Americans nationwide both know two of the newest leaders we have in our party are Barack Obama and John Edwards. Both have stormed on the scene in the last few election cycles to captivate much of the audience in the Democratic Party. With this comes a responsibility to lay out your vision and leadership and fight for change.
John Edwards envisions a future for the Democratic Party where lobbyist and special interest groups have no say over us, the grassroots. He wants to eliminate special interest money from our party. Not only does he talk about a new way of doing things, but having never taken money from Washington lobbyists, he is asking Sen. Obama to take a leadership role and join him in this fight also.
First on Aug. 16, John Edwards sent this plea to Obama to stand up and help him fight against the lobbyist and big money influence on our government:
Dear Senator Obama,
The Democratic Party has always been the party of the American people – the party that gives a voice to working men and women, a voice to regular families and a voice to all the people that have trouble being heard over special interests. With more than 60 lobbyists for every member of Congress, the voices of regular Americans are being drowned out in Washington. The system has been rigged against the people who make our country great – working and middle class families. These families are struggling to get by, while Washington insiders and special interests write our policies to benefit their bottom line.
I have never taken a dime from Washington lobbyists, and I am proud that you have stopped taking their money in this campaign. Now is the time for the two of us to lead the way on this issue. I urge you to join me in publicly calling on the Democratic Party – National, Senate, and Congressional Committees, as well as all Democrats running for federal office – to put an end to the money game in Washington by refusing to accept any and all federal lobbyist money from this point forward. I will be sending a letter to the Democratic campaign committees asking them to do this, and I hope you will join me in signing the letter.
We can't sit down at the table and work out a deal for change – we have to take action and fight back. Compromise with lobbyists is not going to lead America towards universal health care or end our addiction to oil or end poverty – it will only lead us down the path of incremental change that fails, once again, to address this nation’s enormous challenges.
There is no middle ground – if we want to make our government work for regular Americans, we can’t negotiate and compromise with these insiders. We have to stand up and fight back. I’ve fought against these big interests my entire life, and I can tell you they aren’t going to give up their power without a fight.
As Democrats, we must stand up and show the world that the Democratic Party truly is the party of the people. Real change in America – real change in Washington – will never occur if all we do is replace their insiders with our insiders.
Please join me and the growing number of Americans who are tired of the way Washington works in this important effort to end the money game in Washington and put our government back on the side of regular families.
I look forward to your response in the coming days.
Sincerely,
John Edwards
http://www.johnedwards.com/...
Now, this sounds like a sincere letter, and a desperate plea from one of the leaders of our party to another that they join together and fight against lobbyist influence in our party. To me, this is an issue that transcends the nomination and paves the way to how our party will be run in the future. Just think of the power of at least two of the three leading Presidential candidates making this plea of our campaign committees. They would have to at least respond. Senator Obama always talks so much about working with the other side, but if he won't work with the other side in the primary with a fellow Democrat over something as important as this, how can we ever believe he could work with Republicans as he wants to claim?
Thusfar, Obama has not agreed to join John Edwards in a leadership role on this issue. It is not about who gets credit for what- Obama joining with Edwards to call for this change would actually look very good for both of them to me- but what is right for our country and party.
Edwards hasn't given up on this, today he sent Sen. Obama another letter, once again asking him to add his name and considerable influence to the fight:
August 20, 2007
Dear Senator Obama,
Last week, I sent you a letter asking you to join me in taking a stand for millions of working and middle-class American families by calling on the Democratic Party to stop accepting campaign contributions from federal lobbyists and help put an end to the money game in Washington once and for all. Let me be clear, I am not calling on any campaign or candidate to return what has already been legally contributed. But I am proposing that we, as Democrats, stop accepting donations from federal lobbyists from this day forward. It's a bold challenge – and one that has drawn fire from more than a few Washington insiders. But that's why it's all the more important for us to make sure it happens.
I have never taken a dime from Washington lobbyists, and I am proud that you have stopped taking money in this campaign – in fact, it's why I asked you to join me in leading this important effort to help ensure that no DC lobbyist will stand in the way of real change.
In response to my challenge, you described your legislation to make campaign fundraising more transparent and invited me to support some of your other ethics proposals. Greater transparency is, without question, an important first step and I support your proposals. But I strongly believe we must go further. Letting people watch the money game as it's being played simply isn't enough – we need to put an end to the money game altogether.
Rather than settle for cleaning up the "muddy waters" in Washington that have allowed lobbyists to use their money and influence to stall efforts to raise the minimum wage, establish health care or address global warming, why not start fresh?
We don't have to wait for Congress to pass a law or for the next election cycle to come along. We can enact change right now. By pledging to stop taking any and all federal lobbyist money from this day forward, the Democratic Party can send a powerful message to the American people that we are and will always be the party of the people.
And we should invite the Republican Party to join us, or else expose for everyone else to see – thanks to your proposals for greater transparency – whose interests really matter to them. What better way to show the American people exactly who's on their side, and who's bought and paid for by big corporations and special interests?
If we want real change, it's time for us to lead the way by showing that no interest is more important to us than the interest of the millions of hardworking American families whose influence has been overshadowed by Washington insiders and special interest lobbyists for far too long.
So I ask you once again, will you join me in calling on the Democratic Party to stop taking Washington lobbyist money?
It's the only way to fundamentally change the way Washington works. And I look forward to you now joining me in leading the way toward that change.
Sincerely,
John Edwards
http://www.johnedwards.com/...
Now, I am a John Edwards supporter and most people know this. I would just like to respectfully ask Senator Obama to sign on with John Edwards on this and we will have two charismatic leaders who are dedicated to changing the way our goverment and party in Washington are run and give power back to the people. Saying you want to change things is half the battle, now please join in the other half and actually fight for them!!! Primary aside, it is the right thing to do!!!
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