This is the final preliminary post in a series on the Obama presidency that was initially going to be posted after the health care reform effort was finished in December of last year. Continuing to wait for a resolution on this issue would push the series back even further, so I'm going to post it now with a scaled down health care section.
In the two months since this original version of this post was written, there have been new developments that have cast John Edwards in an increasingly negative light. Everytime I think this story has hit bottom, I'm proven wrong. There are bound to be very strong feelings about this, but I believe that at the bottom of this mess there is something very important, despite how far one of its most recent champions has fallen. The goal of this post is to take another look at why the 2008 Edwards campaign was supported by many in the Democratic base (especially labor and the progressive blogosphere), and the aspects of the campaign and its message that are especially relevant today.
Below is an overview of where I was coming from when I supported Edwards, and where I'm coming from now. This is meant to be a discussion starter. Feel free to weigh in.
(and they need to listen to all of us... - promoted by poligirl)
Poor Chris Van Hollen. He is mad at Democrats for god forbid wanting to pursue their agenda now that we have won an historical victory. He apparently doesn't share our disgust with Democrats that run, take our money, and then proceed to get to Washington and stab us in the back. Again, he is back with the typical DLC-type argument that we should not have a backbone.
(what a whole lot of us were doin' one year ago today... :D - promoted by poligirl)
A year ago tonight, nearly 240,000 Iowans spent a couple of hours in overcrowded rooms during the Democratic precinct caucuses.
Thousands of others came to freezing cold Iowa to knock on doors or make phone calls for their presidential candidate in late December and early January.
Share any memories you have about caucusing or volunteering in this thread.
After the jump I re-posted my account of what happened at my own caucus. I was a precinct captain for Edwards.
I do most of my writing at the Iowa progressive community blog Bleeding Heartland.
Last year at this time I was scrambling to make as many phone calls and knock on as many doors as I could before the Iowa caucuses on January 3.
This week I had a little more time to reflect on the year that just ended.
After the jump I've linked to Bleeding Heartland highlights in 2008. Most of the links relate to Iowa politics, but some also covered issues or strategy of national importance.
I only linked to a few posts about the presidential race. I'll do a review of Bleeding Heartland's 2008 presidential election coverage later this month.
This is the week where the media feels compelled to present to us the worst and best of the year. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don't. However, as we would expect, they leave out some of the worst and bests which are just as meaningful or more so than the ones they present. So, I decided to cover the gap they have left in their coverage.
(how the CEOs are doing; take BP meds before reading... - promoted by poligirl)
I know this is not a popular subject for the rich and the have all to read/talk about. John Edwards was so right when he was campaigning and talking about the injustice, the unfairness of what America has become: The Haves, The Have Nots. Myself, I would fall into the Have Nots as most of us I imagine.
(and again - some VERY good politics for your morning... :D - promoted by poligirl)
Hear me out: this is an argument as much about the place of workers' issues in the future Administration, as it is an argument for making John Edwards the next Labor Secretary.
I know this blog is for Progressive Values, but I've seen so much hatred for him on the DU, Open Left, and would have been if someone at Brand X brought up John Edwards' speaking engagement at Indiana tonight.
This is the week where the media feels compelled to present to us the worst and best of the year. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don't. However, as we would expect, they leave out some of the worst and bests which are just as meaningful or more so than the ones they present. So, I decided to cover the gap they have left in their coverage.
