Will Hillary Follow the Lead Once Again?

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Thursday December 20, 2007 · 6:09 PM PST

2007/12/20 · 18:09

You know, all throughout this primary for the Democratic nomination, Edwards supporters have repeatedly pointed out how John Edwards has taken the lead on most issues. From healthcare to worker's rights, to illegitimizing the "War on Terror" argument, to opposing more unlimited power for this madman in the White House, Edwards is constantly out in front on all the issues that matter to working Americans.

Now, on minimum wage much as on their healthcare plans, Hillary Clinton has decided to follow the lead of John Edwards. We all remember some time ago when John Edwards called for the minimum wage to be increased to $9.50 hr. under his plan to create One America for all Americans. He also challenged all candidates to support this proposal.

Well, if you don't have a plan to uplift millions of Americans, why not follow the lead of someone who does? It appears that is just what Ms. Clinton has elected to do. From Edwards site:

"I am glad Senator Clinton has joined me in supporting a further increase in the minimum wage. Over five months ago, I challenged all of the candidates to help hard-working families and join my effort to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, and now, just 14 days before the Iowa caucuses, Senator Clinton has answered my call.

"But changing America demands all of us do even more. In this spirit, I hope she will join me in rejecting the money of Washington lobbyists that is corrupting our system and hurting middle-class families."

http://johnedwards.com/...

While it is good that Hillary is finally seeing the light, it seems that if she is a true "experienced" leader as she claims that she would be taking the lead on these issues instead of allowing Edwards to test their viability before jumping aboard. A real leader tells you exactly what kind of policies they intend to pursue, and doesn't just say trust me. It doesn't really take a whole lot of leadership to endorse someone else's plan months after they release it and it hasn't hurt them. Real leadership requires that well, you lead.

But what about Edwards call for Hillary to reject the money of Washington lobbyist that have poisoned our system and fully expect to do so during another Clinton Administration? Will she follow Edwards once again in refusing to accept their money? A real leader doesn't defend and benefit from a broken system. And make no mistake, Hillary is profiting from that system. Just look:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/...

http://johnedwards.com/...

http://digg.com/...

And how about lobbyists who have endorsed Clinton? Here is a list:

Cory Alexander (Fannie Mae)
Michael Anderson (AndersonTuell)
Don Auerbach (Investment Company Institute)
Lyndon Boozer (AT&T)
Bill Broydrick (Broydrick & Associates)
Gerry Cassidy (Cassidy & Associates)
Steve Elmendorf (Elmendorf Strategies)
Janice Enright (Ickes & Enright Group)
Vic Fazio (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld)
Holly Fechner (Covington & Burling)
Jeff Forbes (Cauthen Forbes & Williams)
Adam Gluck (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal)
Richard Goodstein (Goodstein and Associates)
J. Eric Gould (Tew Cardenas)
Fred Graefe (Law offices of Frederick H. Graefe)
Charles Hansen (Hansen Government Relations)
Tom Hebert (Ogilvy Government Relations)
Harold Ickes (Ickes & Enright Group)
Peter Jacoby (AT&T)
Joel Johnson (Glover Park Group)
John Jonas (Patton Boggs)
David Jones (Capitol Counsel)
Tim Keating (Honeywell International)
Alison Kutler (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal)
Reta Jo Lewis (Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge)
Joel Malina (Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates)
David Marchick (Carlyle Group)
Tama Mattocks (Strategic Health Care)
Chris McCannell (Quinn Gillespie & Associates)
Mike McNamara (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal)
Gwen Mellor (Hogan & Hartson)
John Merrigan (DLA Piper)
Mike Merola (Winning Strategies)
Linda Morgan (Covington & Burling)
Evan Morris (Roche Pharmaceuticals)
Ben Noble (Troutman Sanders Public Affairs Group)
Sean O'Shea (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld)
Steve Palmer (Van Scoyoc Associates)
Peter Pappas (Pappas Telecasting Cos.)
Scott Pastrick (BKSH)
Heather Podesta (Heather Podesta & Partners)
Joe Pouliot (The CJR Group)
Steve Ricchetti (Ricchetti Inc.)
Mark Siegel (Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell)
Sandi Stuart (Clark & Weinstock)
Richard Sullivan (Capitol Counsel)
Dan Tate Jr. (Capitol Solutions)
David Thomas (Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti)
Paul Thornell (Citigroup)
Loretta Tuell (AndersonTuell)
Blair Watters (The Madison Group)
Anne Wexler (Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates)
Marcia Wiss (Hogan & Hartson)

http://www.sourcewatch.org/...

And how about this video from none other than the YearlyKos convention?:

While I thank Sen. Clinton for finally coming around on the minimum wage issue, I still agree with John Edwards that we simply cannot replace corporate Republicans with corporate Democrats and expect change. It is time we had a leader who took the power away from the entrenched interests in Washington and gave it back to the people. As with all the other issues, John Edwards is the one candidate who has taken the lead on ending the big money influence in Washington and has never taken a penney from lobbyists. Please join us in bringing real change to Washington, and nominating John Edwards to carry the standard for the Democratic Party in the fall of 08!!

Poll
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Do you think it is important for a candidate to reject lobbyist money?

Yes

No

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62 votes Vote Now!
Do you think it is important for a candidate to reject lobbyist money?

Yes

54 votes

No

6%

4 votes

Don't Know

2%

1 vote

Don't Care

5%

3 votes

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