Some of you may remember me as the emergency physician who strongly supported John Edwards for president until he dropped out.

That was painful-- not just for me, but for the 37 million people in the United States without health insurance.  John Edwards had the plan and the passion to finally bring about universal health coverage in this country, but you all (and by that I mean in the generic sense of primary voters) chose otherwise.

Now that he's no longer an option, I felt it was my duty to weigh in on the two remaining Democratic candidates.

By now, you're all familiar with "the whisper".

During Mitt Romney's last debate, he was asked if he would "do what Ronald Reagan did in 1983" to fix Social Security.  Next, we hear a disembodied voice whisper "he raised taxes", after which the Mittster immediately responds with "I'm not going to raise taxes."

The internets are filled with speculation.  There's no obvious earpiece or receiving device on Romney's body. We don't see any other candidates whispering into their microphones. MSNBC claims the voice came from an "open mic", but nobody has figured out where the mic was, or admitted to being the whisperer.

Want to hear another possible explanation?  Follow me below the fold.

They squabble over who had ideas in the 1990s.

John Edwards stands up and fights for the 200,000 homeless United States veterans sleeping under bridges.

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They squabble over a mention of Ronald Reagan.

John Edwards stands up and fights for the 47 million United States citizens who can't afford healthcare insurance.

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They squabble over who said what about race and gender.

John Edwards stands up and fights for Natalie Sarkisyan and the rest of us who have health insurance that doesn't actually cover us when we need it.

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They squabble over who's likeable enough.

John Edwards stands up and fights for the jobs of union workers that are disappearing because of tax loopholes.

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They squabble over cocaine, crying, madrasas, casino caucuses, and kindergarten essays.

John Edwards stands up and fights for the vast majority of Americans who aren't represented by lobbyists or other special interest groups.

Well let's see.  He's got:

1. a populist platform

2. a concise and hard-hitting message

3. broad national appeal

4. the best head-to-head Republican matchups 11 months out

5. plenty of money after the national Democratic convention

6. a large generic Democratic advantage after 7 years of BUSH HELL

I have nothing but respect for Barack Obama.  His background, his principles, his optimism, his eloquence... everything.

He's a great man who will, undoubtably, become even greater.

In 2008, however, our Democratic Presidential nominee must be all these things AND a strong fighter.

Each holiday season, my family gives to a few different charities.  It's a tradition that makes us happy.  

Sometimes we give to organizations, but more often it's to people directly-- employees, acquaintances, or even strangers.  Anyone who seems deserving and is down on their luck.

Towards the middle of December last year a man was brought by ambulance to my Emergency Department in diabetic ketoacidosis from not taking his prescribed insulin medications.

Without insulin, none of the glucose could enter his cells, so his body started producing ketones for fuel which turned his blood dangerously acidic.  He became dehydrated with a high serum potassium which could stop his heart beating at any moment.  He was panting loudly-- an automatic reflex that tries to blow off extra carbon dioxide (acid) and rebalance his pH, but it was failing-- he just couldn't keep up.

He was dying.

I came across a comment that said physicians would not support John Edwards because of his past medical malpractice litigation against doctors, and felt I needed to respond.

I'm an MD.  Family practice and emergency medicine trained, working emergency medicine for the past 10 years.  

I have a duty to provide compassionate, standard-of-care medicine to all my patients, and I take that responsibility seriously.  

But it's a tough job for physicians to do consistently, without error, for each of the tens of thousands of patients they will see over the course of their career.

Gross malpractice occurs sometimes... and when it can be proven, I believe victims should be fairly compensated.

Sure there's needling, and attacking, and childishness.

Yes, it gets heated.  And sometimes ugly.

But what I truly love about DailyKos is that our thoughts are heard.

Our ideas exchanged.

With immediate, and sometimes brutal, feedback.

There is a massive struggle going on within the Democratic Party.

On one side you have the Corporatists-- aka DLC, "Centrists", "Moderates", Blue Dogs.  Their campaign coffers are awash in money from big business and the military industrial complex.  They may talk the talk, but when a vote comes along that could actually end the war or do something positive for the American people, they always find some excuse to drag their feet.  And the corporate-owned mainstream media uses their biased power to help them (e.g., the recent CNN debate, and the heavily edited/replayed Dean "scream").

On the other side you have the Progressives.  They understand that the current system is corrupt, and has prevented progress on nearly every important political issue.  They're determined to return the power in Washington to the people.  

The sad truth is that in the Presidential primary race, right now the Corporatist candidate is WINNING because the Progressive vote is split between too many other candidates.

Follow me past the fold to hear the plan that ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEES a Progressive primary victory.

Those of us in the mainstream of the Democratic Party-- the progressives-- are feverishly looking for a way to bring down the front runner.  Hillary's significant lead is the result of her name recognition, financial backing, and Washington insider status.

But it's not insurmountable.

What we need is for one of her progressive challengers to leap out in front.  Someone for all the casual observers and last-minute deciders to coalesce around.  Someone who will convince the pragmatists to switch their votes away from their initial candidate of choice, in hopes of achieving a real progressive victory.

That person will have to be special.  Smart, strong, charismatic, motivated, media-savvy, and capable of staying on the strategic offensive.

That person is clearly John Edwards.

I'm going to tell you some facts that will shock and alarm you.

Did you know that nearly FIFTY PERCENT of all pregnancies end in miscarriage?

It's true.  We don't realize it because they happen so early in the pregnancy that we usually mistake them for late menstrual periods.

Miscarriage is so common, in fact, that more than SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT of women will have at least one in their lives-- and often several.

Once a woman knows she's pregnant, she still has a FIFTEEN PERCENT of miscarrying, now with the added emotional and physical trauma of losing such a precious part of her.

And the number one cause of miscarriage is?