I’m merely wondering why he says he’s been fighting that fight for “all his life”. That doesn’t square with his record.

It’s not just a quibbly detail, it’s the foundation of his pitch, that he’s been fighting his whole life for the people. *shrug* I don’t see it beyond the past few years.

Anyway, it’s just an observation. All the candidates, including Obama, have their varying inauthenticities. The electorate craves and abets some amount of myth-making. Some corners have to be cut here and there to turn well-meaning but pragmatic politicians into the requisite heroes.

The one that is the most problematic is (John) Edwards, who voted for the Patriot Act, campaigns against it. Voted for No Child Left Behind, campaigns against it. Voted for the China trade deal, campaigns against it. Voted for the Iraq war … He uses my voting record exactly as his platform, even though he had the opposite voting record.

Edwards was in the Senate for 6 years. You can see the 200-or-so bills he co-sponsored during that time here:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?&Db=d107&querybd=@FIELD(FLD004+@4((@1(Sen+Edwards++John))+01573)):

He did co-sponsor a number that seem related to helping poor people. But I don’t see a record of him really speaking out and leading on the issue of poverty when he was in Congress.

It seems like he really picked up the issue after he left office in 2004. In 2005 he became the director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC Chapel Hill, he reacted vigorously to the Katrina disaster, and in 2007 he co-edited a book called “Ending Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream”.

So, isn’t this a fairly recent cause for him? It’s a great cause, and his populist fervor is impressive and much-needed within the Democratic party, which has a tendency to wander to the center out of expediency. But, I just wonder if there’s anything substantive to his statements about devoting his whole life to that cause.

For Edwards, poverty was issue number one. For Obama and Clinton, it seems that it’s something they talk about and have a policy on, but not a priority.

I hope I’m wrong.

I don’t understand. Barack Obama has been talking about taking on poverty his entire campaign. He has not accepted money from corporations and lobby groups, has been a staunchly populist lawyer and policy-maker in Chicago and Illinois, and guess what? He’s even inspiring minorities, the young, and the poor to vote and even donate money! He is continuously receiving $1-$10 donations from people who wish they could give more, but just wanted to show their support.

I think he and Edwards have very similar views on what is wrong in America. An Obama/Edwards ticket would be virtually unbeatable, or alternatively Edwards being appointed to Attorney General would give him the power to take on the corporations while representing the people of the United States.

I’ve been a longtime reader and have kept my mouth shut until now. I just wish the snarky jabs at the other candidates didn’t shadow your admirable support for a great candidate (i.e., the negative tainting the positive).