Froz Gobo Endorses

The oh-so-sought-after endorsement is here. Too little too late? Possibly. But don't count on it. Poor John Kerry. He wins in Wisconsin, but the big story is John Edwards.

William Saletan has quickly produced an analysis of this race that every partisan Democrat should read today. Why just partisan Democrats? Because it's something swing voters - the ones who will decide who moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next January - seem to have figured out already.

I leaned towards Clark since before he ever announced he was in. I still think he could have been a great candidate. But TV and the stump just didn't play to his rhetorical strengths. I hope he finds his way into the next administration: the administration which I believe should be headed by John Edwards, Tarheel Senator. Represent.

I am convinced of Edwards' mastery of policy and law, appeal to swing voters, and Clintonesque ability to connect with people. I think he'll be the straightest, strongest shot at Bush, the most effective head of the executive branch, the least indebted elect, and the most unifying President.

John Kerry is a Patriot and a Democrat; a trustable leader. If he emerges with the nomination, I will campaign and vote for him. I also think he would win. But...

Bush won in 2000 because five Supreme Court Justices put ideology and partisanship above law Al Gore came across as a stuffy, Washington know-it-all and Dubya seemed like a regular guy. Not only can John Edwards let Bush himself bring out the idiot for all to see - given his utterly superior mastery of policy matters - but I think he can do it by touching heartstrings and inspiring hope like an extraordinary regular guy, not by slinging mud. Approximately 120 million voters will go to the polls next November. That group is a jury, and no-one, I repeat, no-one reads and works a jury like John Edwards.

Policywise, what difference do you really think there would be between him and Kerry? And don’t you think we can work that out next year?

Edwards isn't a War Hero™. But he's also not a Massachussetts Liberal™ or a twenty-year Washington Insider™. Bush's patriot card is a high one, but it isn't in trump suit the way he's royally f*^#ed up foreign policy and national security in the last two years. Enough people have started to see him as inept, if not dishonest. So much so that barring a ‘We-got-Osama’ moment, his flag-waving (but not his fear-mongering) is highly suspect.

9-11 was Bush's Pearl Harbor moment and in true Republican fashion he blew it. Big time. Imagine Roosevelt, who while never having served in the armed forces was the greatest wartime leader this country has ever had – and was not surprisingly a Democrat – declaring war on the USSR and Stalin (who made Saddam Hussein look like a petty schoolyard bully) after the 12-7 attack. That’s the kind of idiocy we’re dealing with here and the average voting American is now starting to see that reality come into focus as the dust of the Perle - Cheney - Chalabi fantasy settles.

Informed, concerned citizens are willing to overlook messages of hope and even some obvious political advantage for the sake of a military resume. That's understandable, especially in a time of war. But however subtle, this is the politics of fear. And FDR warned us about that a long time ago. Having worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces, while worthy of admiration and gratitude, is not a prerequisite for holding – nor being elected in wartime to - the office of President.

It is far more important to have a President who engages with the most people, owes the least corporate favors, and inspires the most optimism. A campaign like Edwards has run so far can also do something that I don’t think Kerry’s can: Change the tone. Let the slime get slung, the smegma get smeared and the feces flow out of Rove’s total-war machine. Edwards will handle it better than any Democrat can and perhaps, just perhaps, the discussion in this Country can again veer back towards sanity. Played right, it might just result in some… dare I say it… Coattails?

I’m a late convert, but I’m beginning to get an idea as to what this Edwards campaign is all about. Senator, sign me up.