Why We Need the Edwards Brand of 'Change'

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from MyDD: http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/1/8/65813/15729


Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 06:58:13 AM EST

After seven years of Bush incompetence and malfeasance, with 70 percent of the country believing we are on the wrong track, every politician says they're for 'change.' But, of course, 'change' doesn't mean the same thing for every candidate. Nowadays even Mitt Romney, the plutocrat's plutocrat, is unironically trying to sell himself as the 'change' candidate. (Self awareness is not a Romney strong suit).

When a word like 'change' becomes a political mantra like this, the word can be used as much to hide intent as to reveal. And that is problem for all of us who really want to bring the kind of 'change' that revalues work and makes the system in Washington work for the middle class.

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. . . it's incumbent on us as voters to look deep into the exact 'change' proposed and for the candidates to be clear what it is they mean. John Edwards couldn't be clearer about the 'change' he is proposing. As Ezra Klein's insightful take on Edwards's post Iowa speech shows: (http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=01&year=2008&base_name=what_edwards_won)


The talking heads on MSNBC just spent a few minutes puzzling over John Edwards' concession speech. "It had no concession," they fretted. It didn't talk at all about the horserace, or the vote totals. Instead, Edwards spoke of the downtrodden, the uninsured, the insecure, the exploited, the oppressed, the wronged, the scared, the hungry, the homeless, and the poor. It was a fitting speech. It was not about the candidate or the race, but about the ideas, and the individuals they are supposed to help. In that way, it was Edwards' candidacy distilled to its core: A search for justice, a cry for equality, a demand for empowerment.

If there is a downturn coming, those traits are certainly the ones I would want in our President. Because, despite all of the harm Bush and corrupt system he presides over has caused there is real cause for optimism with a President like John Edwards.

There's a sort of office joke about hitting your head against your desk because it feels so good when you stop. Many of the structural economic problems we face are a bit like that, only it's the Republicans and the entrenched interests that are pushing your head into the desk. Either way, it's going to feel so much better when we stop it; when we realign our tax policy, when we free ourselves from worrying about health coverage, and when we reform our trade policies.

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Given the times were in and the system we're facing Edwards is forthrightly proposing exactly the 'change' we need and the fight we need to take on to get it. He's crystal clear about what it is he intends to do, which is important with phonies like Mitt Romney parroting the 'change' line. Not only do the false change messengers clutter the meaning, but 'change' built on vague themes will not last first contact with the swamps of Washington. Luckily, that's not a problem John Edwards will have.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/1/8/65813/15729

[AndyA]

1. All of the candidates are talking about change because that's what they know

Americans want to hear.

The difference is that Edwards is the only one in a position to actually *DO* what he says.

[fasttense]

2. As we move into this republican recession, the economy will become

a more and more important issue. Edwards has always been talking about economic justice. This is his issue hands down. He will gain in the polls as the recession increases.