I realize Mark Halperin (the Page) is a Clinton shill but listen to his take on why Edwards is

[jezebel]

leaning to endorsing Clinton.
http://thepage.time.com/halperins-take-why-john-edwards-endorsement-matters/

As to what Edwards might do in the end, several informed Democrats believe no endorsement could be the most likely outcome. ABC News reports that Edwards’ advisers believe he will decide before the March 4 primaries.

But the best reported tea leaves come from the Associated Press, whose reporting has been confirmed by The Page, regarding John and Elizabeth Edwards:

“The couple has been impressed with Clinton, who has more effectively courted them since the 2004 vice presidential nominee dropped out, people who talk to the Edwardses say. Obama has been less attentive, they say, and some of those close to the Edwardses have been annoyed that Obama has continued to ridicule him for once saying his biggest weakness is that he has a powerful response to seeing pain in others.”
-----------------------------------------------------

Is he seriously reporting that Edwards is basing his decision on whom to endorse on who has been most attentive to him or to hurt feelings by Obama's joke?

[BeyondGeography]

1. Fits with this whole endless saga...Edwards is coming off as such a diva in all this

so that particular explanation sounds downright plausible to me.

[MADem]

2. A "diva?" His headline issue, the thing he cares about, is POVERTY.

He wants to improve the lot of the poor, particularly the working poor. And because he wants the nominee to carry that message, you call him a DIVA?


Give us more divas...

:eyes:

[BeyondGeography]

5. I know, it's all about POVERTY...something Obama has spent his life working on

taking low-paying jobs while Edwards was on his way to a $55 million fortune, half of which he has plowed into a hedge fund.

That's so idealistic of you. I suspect you know better.

[NastyRiffraff]

10. And will you change your tune...

If Edwards ends up supporting Obama?

[Nutmegger]

14. Sure will.

That's the way it works in Obama world.

[surfermaw]

30. Whild he loaded transfer trucks at night to pay for college and law degree

He worked in a cotton mill while in high school, sweaping floors or what ever dirty job there was to earn a few dollars, he knows all about hard work.

[jackson_dem]

36. $1.6 million in 2005, $1 million in 2006 sure is low paying

[MADem]

43. Life? He did two years as a community organizer. Low paying jobS?? Please.

Have another piece of FICTION pie!!!


He spent most of his life at a private school (one of the best in Hawai'i), private college, private university (one of the best in the country), private law school (again, one of the best in the land) , two and a half (max) years of 'community organizing' (gee--what a crime that a recent college grad would have to do -- GASP!!! entry level work at entry level wages!!!!) then off to a high powered law firm, where he was well compensated for doing civil rights work, AND other work, too (he did a tiny bit of work that intersected with Tony Rezko, IIRC), he did a stint as a college prof, and on to the state legislature where he spent eight years.

Don't play that "life's work" card when you don't have the deck to back it up. He wasn't getting the "pittance" community organizer's salary when he was employed by Miner, Barnhill & Galland -- that was a decent job, where his work was billed at a hundred and sixty five bucks an hour. He wasn't just any associate, he was Harvard Law, and President of the Law Review to boot--a prize.

Here, you do the math. He didn't commute to Massachusetts every day from his "community organizing" job. Law school takes three years. If he graduated in 91, he entered in Sept 88. Ergo, he did that "sacrificing" organizing work from 85 to mid 88.

This is from HIS Senate website, so I imagine the dates are accurate: http://obama.senate.gov/about/

Barack Obama was born on August 4th, 1961, in Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham. Obama graduated from Columbia University in 1983, and moved to Chicago in 1985 to work for a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment. In 1991, Obama graduated from Harvard Law School where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.

Now, he met his wife working as a SUMMER INTERN at a law firm--so he wasn't "community organizing" in the summer of 88, unless he was working double shifts.

Life details include... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

...He then returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents while attending Punahou School from the fifth grade until his graduation in 1979....moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at Occidental College for two years.<21> He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations.<22> Obama received his B.A. degree in 1983, then worked at Business International Corporation and NYPIRG before moving to Chicago to take a job as a community organizer.<23> As Director of the Developing Communities Project, he worked with low-income residents in Chicago's Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development.<24> He entered Harvard Law School in 1988.<25> In 1990, The New York Times reported his election as the Harvard Law Review's "first black president in its 104-year history".<26> He completed his J.D. degree magna cum laude in 1991.<27> On returning to Chicago, Obama directed a voter registration drive.<27> As an associate attorney with Miner, Barnhill & Galland from 1993 to 1996, he represented community organizers, discrimination claims, and voting rights cases.<28> He was a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004.<29>


Obama at his law firm: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353829,CST-NWS-rez23.article

The next year, Obama joined Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, a 12-lawyer firm that specialized in helping develop low-income housing. The firm's top partner, Allison S. Davis, was, and is, a member of the Chicago Plan Commission, appointed by Mayor Daley. Davis was also a friend of Rezko. Davis and Rezko would eventually go into business together, developing homes.

Another firm partner, Judson Miner, ran the city Law Department under Mayor Harold Washington, one of Obama's political idols.

Asked what Rezko cases Obama worked on, Miner told the Sun-Times, "We'll put together a list of the cases he worked on involving Rezko/Rezmar in the next day or two.''

That was March 13. He never provided the information.

While at the law firm, Obama spent much of his time working on issues that would help improve conditions in poor neighborhoods, according to his first book, Dreams from My Father, published in 1996.

"In my legal practice, I work mostly with churches and community groups, men and women who quietly build grocery stores and health clinics in the inner city, and housing for the poor,'' Obama wrote in the book.

Three community groups represented by Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland were partners with Rezmar in the troubled housing deals.



Salon lays it out--he wasn't starving, he was living pretty large: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/02/01/rezko/

Obama's dealings with his hinky friend have never led him afoul of the law, but they show that, despite his high-minded politics, he was no purer -- or no savvier -- than Illinois' biggest hacks in his weakness for a generous contributor. He wouldn't even say no when Rezko cooked up a deal to help the newly elected senator buy a gracious Georgian-revival home.

Rezko, after all, built part of his fortune by exploiting the black community that Obama had served in the state Senate, and by milking government programs meant to benefit black-owned businesses. But Obama took Rezko's money even after the businessman was sued by the city of Chicago for failing to heat his low-income apartments, and even after Rezko was caught using a black business partner to obtain a minority set-aside for a fast-food franchise at O'Hare Airport. ....... Obama, on the other hand, seems to have derived some material benefit from his friendship with Rezko. During his first year in the Senate, flush with the book advance for "The Audacity of Hope," Obama and his wife decided to trade up from a condo to a bigger, more secure home in Kenwood, a South Side neighborhood of turreted, balconied piles popular with University of Chicago econ professors looking to blow their Nobel Prize loot. They found a $1.65 million house with four fireplaces, a wine cellar and a black wrought-iron fence. The doctor who lived there also owned the vacant lot next door and, although the properties were listed separately, wanted to sell both at the same time. Despite their new income, the Obamas could not have afforded both parcels. The Obamas closed on their house in June 2005. On the same day, Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased the vacant lot for $625,000. They later sold a portion of the lot to the Obamas, for $104,500, so the family could expand its yard. The Rezkos then paid $14,000 to build a fence along the property line.

The sale was brokered by real estate agent Donna Schwan, who'd known Rezko when he lived in the neighborhood. Asked who approached her about the house, Schwan told Salon, "I honestly don't remember. Tony Rezko lived across the street, so he'd been interested in the lot."

[BeyondGeography]

51. Boy, have you gone off the rails

The community organizer work was followed by a stint at a civil rights law firm, taken after he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard wher he was president of the Law Review. One guy took his education and used it to fight discrimination, the other guy ran up the score. From there he went to the state Senate. No serious money came until after the 2004 convention made him famous, and that was limited to his books.

Obama has a net worth of $1 million, or 1/55th of Edwards. Get a grip.

[MADem]

56. His work at that firm was billed at a hundred and sixty five bucks an HOUR.

It wasn't a NONPROFIT. It was a STINKING RICH law firm that made a BUNDLE doing work with the city.

Didn't you even read the fucking information I provided? Guess NOT. Either that or you have trouble with the written word.

:eyes:

I think you're the one that needs to "get that grip." Put down the Kool Aid.

Edwards actually got off his ass and worked as a TRIAL lawyer. Obama was a bit shy about trying cases. He admits it.

You don't make the big dough if you can't get up off your ass and argue those big money cases, now, do you?

[BeyondGeography]

57. So Obama was lazy, then? Just didn't have the initiative or the guts to get rich, I guess

Or maybe his priorities were just different. That's the part you don't quite seem able to accept. For instance, your absurdly selective bio left this little tidbit out about leading the drive to registering 150,000 black voters in 1992, done when he was 31 and for basically no pay:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-1993/Vote-of-Confidence/

Whatever...Obama's running straight for the White House and Edwards is sitting on his ass in a 28,000-square-foot home in North Carolina. Now who's winning?

[MADem]

58. Apparently, Obama didn't have the "temperament" for trial work.

Take that however you'd like.

Whatever. Let's hope you never need one of those fighting trial lawyers you seem to disdain!

What, no dig at the Missus to go with the house? You're off your game!

By the way--your "politics of hope" attitude here is just SO impressive! Makes people WANT to join your little hypno-party! Keep up the good work now, "representing" for your candidate!


:eyes: :rofl:

[KittyWampus]

8. Guess what, Obama has a very detailed policy page dedicated to that very subject. Clinton has SQUAT

and the word from when Kerry ran with him is, yes. Edwards is a diva.

[FrenchieCat]

19. Not to mention.........Obama's Global Poverty Act of 2007

Obama's latest to come out of committee:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) today hailed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's passage of the Global Poverty Act (S.2433), which requires the President to develop and implement a comprehensive policy to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015 through aid, trade, debt relief, and coordination with the international community, businesses and NGOs. This legislation was introduced in December. Smith and Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) sponsored the House version of the bill (H.R. 1302), which passed the House last September.
http://obama.senate.gov /

Legislation would aim to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) today hailed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's passage of the Global Poverty Act (S.2433), which requires the President to develop and implement a comprehensive policy to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015 through aid, trade, debt relief, and coordination with the international community, businesses and NGOs. This legislation was introduced in December. Smith and Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) sponsored the House version of the bill (H.R. 1302), which passed the House last September.

"With billions of people living on just dollars a day around the world, global poverty remains one of the greatest challenges and tragedies the international community faces," said Senator Obama. "It must be a priority of American foreign policy to commit to eliminating extreme poverty and ensuring every child has food, shelter, and clean drinking water. As we strive to rebuild America's standing in the world, this important bill will demonstrate our promise and commitment to those in the developing world. Our commitment to the global economy must extend beyond trade agreements that are more about increasing corporate profits than about helping workers and small farmers everywhere. I commend Chairman Biden and Ranking Member Lugar for supporting this bill and moving it forward quickly."

"Poverty, hunger, and disease will be among the most serious challenges confronting the world in the 21st century," Senator Hagel said. "This legislation provides the President of the United States the framework and resources to help implement a comprehensive policy to reduce global poverty. It is the human condition that has always driven the great events of history. This is a responsibility of all citizens of the world."
http://obama.senate.gov/press/080213-obama_hagel_can_1 /

But if Edwards feels "Slighted", then maybe he was looking for an excuse to begin with? :shrug:

[jackson_dem]

37. Hillary has a similar plan. I am sure Edwards is aware of that and the total facts about both

[MADem]

50. Ooooooooh!!!! "Squat" on this, why doncha? You might learn something!!

You probably need to read THIS, you're not "up to speed" apparently: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/us/politics/21clinton.html?_r=2&ex=1358571600&en=ff696d598a7af887&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

You want detail? That's some detail. Listen to the MP3's, too.


Aren't you lucky that John Kerry CONFIDES in you about what a "diva" JE is? Last time I saw him and T outside their Beacon Hill home, they didn't say jack to me about it!!!

:eyes:

Psssst--I'm trying to tell you nicely that your assertions that Kerry said anything of the sort for public consumption are a bit, er, spurious....

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KittyWampus]

11. what is the point of saying Obamabozos? To make yourself look like a 6 year old?

[Auntie Bush]

16. How about just plain Obozos? Is that better? Do I at least sound like a 7 year old?

[EffieBlack]

23. You still sound ridiculous - and unable to support a logical position

Childish namecalling is the fallback for people who don't have a rational argument. If you have something worthwhile to say, surely you can articulate it without the "you are a poopypants" approach.

[Auntie Bush]

31. How about all the posters who call Hillary supporters Hillbots or Hillerites?

I don't remember any O'Bozos complaining about that being juvenile. But when the shoe is on the other foot...it's a different story. Obamites have to develop a thicker skin as you are going to need it. We're just giving you some practice because no one else in the bias corp media seem to bother.

[EffieBlack]

53. So you allow other people to determine YOUR behavior? Because they get in the gutter, jump in with

them? Interesting.

Hey, here's an idea . . . why do you show that YOU are above such behavior and maybe they'll follow their lead. And even if they don't, they'll continue to look ridiculous while you look like you have some education and home training.

Why don't you try it?

Oh, and by the way, I have no idea what you mean by "you." Not only do I not engage in such childish antics (since I can express myself quite well without resorting to namecalling), I don't support any one candidate over another.

[Auntie Bush]

59. You don't seem like someone with all that

home training yourself when you ridicule or call someone out for saying something that has been said/done here on DU regularly to their candidate...especially because they were probably trying to show some light humor. But you and your home training jump on them with both feet. Nice!

[EffieBlack]

60. Well, I guess you got ME told. Run along now.

[Auntie Bush]

62. OK...lets slither away together

and then go our separate ways.

[K Gardner]

55. Good grief, CS, its well established that particular poster is 4 !

[EffieBlack]

13. Obamabozos? How old are you?

These names - Hillbots, Obamalots, etc., are childish and make everyone who uses them look ridiculous.

If you have a beef with a candidate or their supporters, why not just engage them on the issues instead of engaging in juvenile namecalling that 4th graders would feel silly doing?

[ExtraGriz]

26. diva?

holy crap.....john edwards is a good guy, to jump all over him because of half baked info on an endorsement is low.

[surfermaw]

29. Could be Obama voters that turns Edwards off....?

[mondo joe]

42. Hmmm......

[EffieBlack]

65. I think Edwards has better things to do than worry about what Obama's - or even his own - supporters

are saying and doing on various websites such as DU.

[Araxen]

4. Obama's first priority is the voters

not John Edwards. If that hurts his feelings..oh fucking well.

[gateley]

6. I read that, too - and intentional or not -- ACCURATE or not, that's how

it came across to me . The article I read attributed this to "Edwards insiders" -- or "people close to Edwards" or something like that. There's no way to know if it's worth believing or not.

[TexasObserver]

7. If John makes up his mind on who promises him the most, it will be Hillary.

If he does, he will lose the respect of most of those who have supported him.

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. Now it's BASH JOHN EDWARDS TIME? Geezus Obama followers

do you EVER run out of hate?

[kurth]

17. If Edwards is not for Obama, then he's against Obama

The whining shall continue until EVERYONE is converted to Obamism.

[Marie26]

21. That's the "unity". nt

[in_cog_ni_to]

24. OH! So that's how it works!

:puke:

:hi:

[jackson_dem]

44. Just like a C-U-L...

[mondo joe]

39. How else do you think they're going to acheive UNITY but to eliminate anyone

who might disagree on any point to any degree?

[TeamJordan23]

12. Sorry John, but Obama has been busy winning states. nm

[Yossariant]

18. Well, no. Today Obama has been busy courting John Edwards.

[surfermaw]

33. Right on saw it on T.V. before I came to the board..

[ddeclue]

15. If Edwards backs Hillary he loses all credibility with his supporters

including me who was a grassroots organizer for Edwards in Florida.

Hillary is the queen of corporatism and the establishment status quo candidate and anyone who wants to end poverty knows that. She takes money from all sorts of lobbyists who don't have any interest in seeing poverty ended.

I want real change - if I can't have Edwards, I'll settle for Obama but all that Hillary will ever get from me is my holding my nose vote in the General election if she somehow becomes the party nominee. If Hillary is the nominee, I'm working on state races and good luck to her and her corporate funded, establishment machine.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[Marie26]

20. Not me

A large number of Edwards' supporters have switched to Clinton, & the two had similar support bases among working-class voters. I hate how Obama people keep saying that it's a betrayal if he endorses Clinton - while I haven't seen any Clinton supporters saying the same about Obama. They're both corporate-friendly. Edwards should support the person who has the most similar positions to his own on health care, poverty, etc.

[LizW]

27. Me, either.

The reports of Edwards being torn about supporting Clinton or Obama ring true to me. The problems he has with each of them are the same ones I have. But the bottom line is, one of them is going to be the Democratic nominee and it needs to be the candidate who can win and who is open to the issues that Edwards has championed.

At this point, it is a great risk for Edwards to endorse. He just might go down as the guy who put all his hopes on the loser. (Happens to me all the time, but I'm not a national political figure.) But he must take the risk and endorse, for the sake of the policies he wants to advance.

If he doesn't endorse, I am afraid it will be a sign that both Hillary and Obama rebuffed Edwards' anti-poverty goals. A very bad sign that would be.

[jsamuel]

22. You don't speak for me.

Clinton is bad, but Obama will be WORSE. People criticize Clinton for what Obama does too. Now Obama supporters are attacking Clinton from the right again because she supports windfall taxes on the oil companies.

[in_cog_ni_to]

25. Not this Edwards supporter!

Speak for yourself.

[halobeam]

32. how do you know where my support goes?

I don't know yet. :eyes:

[Iceburg]

34. Not me -- I would be thrilled!/nt

However its his choice -- and I will respect him and his contributions regardless of what decision he makes.

They all take money from corporations (Obama is leading the pack in total corporate donations) so the issue for me. The issue for me is who has demonstrated the courage, strength, and intelligence necessary to change the direction of this country. For me Hillary is the ONE.

[surfermaw]

35. Not me

I don't think he will endorse until the Convention!

[mondo joe]

40. You don't speak for Edwards' supporters. NT

[ddeclue]

46. And why do I believe that you are an Edwards supporter? n/t

[mondo joe]

49. What I am is not relevant. No one here speaks on behalf of any candidate's supporters.

That fact is not dependent on who I am.

[Catchawave]

47. Not me. n/t

[TexasObserver]

61. That's right.

[readmoreoften]

67. Pppffft! Not me. Obama's phonier than Ma Bell.

I'd rather him not endorse either shill, but if I were him I'd go with the shill who wasn't an asshole to me. Besides, there's no telling what Obama could do. I'd go with the devil I know.

[Blue_In_AK]

68. Well, no, that's not exactly true.

I'm an Edwards supporter, and if he backs Hillary he doesn't lose ANY credibility with me. I would prefer that he not back anybody, but if he backs Hillary, I'll respect that decision, or likewise Obama.

I love the blanket statements people make around here.

[grasswire]

28. Halperin was no Clinton shill from 1992-2000

God almighty, few people did more to damage Bill Clinton than Halperin with his nannying of the press corps and his Kool Kids.

[Arugula Latte]

38. I dunno. Today on CNN Halperin was going against Bill Press.

Press was arguing that the Mich. and Fla. delegates should count and Halperin was saying the opposite.

[joeybee12]

41. Edwards, like all politicians, has a huge ego...

...doesn't mean he doesn't mean well and does believe in the things he fights for...but to go on the national stage, you have to be pretty impressed with yourself...he probably believes his spport would mean a lot...and Hilary sees that he wants that...BO probably doesn't since it's always all about BO to him.

[jackson_dem]

45. The cultists always ignore this

-snip-

He sees strengths and weaknesses in both of them.

What is so hard to grasp about this? He is right. There are strengths and weaknesses to both.

[NastyRiffraff]

48. Except for Obama

Obama has no weaknesses. How dare you imply that he does? :sarcasm:

[jackson_dem]

54. I am sorry. Where do I go to repent my sins? I "hope" I "change"

[readmoreoften]

66. Do not criticize Leader. Where is your hope? Are you afraid to hope?

Fear is the opposite of Hope. Or is it, fear is the opposite of Love. No matter: Love is Hope. Fear is Hate. This is Change. Change is Good. It gives us Hope.

[Straight Shooter]

52. "basing his decision on whom to endorse on ... hurt feelings by Obama's joke"

We already have one mean-spirited man in the White House who makes jokes at others' expense; we don't need another 4 years of that mocking, belittling humor.

edit sp

[paulk]

63. just curious what you base your

"Mark Halperin (the Page) is a Clinton shill" on.

Or is this just more of the "trash the messenger" bashing that so many in the Obama camp engage in?

[readmoreoften]

64. Giving your nomination to the person who doesn't act like an asshole isn't a bad idea.

If your candidate doesn't have the diplomatic skills to get the nomination from the candidate whose message he's been emulating, he probably doesn't have the diplomatic skills to be a decent president.