Only John Edwards Can Beat McCain by Dave "Mudcat" Saunders

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-mudcat-saunders/only-john-edwards-can-bea_b_82734.html


Only John Edwards Can Beat McCain
Posted January 22, 2008 | 06:01 PM (EST)


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I'll be 60 eight days before the election in November. This is a bad thing and a good thing. The bad thing is it ain't going to be a real long time before I'm dead. The good thing is I've traveled a few miles and have picked up something along the way, and that something is called "institutional memory".

As I watched news coverage of Monday night's debate, the ever-escalating "I know you are, but what am I?" fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton suddenly struck a memory from 28 years back. The feud between Teddy Kennedy and Jimmy Carter rushed into my mind like a horrible memory of an old girlfriend. My recollection of their self-destructive hostilities reminded me how their battles went a long ways toward giving this nation Ronald Reagan.

It was 1980, and the Democratic Party had two supposedly strong national candidates--one an incumbent president, the other a scion of America's national family. They were going up against a Republican Party that was searching for an identity and would go deep on the bench to nominate the host of "Death Valley Days".

I remember this as an election we shouldn't have lost. But as we have done so many times in the past, we Democrats figured out a way to step on our Johnson.

In that 1980 nominating battle, our two candidates went after each other like Sherman went after Georgia. The result? Unbelievably, half of Washington is now named after Ronald Reagan--though I'll still say I'm flying into National Airport until the day the Good Lord or the Devil calls me home.

Surely, I'm not the only one who can see this six-foot rabbit named Harvey. John McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. How do I know? Because "institutional memory" also reminds me that the Democratic Party I love can't count. And regardless of what you think of the Republicans, they can.

It should be clear to anybody with over a 50 IQ that my boy John Edwards, with his combination of red state electoral experience and toughness, is the only candidate who can beat John McCain. Whether you believe polls or not, polls from CNN to Rasmussen say just that.

And it should be equally as clear to anybody with over a 25 IQ that Obama and Clinton are going to render each other totally unelectable against any Republican, especially John McCain, by the time we get to the convention.

All the Republicans have to be loving this. Because the Democrat they don't want to face, John Edwards, is getting sandwiched between the coverage of this murderous cat fight between two so-called "historical" candidates who, when all is said and done, will be just that. HISTORY.

4% in Nevada, polling a zillion points behind Obama and Clinton in SC.

Can we get real for a second?

:loveya:

that's how I knew s/he joined today !

:eyes:

Mudcat Saunders knows who can win the south.

he does!

Mudcat

Probably the last time Virginia Dems were "united".

!

Right on!

with a personality cult on the one side -and Clinton nostalgia on the other, it looks as though the Dems are ready and able to pull defeat from the jaws of victory yet again.

I especially agree that "Obama and Clinton are going to render each other totally unelectable against any Republican". These two are even alienating voters from their own party. Their gutter sniping Monday evening during the debates was disgusting and uncomfortable to watch. Aren't we better than this? John Edwards addressed the issues that are facing this nation, but the Clinton and Obama side show featured a feast of insults directed at the other which had nothing to do with national issues. If John Edwards is not the nominee, we've lost the election.

are licking their chops over either a Hillary or an Obama candidacy.

They're positively wetting their pants over the prospect of a ticket shared between the two.

from wiki:

Carter’s approval ratings jumped in the 60-percent range in some polls, due to a "rally ‘round the flag" effect <5> and an appreciation of Carter's calm handling of the crisis. Kennedy was suddenly left far behind. Carter beat Kennedy decisively in Iowa and New Hampshire. Carter decisively defeated Kennedy everywhere except Massachusetts, until impatience began to build with the President’s strategy on Iran. When the primaries in New York and Connecticut came around, it was Kennedy who won.

Carter was still able to maintain a substantial lead even after Kennedy swept the last batch of primaries in June. Despite this, Kennedy refused to drop out, and the 1980 Democratic National Convention was one of the nastiest on record. On the penultimate day, Kennedy conceded the nomination and called for a more liberal party platform in what many saw as the best speech of his career. On the platform on the final day, Kennedy for the most part ignored Carter.

Many more details about that primary/election:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_presidential_election

Here's a hint. He's also a Westerner, from a neighboring state, had executive as well as Congressional experience, and he's pictured on the left.

for any of the three remaining....

that caught my eye:

"And it should be equally as clear to anybody with over a 25 IQ that Obama and Clinton are going to render each other totally unelectable against any Republican, especially John McCain, by the time we get to the convention."

I think this is what the GOP and their media lapdogs wanted all along.

They just didn't count on Edwards sticking around to the end, when it will be clear
for all to see that he is the only one who can defeat ANY gop opponent.

K&R

He could not deliver any states to Kerry in 2004, not even NC.

Was Lieberman blamed?

Kerry decided not to advertise here and I can tell you, there were NO ADS running in 2004 for Kerry/Edwards. That may have something to do with it - and the unease between the two because Edwards feels like Dean does, you have to ask for a vote, and Edwards wanted to ask here and other places in the south.

We even had to buy our own signs and bumper stickers in Watauga County! Of course, this area has been Republican for a long time, but we have a great leadership in our Dem Party here and we performed very well with the help of Appalachian State University students.

in the 04 campaign.

seriously in North Carolina. He did not broadcast a single TV ad there. Elizabeth Edwards spoke out on this in Iowa. She was clear -- no holds barred about this. You have to spend some money on TV ads in a state if you want to win it.

I have never been more certain that there is a cult brewing behind OBAMA as I am in responding to this comment.

If Edwards is the nominee, he will win all 50 states.

-s

We may get a break yet.

A strong enough gust come along and at least one cardboard figure may fall before long.

McCain will have the backing of the entire military/industrial/media complex. I believe he would destroy Hillary and probably would edge out Obama.

and running for President (and whose rhetoric doesn't match his record). The Republicans would destroy Edwards as a phony populist.

Remember, he defeated a popular incumbent in a red state. He's been battle tested :D

You may want to catch up on some reading:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0110.green.html

Remember, trial lawyers are all that stand between you and the complete domination of our society by the corporatocracy and corruption at this time.

The other day, while canvassing my precinct, I met an African-American woman who told me she could not vote for Edwards because he had a shady past. I was stunned. Edwards is the one candidate about whom no shady stories are told. And then she added, "He was a lawyer."

I answered her, "I'm your neighbor and I'm a lawyer too." She just stared at me as if I had to be a creep by definition also. I'm usually quick to respond, but that time I didn't think of what I should have said until later. I should have reminded her that it was trial lawyers who won the civil rights of African-Americans. Brown v. Board of Education was the beginning of a new era. The legislation followed the trials.

The badmouthing of lawyers is just more corporatocracy trash-talk. Edwards can handle that.

don't deign to answer all the attack posts .
it just perpetuates them .
do like John , keep positive and on point.
they want nastiness, don't drink the kool aid!
let them wallow in their own filth!
they seem to enjoy it!


be better than the rest, GO JOHN!

with all due respect to your fantastic attitude (no sarcasm) !

i ENJOY defending John Edwards. it is FUN !!! he continues to do and say things that BACK UP MY SUPPORT FOR HIM.

i also know there are some very cool Obama and Clinton supporters who I would love to draw into our camp. There are also vile "marching leaders" and "talking pointers" who embody their candidates' true natures. These people are anathema to me but rather than putting them on ignore i want to point out how artificial and robotic their brains are, so that their delusions of "leadership" over their fellow supporters dissipate. They have done so much harm to their candidates' causes here on DU, and they refuse to discuss a damn thing about their candidates without levying epithets and such. I feel real pity for them.

Regardless, tonight has been a very good night for JRE and I will take a word of advice from you - I will strive to "keep positive" when responding to robots !!!

-s

Wonder who the RNC is pushing? Romney? Interesting to see the "Patriot Party" picking on a war hero..lol.

cool! Go, John go!!!

da man! So's John. ;)

I grew up flying in and out of that airport, and naming it after
Reagan (as well as Houston Intercontinental after Bush I) was a
perversity most of us born in or near Washington hated. Even Reagan
never liked Washington. Why the hell should OUR airport be named after
him?

I disagree, however, that McCain is some kind of untouchable monolith
on the right. The cat fight between HRC and Obama will pass, and we
should not forget that the fight between Kennedy and Carter in 1980
damaged an incumbent Democratic president who was fighting "the economy,
stupid!" as much as anything else--an opponent whose ass he could not
"whup" as he threatened with Kennedy.

McCain is not without opposition within the Republican party, and we will
have as many anti-McCain quotes from Republicans to use as they will have
quote from Democrats to damage our candidate, whoever it turns out to be.

At this point, if someone put a gun to my head and order me to predict
a nominee or suffer the consequences, I'd have to say go ahead and shoot.

Because he makes a lot of sense and, as he said, he's been around a long time and has seen lots of things.

It is getting Better!

...his remaining in the race.

I like the case he's making against the agenda of those who call themselves conservative.

However, he's just not the best candidate as far as getting votes and pushing through our agenda goes.

Had I wanted ideological purity I would've been supporting the guy who dropped out today.

Who says we need a Southerner on the ticket to win?

He's not even going to come in better than third in his own Southern home state.

after reading an article on Obama and Clinton "sparring..." Except I was reminded more of when Lincoln ousted the competition because they were so focused on each other... I hope we end up with a candidate that is not too bruised to win the actual election!

The thought of McCain at the helm give me goosebumps... I saw a trailer for a new independent movie that's coming to DVD where a guy moves to Canada in response to Kerry's defeat in '04. Any takers if the GOP takes capital hill again?

For more who knows, maybe the movie will inspire a whole new breed of border jumpers if the country goes red again...

You can check out the trailer at http://www.bluestatemovie.com

Let Johnny take him on the old fossil!