This blog community has lined up. Many are Edwards people. A few less, but still many, are Obama people. The Edwards people accuse the Obama people of not being able to take criticism of their guy - drinking the Koolaid and attacking those who don't agree. The Obama people accuse the Edwards people of ignoring his voting record and falling for his rhetoric - drinking the Koolaid and attack those who don't agree.
The problem is - one of them is going to be on the ticket, either at the top or the bottom - perhaps even together. It's inevitable. So let's clear some things up, shall we?
Obama is not a conservative. He is not a triangulator. Triangulation, Clinton style, is changing your positions to line yourself up in the middle of the political spectrum. Obama tones down his RHETORIC and attempts to appeal to more people by standing up for the SAME THINGS in different ways. This flat is not triangulation - it's politics, and you have to be good at it to get anything done. Barack Obama is good at it. Oh, and another thing (responding to Jerome a Paris) - Neocons don't actually like Barack Obama - when they cookie-cut his speeches and say they like what he has to say, it's strategy - it makes Obama look bad with his base, you, and makes it harder for him to win decisively. They've been doing it forever. You've fallen for it. The truth is, Obama has an extremely liberal voting record. He's a steadfast supporter of a woman's right to choose (the reason Alan Keyes entered the race), has the most decisive and aggressive plan to end the war in Iraq (have you read it? You know, the BINDING timetable he's presented?), was the reason that Illinois had to record confessions, was the reason Illinois didn't adopt a "partial birth abortion ban," was the reason that Illinois sought to study and reform the death penalty. He's very liberal, but he also knows how to talk to people across isle (though i know how that pisses some of you off).
By the same token, Edwards apologized for the War. Yes, his voting record is more conservative, but if anyone has seen him at all since this campaign started (the date for which I consider to be November 3, 2004), you know that he's had a change of heart. Like Obama, he has called for an end to the genocide in Darfur, and has also visited and spoken with the Invisible Children of Uganda. He is, as everyone knows, a steadfast supporter of the labor movement, an activist believer in giving workers the rights and wages they deserve, and a man with clear convictions about the world's deadliest problem - poverty. I don't believe that Edwards made a political calculation when he apologized for the war - I think that he really believed he was doing the right thing at the time, and realized that he was so very wrong. He has a clear plan to end it. I am an Obama supporter, for reasons that I'll be happy to discuss openly at any time - but I would be extremely proud to call John Edwards the nominee of my party.
I know I have said things in the past, in comments and elsewhere, that may have been disparaging to Edwards in the attempt to show Obama my support. That was wrong, and I apologize. As the base of this party, the ever-growing and influential netroots, I believe that it is absolutely necessary that we stop this feud immediately. For any supporter of either Edwards or Obama, there are much worse things than the one you don't happen to support being the nominee.
We should focus our efforts in the primary on one thing - passionately insuring that "our guy" makes it to the general election, and we can't take each other out in the process. Go after HRC - I think she deserves it - look at Richardson's record (I think you'll be surprised, despite all the support he gets around here).
This is my cry for unity. It doesn't mean you can't passionately support "your guy" - just, like I said, be fair to the Obama/Edwards supporters as well. Don't cut the nose off to spite the face, because, like I said, unless something tragic happens, one of them, in around a year, will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
Okay - I'm done - Let the beatings begin...