The major media outlets are finally covering John Edwards’ Presidential Campaign. The problem is that they have chosen to do so just to cover his anticipated withdrawal from the race in New Orleans this afternoon. Here is the link to Senator Edwards’ remarks.
I am disappointed that the main stream corporate media has managed to slice this contest down to their two preferred candidates rather than help the people learn about all the candidates and make a value based, rather than beauty or money based selection. Despite this, I still plan to vote for John Edwards.
Friends, If it is indeed the case that former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is dropping out of the Presidential contest, I see it as a blow to the voters of the 22 states who have primaries in less than a week. As a Democratic Californian, I will be especially disappointed since this would be the second time my favorite candidate dropped out before the California Primary day.
In 2004, my favorite was Howard Dean and he dropped out several weeks before our primary. I am uncertain how Edwards’ dropping out will effect the votes of hard core Edwards supporters in California. For myself, I still intend to vote for Edwards and I hope he gains enough delegates this Tuesday to maintain an influence over who our next nominee is. If the rest of Senator Edwards’ supporters are as committed as I am, I expect he will continue to gain a significant number of delegates.
Given the fact that the Main stream media has effectively ignored Senator Edwards during most of this Primary contest, I’m betting that given the closeness of Primary day, Edwards will still win a significant number of delegates on February 5 regardless of whether he suspends or ends his campaign.
I’m still Voting for Edwards.
Thanks,
Chris
To my fellow liberals,
A vote for Edwards is a wasted vote. Edwards is giving up. California is still up for grabs. Edwards is running an insurgent campaign, who of the last two left standing is an insurgent /change candidate? Therein lies the answer. Please don’t waste your vote.
I sent in my absentee ballot Monday and voted for Obama, who has pretty much been my second choice all along. Fortunately, 9iu11iani is dropping out too!
The Boise Weekly has a great story about Edwards:
In 2004, Democrats were determined to pick the presidential nominee who had the best chance of defeating George W. Bush in the general election. That man was the feisty former governor of Vermont, Howard Dean. One could easily imagine him mercilessly flaying Bush in debates before trouncing Yale’s least favorite son in November. Primary voters, mistakenly betting that blandness and moderation would be a better sell, chose John Kerry instead.
The party of Hubert Humphrey and Michael Dukakis seems poised to make the same mistake again, whether with Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
Read the rest here.
I’m with you Chris. Thank you for this article.
There’s always a candidate (Nader, Perot) that seems like a crazy long shot and usually I am not that into them. They seem slightly cracked. But John was different this year and I’m really sorry to see him disappear so abruptly and so contrary to his own statements recently about ‘staying in the race’ etc.. I think we haven’t seen the last of him and that he has got something cool in the works — I hope it is that he is going to go back and help Katrina victims who are still there and still suffering after all of these long years.. I could go on and on.. but for the sake of brevity I won’t here.. anyhow..
I have been out of work for a year, but my new job starts tomorrow, so I guess it’s OK in a very personal sense if John must drop out today. I wasn’t going to be able to volunteer as much time as I had been starting today really – and was actually feeling guilty, sort of, about that. Because it looked we were just getting started.. quite frankly.. what do I know? Anyhow.. I guess things have a way of working themselves out, too.
Thanks for your support and attention, again. As a news outlet your product has been superior and being a former Orange County resident – I appreciate having a place I can return to learn about my former hometown, etc.
PS – how ironic – the yard sign that I ordered 2 weeks ago and had been complaining about finally came today.. should I put it up?? Thanks, -B.
Thanks Chris. Edwards gave a remarkable speech and I sobbed most of it. It was brilliant and he still talks about all the right things and he’s still on message.
I don’t know how I’m going to vote, I have my ballot and didn’t have a stamp.
We will see.
Thank you.
Not to be sarcastic, but my wife is worried by the way – that if we do this.. and a lot of people do it too.. that we could split the ticket and get a R elected.. is this true?
-B.
Color me disappointed. Since I’m okay with either Hillary or Obama, I’ll still be casting my vote for Edwards if given the opportunity to do so.
B. Lamb – I think this is just regarding the Primary not the GE. So that’s moot.
Heather,
Thx., Good point – one of them will get nominated regardless..
🙂
yrs.,
B.
This is a vote to pick our nominee. Given the lack of time to fully vet Obama in comparison to Clinton, I see no problem in tying up enough delegates to hold over the selection of our nominee until the Convention at the end of August.
This leaves less tome for the wing-nuts to focus their attacks on our eventual nominee. At the moment Obama is my second choice, but there is still a a lot I want to know. I am worried about how either can win in November.
I’m content to vote for Edwards and hope we can decide in 7 months.
Heather – if you don’t want to purchase a stamp you have three options.
1 – Go to YOUR polling place on election day, surrender your absentee ballot and vote in person.
2 – Go to ANY polling place in Orange County on election day and drop off your signed sealed ballot in the box.
3 – Drop off your unstamped ballot in the mailbox SOON, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. In past years the registrar has covered postage for unstamped ballots.
You can go to http://www.ocvote.com/vote/polling.htm to find a local polling place.
Chris,
Please don’t throw your vote away! A vote for any of the dropped out candidates is a vote for Hillary, because chances are, you would vote for Obama before Hillary. I believe one reason Edwards dropped out was to free his supporters to vote for someone else. Don’t throw your vote away. Vote for BARACK OBAMA!
Ok, then the John Edwards sign is going up. I live near an election site (same street) so that should be a good advertising spot for it. 🙂
How funny would if be if our man Edwards garnered a significant number of votes out here despite his dropping out? Maybe that would send a message to the remaining two to stop with all of their “post-partisan” bickering and start up again with a real-speak democracy platform. (Well, a man can hope can’t he?_)
I would be happy to see an anti-war candidate, personally – how about you?
Obama voted against the war but now seems to be vaguely for it. Help me out with the disconnect here, because I don’t want to vote for either if both want to sign on to McCain’s 100 year war-plan before they even start debating. What a weanie debate move. Sorry. Just saying.
Cheers,
B.
I had decided to walk my vote to my voting place on Tuesday and I still will.
I don’t trust the post office, call me cynical.
Thank you.
According to the OC Registrar’s website, as of today over 184,000 ballots have been returned for processing. How many of these voters might want to reconsider after this announcement? One of the dangers of early voting.
John and Elizabeth Edwards are two really good people. I hope we hear more from them both, frequently and soon. They are much too valuable to be kept in a drawer until the next election cycle. A Democratic victory in November would most likely assure that. I sure hope so.
By the way – Hi Heather.. if you are that Heather Pritchard that I used to work with.. Wow what a small world. 🙂
-Billy
Julia says hi too!
I will be voting for John Edwards, regardless. He is the only candidate that personally inspired me to a glimmer of hope that we the people would have a chance of rescuing our nation (and the world) from the corporatists. The battle he waged has been fought for generations and will continue… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wke1RBvcNQ
damnit John! I alreaddy sent my absentee ballot in two weeks ago by doing early voting at the registrars office.
the “wasted vote” argument is a pernicious cancer on every democratic principle implied in our republican system. the reasons to vote for edwards are clear enough. you feel there’s a principle at stake. those who tell you that’s a waste are trying to knuckle you under.
OK, principled one-
If you want your vote to affect the number of delegates each candidates receives, you will vote for one of them who is still in the race.
If not, feel free to vote for Duncan Hunter, Dennis Kucinich, or Mickey Mouse.
Unfortunately, we need a clear winner. A brokered convention would be terrific ratings and send political junkies (like ourselves) into political nirvana.
I love John & Elizabeth. Barack and Michelle work for me. It is time to move forward and stop looking back.
The Lovable Curmudgeon said:
Sorry, but I strongly disagree!
A presidential primary is about allowing the voters to select the candidate they want to represent the party in the quest for the Presidency of the United States of America. That IS the principle and purpose of the primary process.
The primary process is about picking the candidate that we as individuals agree with most. It is not about picking between the lesser of two bad choices, or even the best of two good choices that have been selected for us by the media.
We decide, we pick who we want. So long as the candidate I agree with the most is on the ballot, I will vote my conscience and vote for them. If someone else gets the nomination because I chose the one I liked best, so be it. That simply means that the majority of people chose someone else. If a candidate cannot win outright on their own merits, I do not see the purpose in throwing my vote to them because I like the other top choice less. If no one has the majority delegates before the convention, then the delegates have to make the selection at the convention.
My vote is not for sale to the lowest bidder or the lowest common denominator. Voting for the candidate of my choice, be that Kucinich, Edwards, Biden, Richardson, Dodd, Gravel, Clinton, or Obama, is not a wasted vote. It is my vote, and that is the principle and purpose of an election.
It’s about when you want your actions to be effective.
If you vote for Clinton or Obama, then your action will affect the 2008 election.
If you vote for someone else on principle, then your action will affect the 2012 election.
I was going to vote for Edwards. However, since he has withdrawn and I want my action to affect this election, I will vote for someone else.
B. Lamb, Crazy enough, there is another Heather Pritchard in Orange County! So I don’t think it’s me 🙂
The Obama people who are trying to tell the Edwards voters how they should vote and telling some they are wasting their vote aren’t doing Obama any favors. Edwards withdraws today and before the corpse is cold some of the Obama people are demanding the body parts. It’s as unseemly as relatives fighting over the estate at the funeral.
Edwards ran a very strong, passionate campaign and his supporters were also passionate about not only Edwards but the issues he spoke about. For some, they need a few days, maybe even until Tuesday before they make the switch from John to another candidate. For others, they may be like Chris Prevatt who will choose to go down with the ship and vote for Edwards. It’s a principled decision and one that should be respected, not attacked.
I suspect a majority of California Edwards supporters (but not necesarily Edwards supporters in other states) would shift to Obama rather than Clinton.
If the Obama folks want to encourage that movement they should adopt the style of Bill Spaulding, a local Obama comandante. As you can see in the thread above, Bill is respectful, courteous and his praise for Edwards appears genuine rather then contrived, notwithstanding the fact that he realizes that his approach will encourage Edwards supporters who read his comment to think favorably of Obama (those who read his comment most likely are aware of his prior posts supporting Obama). The shift from Edwards to Obama (or for some, to Clinton) needs to come naturally rather then through argumentation. The Spaulding method will bear more fruit for Barack then anything I can think of. Except perhaps for a new Obama Girl video.
The only way to waste your vote is to stay home or vote for someone who is not your first choice.
It is sad that so much attention was paid to the “First Black Candidate†and the “First Woman Candidate†that no one heard from the “First Class Candidate.â€Â
I already voted for John Edwards and I’m proud of that vote. I hope that I can be proud of the vote I cast in November.
As an observer from the mother of all battleground states, I believe a vote for any democrat but John Edwards is a vote for McCain. With either Obama or Clinton as the nominee, the dems will write off the south once again and be stuck with the swing state strategy that has worked so poorly in the past. Neither of them has a chance here.
Oh, well. Since President McCain has already been unofficially inaugurated, I will be voting for Edwards on March 4th as a matter of principle. Rarely in the past has the most electable democrat also been the most progressive and most substantive, and were it not for the media blackout Edwards would be the frontrunner. I have cut most ties with the corporate media, cancelling magazine subscriptions and turning off network and cable news. My vote is a way not only to honor the most inspiring politican of my lifetime but also to raise my middle finger to CNN, NBC, and all the rest.