John Edwards was the Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee in 2004, a former United States Senator, an accomplished businessman, a great father and husband, and a very well credentialed candidate for President on paper. Edwards offers change and experience. (So do Clinton and Obama. This is not a bash the other candidate diary. Any of the 3 is exponentially superior to any of the Republicans.)
A variety of polls have just come out showing Edwards either leading in Iowa or in a statistical dead heat and surging in New Hampshire. Edwards could conceivably win Iowa and New Hampshire. (As can Clinton or Obama.)
But despite the apparent three way horserace, the Washington Corporate Media Cocktail Party Elitists has deliberately removed John Edwards from your TV screen for many months. And it happened again today when right wing CNN and ultra right wing Faux Noise showed clips of speeches from Clinton and Obama while not showing clips of speeches from Edwards. Regardless of which Democratic candidate you support, you should be appalled by this.
The first question to ask is, "Why has this been happening?" Why would the corporate media knowingly freeze out a candidate from national coverage when on paper, the candidate is credentialed, credible, and clearly one of the top three nominees of a major political party?
The answer I believe is as follows: John Edwards is 100% dead serious about destroying the corrupt corporate power structure that has been destroying the American middle class for decades. It's a structure that is killing the American middle class's wallets and pocketbooks, schools, health care, ability to own a home, etc... And who owns the Washington Post, the New York Times, 90% of talk radio, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and Faux The Most Powerless Name in Propaganda Noise? Yep, the corrupt corporate power structure.
So the corrupt corporate power structure tried to portray John Edwards as this phony guy who talks about poverty and the middle class but lives like the Sultan of Brunei. But they know the caricature is bull. Just because Edwards is rich does not mean his policies aren't for the middle class. If I was the sole winner of a national Mega Lotto, I'd become worth 100 million dollars overnight but it wouldn't change my policies.
The next false caricature about Edwards was the "slip and fall lawyer." This too is bogus. As far as I know John Edwards never represented a slip and fall client. (And Robert Bork didn't seek to retain him either.) Instead, Edwards represented clients who were killed or badly injured by hospitals and in one case a pool manufacturer whose gross negligence caused a five year old girl to be seriously injured. For those unfamiliar with tort law, cases such as those above are often "contingency cases" where the lawyer takes 1/3rd of the judgment plus disbursements. Since 1/3rd of zero is zero, this setup discourages lawyers from taking "bad cases."
Edwards' experience as a lawyer is good experience. He fought for the right people. There are thousands of lawyers out there making millions protecting corporations and other wrongdoers. It is these lawyers who the media never bashes. Instead, they bash the so called "trial lawyers" for the plaintiffs while never bashing the corporate "trial lawyers" of the defendants.
The third false caricature of Edwards was that of "the wimp." But if I had to form a tackle football team, Edwards would be my first pick over any of the Republicans. (Edwards actually played football unlike George W Bush who was a cheerleader.) Edwards not only can be a sensitive, loving individual but he can be the rugged individualist who is not afraid to get his hands dirty.
Personally I want the corporate media to give equal and fair time to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and Senator Edwards. Let each of them tell why they should be President without their spin and propaganda. Then let you decide. But that is not what is happening.
The corporate media decided long ago on the Democratic side that they wanted Hillary to be the Democratic nominee so they removed Edwards from the airwaves, puffed up Obama as her chief rival thinking that she could crush Obama based on name recognition and Obama's relative newness to the national scene. And shock shock Obama may be the frontrunner right now. (Note - on the Republican side the corporate media decided that Giuliani would be the Republican nominee, Ron Paul would not be seen nor heard, and Mike Huckabee would be destroyed and kept to single digits. When Giuliani self destructed -- "To know Rudy is to hate Rudy" the media has gone to plan B which is to try and resurrect Flip Flopper and Keating 5 Scandal Figure John McCain.)
However, Voters in Democratic primaries could give a big middle finger to the national media if they make John Edwards the Democratic nominee for President. An Edwards nomination would be a punch in the gut to the Broders, Russerts, Courics, and other talking head shills in the corporate media. It could be the start of rendering these people utterly powerless.
These corporate shills think they have the power to decide who voters in both parties can select and not select. A vote for John Edwards would be a way of telling Big Media to go Cheney itself. (I use the word Cheney in this context as a four letter word.)
I'd love to see Edwards bash ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and Faux by name. I'd love to see Edwards name names and call these people out for who they are. Would the media cover it or would they black it out?
Well if John Edwards wins Iowa and then New Hampshire, the big corporate media may be forced to give John Edwards air time.
UPDATE: TY for bringing this to the top of the rec list. I want to reiterate that my criticism is of the media and the Washington Cocktail Party Elitists. My criticism of the media blackout (or undercoverage) is based on observations which others have verified. Jed Report and a couple of others downthread point out some statistics to back this including positve news articles, google searches, articles appeared in, times mentioned in multi candidate articles, etc..
UPDATE 2 - Please go to this diary by Jedreport. What a terrific job.