This is an open letter to John Edwards. This is also an open letter to all of John Edwards' supporters who have stuck by him through thick and thin throughout his time in this campaign and beyond; who have defended their support of him with thousands of diaries on this site alone; and who have felt saddened by his withdrawal from the race because they felt like he was the best this party had to offer.
I am one of those people. Starting today, however, I and all of my associates who fall into this category should start questioning that support until the day that John Edwards comes out and endorses Barack Obama to be the Democratic Party's candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America.
With every passing day, all that which is Edwardian should be holding a mirror up to itself that allows its reflection to be superimposed over the events of that day.
Currently, we have a candidate who not only embodies the spirit of grass roots politics that I regret to say Edwards himself could not generate; we have a candidate who leads in the popular vote, who leads in the electoral vote and who is destroying the other candidate in states won.
On the other side, we have a candidate who feels empowered to float turds like:
•Obama said he was a Christian so I guess I'll have to take him at his word.
•Obama contacted the Canadians and told them he was just denouncing NAFTA to get votes.
And the biggest one of all...a smack in the face to Democrats everywhere trying to get a Democratic President elected...
•McCain is worthy because he's old and an insider.
I'm not going to say when Hillary Clinton should drop out of this race. I think most people already would have, but in that Clinton still has the possibility of superdelegates overturning an electoral decision, she is not most people. You or I would have been run out of the race by now, but supers have been slow to peel away from her at this point.
That is why I make the claim that I am making about John Edwards. All of the messages from the Edwards camp about the people-powered movement, equality and representing the many instead of the few will now seem suspect with every day that goes by.
The biggest indicator of this is not Edwards himself, but rather the Ferraros that are now coming out. Here is a person who, while perhaps involved on her own personal scale for many years since the failed ticket of which she was a part, was up until a week or so ago only an anecdote on the public scale. I'd never question the length or breadth of her public service, but let's be honest that in recent years her name is one that has been referenced only in diaries, articles and books that try to articulate "what went wrong." Or, what can be impoved upon, I suppose.
Geraldine Ferrao is a component of a failed party mechanism. Period. And now, in 2008, she gets to pontificate the finer points of sexism vs. racism on a grand scale and in our collective name? A scourge upon our house if so, for not only are we living in a different time that when Ferraro ran, we are living in a different era as illustrated by the scores of people who have reconnected with their political selves as a result of this primary--and not just because of Barack Obama.
The energy thrown into this Democratic Primary has been the result of what at one time was a total of THREE candidates--all of them exciting and electable in their own way--perceived to be able to cross that threshold. And, while one of those candidates is no longer in the race, there is still an effect this former candidate can have upon it.
On the immediate scale an endorsement by John Edwards does not simply usher in a larger victory for Senator Obama. Much larger than that, it solidifies the Edwards positions that his many supporters believed that he believes.
I don't think that Edwards should do it to put an end to the competitiveness of this race...I for one have enjoyed it. Never before have my family and friends shared a level of interest in politics that even approaches mine. Until now.
I don't think that Edwards should endorse Barack Obama just because Hillary cannot win without a little help from her friends in high places. It IS politics we're talking about, here.
I think Edwards should endorse Barack Obama because we have a candidate who has gone off the rails and is now giving almost daily fodder either directly or through her increasingly nutty surrogates to a Republican machine so desperate for a ray of hope in this election. This undermines what I believe John Edwards wanted. Obviously, John Edwards wanted the presidency for himself but I believe, above all, he wanted a Democratic President.
Tell me I'm wrong, John, and I will take your correction and apply it to my own perspective on your candidacy.
But if I'm right, Mr. Edwards, then you should do what you personally can to put down the filth that is taking over this race--from within our own party. I registered as a Democrat because of you and now, with every day that passes, what I see in the mirror--our mirror--does not reflect the values I have attributed to either of us.