Michigan Primary The Edrwards In The Lou

Sooooo...I was wrong about Michigan too. Perhaps this Diner reviewer is...fallable? I think not my little friends. Who was to know that Michigan was so beaten down that their Republican lackeys would swoon for the robot. How could anyone vote for this guy? A liberal republican governor from Massachusetts suddenly morphed into a pandering, say anything guy. He started out the campaign as the champion hardliner for integration parotting whatever impossible scenarios the rigid right wingers want while still being the pro business flunky but not saying that those businesses need all that cheap labor... not saying that there is no way to get 12 million (at least) people out of our country... and their mothers... and their children. That is what I object to. The pandering with simple, crowd pleasing blather. It sickens me.

But he won Michigan and now will March on to roll the dice on Super Tuesday. I still cannot believe that people will vote for this guy but the people really do not know what they want. Huckabee, Mc Cain, Romney. Obama, Clinton Edwards. A potpouri of choices it might seem but perhaps not. The one thing that cannot happen is to allow the last 7 years of craziness to continue. certainly we will get CHANGE but how dramatic a change.

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So.... I went to see John Edward's speak today at the Carpenters Hall. It is the same day as Nevada and South Carolina Primaries and after Michigan it is starting to dawn on everyone that nothing is going to be even close to decided for either party until Super Tuesday. It is telling however that Edward's has elected to spend the day of these two primaries in Missouri rather then battling for votes. It would appear he has already resigned himself to finishing 3rd in his home state. Normally a loss in your home state would doom your candidacy but in a year with the possibility that Hilary and Barrack will be banging away and could roll into the convention with no clear majority he could be a king maker. With his overtly populist agenda he could (if it is what he really cares about) get some major parts of his agenda through like universal health care and repealing the Bush tax cuts.

But it was interesting at 9:15 on a Saturday morning to be inside the Carpenters Hall. I had been to a wedding reception there before (little smokies, vegetable tray and ham sandwiches) but other then that had not been in the place. It is on Hampton by the old Arena and I have probably passed it 5000 times since birth. It was hard finding a place to park and i had given up when I thought I would try the other side of the street. BRILLIANT! I was inside in no time and it was packed with what looked like several hundred supporters packing the place.

A few observations about the crowd:
1. It appeared everyone drove along based on the size of the crowd and the fact that the parking lot and all side streets were full of cars. (So much for global warming)
2. It was white.
3. It skewed middle aged to old.
4. These were working people.

It was interesting to be there. It was a packed room with media in back, slightly elevated stage in front with a huge American flag covering the wall and local politicos standing on it. Not many beautiful people and no local heavy hitters. No Schoemels, Slays, Nixons or Mc Caskills in sight and certainly no north city Clay’s. I counted two black people in the building and they were both speaking and, tellingly, no latinos.

We started off with about 8 short rah rah speeches from local guys, local black media (The St. Louis American reporter), two State Senators and one S rep, someone from the boot-heel, the head of the Carpenters Union.... you get the idea. The speeches were short, not that good but very passionate all making the following points:

1. Edward's has working class roots.
2. Bush and the system Republicans have forgotten about them.
3. In Missouri when they were campaigning for the Statehouse and Campaigning for a minimum wage increase Edward's was the only guy of the major candidates to come to the State and work.
4. Edward's is a fighter and will fight to bring better wages AND BENEFITS back to working people.
5. Clinton and Obama do not give a shit about you.

Finally they announced Edward's... and he did not come out. Some chanting, some embarrassment...they turned up some Bruce Springsteen...he did not come out and then finally he did. It all looked amateurish but... these are working people.
Edward's is impressive. As he has skewed less and less likely to be the winner of the primaries he has done the reverse Romney. Instead of testing and polling for how to get more votes he has veered towards a passionate populist message that will alienate business and small business. I love the sentiment and I believe... listening to him... I believe that he will fight for the little guy. In talking about Healthcare he spoke of the big healthcare companies and the insurers and scoffed at the idea of negotiating with him like were talking about making a deal with the devil. He would not sell out...he would fight.

Tragically he taught me something I had never really thought of (as a long time Republican capitalist) and that is that it is not all about jobs but is instead about benefits. Healthcare and defined benefit pension plans were what made the country great and broadened the middle class. In thinking about it I know it is true but I say tragically because it does not address the fact that we do not make anything here anymore other then weapons for our military. Everything else gets manufactured over seas so we can buy it cheaply. (I know this is an oversimplification but it is not a gross one) How would the people there, the working people feel if they got their jobs, got their wages, got their benefits...and then had to pay 2-3 times as much for all the things they consume from Walmart. Protectionism has always been short sighted but with globalization it has become impossible. And Edward's cannot tell people that.

He, like Obama preaches hope but Edward's hope is a hope without answers. Soak the rich (which is really not that bad an idea considering how rich Bush has made them (us) but that is not enough of a plan. America needs a leader who can motivate us and talk the truth to us about the hard choices we are going to have to make regarding lifestyle, global warming, transportation, jobs etc...

Still... the guy was impressive. great speaker who has a feeling for the people. A real populist who is going to fight some battles. He might make an awesome Attorney General. That my friends would scare the shit out of the greed-heads. I was really happy I went to see him. Not a waste of time. We will see what happens in South carolina and Nevada.



Edwards for President in 08...lets color it...unlikely. But interesting.