Letters to the Editor
Uberbah
Published Letters: 89 Editor's Choice: 1
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Tom, go back to your bridge
[Read the article: John Edwards exits with honor]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But all the people wailing and gnashing their teeth are ignoring one thing; he couldn't get anyone but a few unions and the nostalgic Old Left to believe him.
Uh huh, and your basis for this statement would be what, exactly? Through retail politics Edwards beat Clinton in Iowa despite the media narrative and being outspent by Clinton and Obama 6 to 1. If the media had stuck to reporting on the race instead of shaping it, there's no reason to think he wouldn't still be competitive. Note how after the last debate the group of primary voters on CNN said that they thought Edwards won the debate, but would vote for Obama because they didn't think Edwards would win, limiting their own choice based on the media narrative and the results from a mere 3 states.
Edwards was a liberal/progressive/whatever other substitute word you want to use. If somehow he had won the candidacy, all the Republican candidate would have to do is point to him and say "Liberal!" And away would go a quarter to a half of his votes.
Reality's well known liberal bias strikes again: in polls Edwards consistently faired better against the Republican candidates than any other Democrat. And this isn't 1980, Edwards isn't Carter, and neither Romney nor McCain is Reagan. The GOP has been crying wolf on liberals even longer than on the terrahrists, so that tired old schtick aint gonna cut it no more. Especially with a fighting Dem like Edwards.
And I know why Obama may be the party's best shot at winning.
Our remaining best chance at winning, you mean. I'm confident that Obama could handle any of the Republican candidates without too much trouble, especially the way Obama offers Republican voters a way to save face on the fact that the GOP candidates suck and the party has driven the country and the world into the ground for the last 7 years.
Our only real risk is Hillary vs McCain. Her whole campaign is based on experience, but McCain will make her look like a pimple faced high school freshman on that front. And the press HATES the Clintons but LOVES McCain. Finally, the GOP base doesn't like McCain, but they will definitely show up to vote against Hillary. I don't see that much difference between Obama and Clinton personally, but the Democratic party will be better off with Obama as the nominee.
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Edwards lost to Cheney?
[Read the article: John Edwards exits with honor]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe if you bought the same media spin that Bush won his debates when he was clearly trounced by Gore and then Kerry. Maybe you didn't know this - the media so obsessed with finding faults in Gore looks the other way to massive GOP shenanigans - but Cheney lied through his teeth when he said that was the first time he met Edwards. They'd met on at least three separate occasions, and the Edwards campaign even dug up a photo where they were just a few feet away at a banquet.
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why so worried about McCain?
[Read the article: John Edwards exits with honor]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The guy is old. And tired. And a sell-out. And a flip flopper. And the GOP base doesn't like him. Obama would kick his ass.
To see the only campaign ads you'd need to run against him, go to Youtube, search for the following and watch the clips.
McCain 100 years
McCain Somalia
McCain Haiti
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they both can
[Read the article: Which Democrat can beat McCain?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But those who think that Hillary's high negatives (50% vs 17% for Obama in one Gallop poll) wont play a significant role in the race are fooling themselves. Republicans dissatisfied with McCain are likely to stay home, but they will show up to vote against Hillary Clinton, and that's just a fact you're going to have to deal with. Hillary will do this year what gay marriage did in 2004: bring Republicans out to the polls.
And you seem to be forgetting that much of Hillary's campaign is based on her "35 years of experience", which McCain simply blows out of the water. And the press LOVES McCain but HATES the Clintons.
Yes, Hillary would likely beat McCain in the end, but at what cost? All the energy it would take to defend her from the right wing could be used to get us a larger majority in Congress. I'd rather have President Obama and a 60 seat majority in the Senate by 2012 or 2014 than President Clinton and a 55-45 split and a resurgent GOP by the time she left office.
And the pontificating on Hillary's supposed foreign policy experience over Obama are dancing around the central issue: it's the Iraq war, stupid. Obama showed prescience by speaking out against the war long before it was politically popular to do so. Obama can hang this around McCain's neck and drive him into the ground until November. Especially if they make campaign commercials out of McCain's demands to pull troops out of Somalia and Haiti back in the 90's (just go to Youtube and search for "McCain Somalia" and "McCain Haiti"). Whereas if Hillary tries to attack McCain on the Iraq war, he'll just throw it back in her face and make her look like a hypocrite.
And I agree with other posts: Joan, why are you asking now who would do best against the Republican candidate instead of when John Edwards was still in the race, who beat McCain in potential match ups by double digits?