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...as an advocate for low income issues for years, I am glad we finally have someone who is speaking up about this issue. With the shrinking of the middle class, one needs to ask, where are these families going? Certainly not into the "upper 5%"! Poverty should be the number 1 campaign issues because it affects everyone, it encompasses many other issues such as health care and the economy, and it is the moral thing to concentrate upon.
Some people get it all wrong when they buy the crap being said about his big house and $400 haircuts and try to tie that to hypocrisy. The reason I feel this way as a low income person myself:
1. Edwards grew up like most Americans did, with hard working parents who had to make a dime stretch, so in spite of where he is now, he knows what it is like to be where most of us are at because he lived it
2. Segue into the above point to add here: Edwards made his success on his own, he had no sugar daddy to buy his way into the best schools, the country clubs, nor his first cushy job that Daddy's friend offered. This tells me he knows what it is like so when policy and laws are made, he will know best how it is going to impact the rest of us.
3. He understands the importance of education and what it means to not have one because he would be working in his daddy's sawmill without his college degree and he knows and says it. He is well aware of the people who did not have that opportunity and what it means for them. This is why Edwards really cares about making sure people of all ages have access to higher education so they can make a livable wage with benefits and decent healthcare, because he knows what that is like not to have them. He will know OSHA laws and worker's rights need an overhaul ~ tack onto this he also has seen first hand what NAFTA has done.
4. Edwards could have taken his education and his career and forgotten all the people he left behind, but he did not. He is using it to make life better for more than just himself. He used his skill as a lawyer to help the little guy stand up to corporate indifference and greed. I love him for that!
5. It is none of my business as to the Edwards' private life, but he values and honors his wife publicly. I usually would not think this is an asset because I think the job at hand is important, but he genuinely gives Elizabeth credit for his success and this tells me he honors the roles women play in promoting those they love. This translates to me that he will recognize and honor other people's supportive work and will help to pass legislation to enhance that support.
6. While John Edwards is not as skilled with foreign affairs as Clinton and Obama, neither was Bush who is a clueless overgrown frat boy. Because Edwards really cares about economics and education's impact on others, he will represent us as our president in a way that takes ALL people into consideration, not just his cronies. Intention to me is more important than all the skill in the world and it is obvious his intentions are to make life better for more than just a few cronies.
7. Edwards has some specific laid out plans around health care and the economy, no vague crap, this I liked. I may not agree with all his points, but I at least know up front what he wants to do. None of this, "Oh I would make healthcare better for all" rubbish. I want to know exactly WHAT he thinks can be done and why and it is laid out there in black and white.
8. Edwards is not afraid to say he made a mistake, like voting for the war. Mistakes WILL be made and it is important to me to see that when those mistakes are made, my candidate will cop to them. You really cannot correct a mistake until you know you made one, and say that publicly. Otherwise you are always in the shadows and pretending, and I do not *like* all the pretending I have seen in the past years. It has been disastrous to keep on pretending things like the reasons for this war, that all is hunky-dory with the economy, etc. If you want to change something, first review the mistakes and then DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM
9. Edwards is not all tied up with image. I heard a strategist say about him the other day that Edwards' campaign seemed almost reckless, because he is not protecting his words and actions like the others are doing (or Elizabeth's). I like this, it means to me his handlers are not going to push him around, which says to me he will do what he believes should be done, not what "looks right".
10. Most of all I think Edwards has the rare quality of being both intelligent and wise. I think Obama has those same qualities. Wisdom is different than being wily ~ tho being wily is based on wisdom, it is merely more self serving. Wisdom will help Edwards as president because it also encompasses compassion ~ another quality I believe Obama has.
My dream ticket is Obama/Edwards or Edwards/Obama, it makes little difference to me because I think that team would set the world on fire in a good way ~ it would create positive change, something not only America needs desperately right now, the whole world needs it too.
My 2 cents
Cat In Seattle
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