubbed the winner by the media and a lot of Democrats in this country are favoring her (although an equal number despise her). What many of them do not understand is that a candidate is more than their policy positions...we have to look a bit deeper to catch a glimpse of who they really are and what their values might be. It is doubly true in Hillary’s case that, as the saying goes, you are who you associate with.

[This has been crossposted from MyDD with the permission of the author, TomP. I wanted to make sure Kossacks saw it, because I believe the most troubling thing about Hillary is her (still underdiscussed) close connection to Corporate Power, including some of its darkest elements.

Even Karl Rove sold his direct mail firm before going to work for the Bush campaign. Mark Penn needs to sell his PR firm. Or Hillary needs to fire him. Or she shouldn't be the nominee. For me, it's that simple. And you?]

It was about a year ago that I decided to support Edwards. I did so for many reasons (which I discuss here and here) but for one reason above all others: I believed he would be the most progressive candidate among the top-tier. And so he has; he is. On virtually every important issue--health care, taxes, trade, climate change, poverty, even foreign policy--he's running to the left of Obama and Clinton. We've arrived at the point whereprogressives have to concoct reasons not to support him.