Don't jump ship on Edwards

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Wednesday January 09, 2008 · 10:04 AM PST

2008/01/09 · 10:04

There have been several diaries recently about Edwards being a Ralph Nader.

Which is truly, truly unfortunate.

As many know, I am not a big believer in John Edwards as a candidate. I don't think he has a prayer of getting the nomination.

However, I do respect and believe in the causes he advocates.

And, if you're supporting him because you support those causes, you should stick by him.

Obama supporters are supposed to tell you to abandon hope, that he can't win, that you're just enabling Hillary. I've even made such stupid statements myself out of frustration.

However, the prospect of one's candidate losing forces one to consider this question: Am I supporting a person, or am I supporting a cause?

Most Obama supporters aren't supporting him because of what a simply awesome person he is. They are supporting a cause to bring the country together to fight the necessary fights to bring about meaningful, transformative change.

A great many Edwards supporters are doing the same thing. They are supporting universal health care, strengthening the middle class, restoring honesty and fairness to our government, ending poverty, and rolling back global warming.

If you truly believe in those causes, as opposed to merely wanting to play kingmaker or queenmaker and determine whether the nominee is Obama or Clinton, why would you abandon Edwards? Those issues did not lose last night. And John Edwards has not stopped speaking out on those issues. Those issues are no less important than they were yesterday.

I know that if someone were browbeating me to abandon a cause I believed in, I'd tell them to go Cheney themselves.

Let's have an honest discussion of the issues, and force the eventual nominee to be the best on the issues.

P.S. Of course, if folks want to join the Obama cause because you think he's the best one to give us progress on those issues, I'm not going to try to talk you out of it.

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