I want to share with you part of his speech to the DNC earier this year. Please click on the top box in this link:
http://www.johnedwards.com/...
Brothers and sisters, in times likes these, we don't need to redefine the Democratic Party, we need to reclaim the Democratic Party. John Edwards
I really believe this is the most profound statement uttered by any Presidential candidate so far in this primary. It shows why we need Edwards to lead our party and then our country. I hope you will bear with me while I explain why.
In my lifetime I have seen leaders in our party being cowed into thinking they can't be Democrats. We allowed the word "liberal" to be demonized without once defining all the wonderful things liberalism has brought our country and the world. We did not defend our vision and try to fight for it, we tried to make our message and our candidates more Republican.
Hence, we had the centerist movement and the DLC which did manage to produce a Bill Clinton Presidency. Clinton is by far the best President in my lifetime as I was born in 1970 but his centerist positions came with a price to Democrats. We ate NAFTA, and several other things like Welfare Reform that we thought were done the wrong way. We watched as after all his working with Republicans, his entire second term was spent with them ripping him apart on a witchhunt. We never achieved very much of our dreamed of agenda. Working with these people just doesn't work.
This "centerist" vision and the thought of "reaching out to the other side" is a thing of the past. It is time we end the corporate influence on our party and quit being ashamed of our vision, and what we fight for. Our party never did need to be redefined!!! Our candidates have run so far to the center they have made themselves look ridiculous because they are afraid to contrast themselves from the Republicans. It is time that the "centerists" no longer determine the direction of our Party. It is time that Democrats reclaimed our party and our agenda and started running proudly with it. We flirted with doing this briefly with Howard Dean in 04, and I hope we don't make the same mistake again.
Voters have put us in power last year. They want us to fight for a Democratic agenda. I know that it seems nice and warm and fuzzy to say we are going to work with the other side, but I don't agree that that is the best course of action for us to take. I want a candidate who understands that our agenda has been disrespected and our vision kicked in the teeth for the last thirty years. It is time we reclaim our Party and fight as Democrats once again. John Edwards understands this and is putting forth the policies and not backing down. That one sentence sums up why I think he should have the nomination. He just gets it.
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