Edwards Backers Team Up With Obama

[kevinmc]

NYT

No, John Edwards has not yet endorsed a candidate.

But nearly 50 of his most prominent backers lined up behind Senator Barack Obama today, in a gesture designed to give Mr. Obama a heavy boost of support less than two weeks before the North Carolina primary on May 6.

The group includes Ed Turlington, Mr. Edwards’s former national general campaign chairman; three North Carolina members of Congress; and 46 local activists, philanthropists and business leaders, among others. (Not surprisingly, given Mr. Edwards’s background, the list holds the names of 20 lawyers.)

Mr. Turlington, speaking from his law office in Raleigh, said that he had not expected to endorse a candidate after Mr. Edwards dropped out of the race on Jan. 30.

“I thought I was going to be on the sidelines,” Mr. Turlington said, adding that he made the decision about 10 days ago, after speaking to Mr. Obama. “I think his candidacy is doing a lot of important things that are similar to themes that John Edwards ran on.”

Among those things, he said, were Mr. Obama’s pledges to change the culture of Washington and fight for issues that are important to working people.

Throughout his second bid for the Democratic nomination, Mr. Edwards clashed repeatedly with Mrs. Clinton, particularly in debates. He criticized Mrs. Clinton for accepting campaign contributions from Washington lobbyists, a practice that he fiercely opposed.

And much of his campaign pitch centered on the notion that establishment Washington politicians have become corrupted by the influence of lobbyists for drug companies, oil companies and other corporate interests.

“You can’t just trade corporate Republicans for corporate Democrats,” he told audiences frequently, an attack aimed at Mrs. Clinton.......




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[hogwyld]

1. Bravo! Now if we can get Edwards to pony up

And join us, we have a shot at a good win in NC.

[newmajority]

5. My prediction

We'll be hearing from the next Attorney General of the United States, shortly before the NC primary :)

[John Q. Citizen]

2. Good! nt

[wundermaus]

3. Once again, Leadership wells from the ground up...

Seems ironic, doesn't it?
Progressive leadership is consistantly paralyzed from the neck up.
The only action coming from the grassroots.
oh - and thanks for slamming the door in our faces.
That got our attention. We'll take it from here.

[onehandle]

4. Hillary and Obama are both corporate centrists.

Both are socially liberal, though.

Edwards was the only one with a firm stance on corporate crime.

Oh well...

[cali]

8. I'm sorry. I just don't see how you can make that claim

about Edwards. Teaming up with Fortress is about as corporate as you can get. In his career in the Senate, he didn't demonstrate much concern with these issues. And that was the time he had to actually make a difference. He's no Bernie Sanders.

[onehandle]

10. Al Gore's Senate career hardly reflects his later choices and drive.

Edwards was talking about real changes to corporate rules in his campaign.

The other two are not. None of the three are saints. And I will expect better from Hillary and Obama if elected, but Edwards was saying what I wanted to hear.

On edit: I'd love to have Bernie as President, more than the other three, but it ain't gonna happen.

[butterfly77]

6. Last night I heard one of the commentators...

on these shows say that Elizabeth edwards was going to go with hillary and in a few days we would see her on the campaign with her...

[anonymous171]

7. It was an opinion. Not a fact. Prediction.

[myrna minx]

9. As a former Edwards supporter, I'm very pleased with this.

:kick:

[kevinmc]

11. kick n/t

[me b zola]

12. K&R