Alright, time to come to terms with reality, Edwards supporters.

I started off supporting Edwards- I would prefer him over both Obama and Clinton because I think he, out of the three of them, has the greatest understanding of the effect of and need for leadership in our country.

But, weeks ago, I pretty well realized that he was not going to win. It looks to me like the only candidate who can beat Clinton is Obama, which is, of course, the most important thing for our country- Clinton NOT getting the nomination. Further, given what I believe would be pretty similar Presidential policy positions (as opposed to outward leadership and rhetoric regarding those positions) between Obama and Edwards, I went ahead and switched to Obama. It was just the smart thing to do. I will miss the leadership that Edwards offers in standing up to BS Repuke policies, but we simply can't let this Clinton-Bush thing continue.

Now, that was weeks ago. Edwards has not won a single state primary or caucus since they started, and it doesn't look like he will win one. It's time to come to terms with the fact that he is not going to win the nomination- not even at a brokered convention.

That's not to say that I don't understand what you're going through- I was a Dean supporter in 2004. I have to say that there are some candidates that are just that good, that you SHOULD stick with until the very end. Dean was one of those candidates. So is Kucinich, if he is your cup of tea- he's the kind of candidate that, once you're with him, no one else will satisfy you.

However, I don't think Edwards is that kind of candidate. Of the three, he is the best- but he's not irreplaceable. And these threads I'm seeing about running him into the ground, brokered conventions and whatnot- they honestly don't make sense. They seem extremely, but needlessly, fatalistic. And shortsighted. None of our top three guys are Howard Dean, or Kucinich, or Al Gore. None of Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are godly in their potential as President. Clinton has the potential to be a HORRIBLE President, but that's beside the point. The point is that, although I realize it takes time to kind of wind down in supporting a candidate you've become close to, there isn't a great reason to be holding on so tightly to Edwards.

Edwards is great, but it's time to let him go. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that he won't be staying in the race much longer, anyway. He knows full well that he's not going to win, and I don't think he wants to cause problems. You may as well start the grieving process now, along with him. I don't think he wants Clinton to win, either.


I realize you don't like to hear this. I'm just trying to be rational with this. If it makes you angry, try just sitting back and thinking about what I'm saying. I'm not attacking you or anything, but, seriously- reality has shown itself, and it needs to be dealt with.

is defeating the Republican candidate, not defeating Clinton.

She can't and won't beat them.

I don't think any candidate has a clear advantage in the GE - although I think any of our candidates can beat the Republican.

Clinton and making sure they're not the nominee.

The Clintons are deadly to the Democratic Party and will shrink it back down to a size that can be killed in the bathtub. Bill almost succeeded on his last go-round.

There is ZERO chance that the Clintons will forge unity in this country.

And having the two of them campaigning will enliven the now demoralized GOP.

and how many delegates can he bring to the convention?

It's not just about winning the nomination, it's about influencing the direction of the party. And a fistful of delegates can help him do that.

What I'm thinking is that Obama should offer Edwards the V.P. spot, which I think is about as influential as anyone can get.

You can't run a campaign based on change when you're airing reruns.

Edwards would be lambasted non-stop as the Democrat's perennial VP candidate, and the whole thing would be a joke.

and would not like working as second in command. Kerry believes he usurped his candicacy. Maybe, maybe not.
He'd be better off working as his own boss. Al Gore is having a great career.

Edwards: 29
Clinton: 57
Obama: 60

Those are the numbers I get, am I wrong?

And Edwards is staying in til the convention.

This is not feigned concern. Trust me- I am QUITE "concerned" about Clinton getting the damned nomination.

Try cooling down a bit and then coming back and reading what I wrote again.

He won't. He's a lot smarter than that.

I believe that John is staying until the convention.

I was hoping that he would have done better in the SC primary. I don't understand why his message doesn't resonate more with the public. Not to mention that I think he was showing some real leadership by staying out of the squabbling in the last few weeks.

I will not condemn any Edwards supporters that stick with him until the end. Even should my candidate lose the nomination.

But I hope that some start thinking about being the "king makers" on super tuesday, and vote for their second choice out of the three.

Can I grovel and beg?

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qualitative difference between Obama and Edwards.

And, whether you're delusional or not, don't call me a fucking troll.

and I think that you Obama supporters will be much more disappointed than I am when he turns out to be exactly as I suspect if he were to win the nomination.
I am NOT going to help him win the party nomination.
He is going to have to earn it. If he can't beat Clinton on his own without ME...then so fucking sorry for his luck.

Obama is way conservative, copped out on too many votes and
let his operatives slime the Clintons in the blogs FOR MONTHS while he
remained pious and holy. Nor do I like the way he whines when
his opponents give the mildest criticism.

Even worse I believe there was more in that association with Rezko than
has come out. A "Sun" writer implied that.
I think the right wing smells a a soft spot. Corporate America likes
our candidates weak.

I'm not an Edwards supporter because although I believe he has
changed, he has done NOTHING to prove he can accompllish this change.
Howard Dean did a lot for Vermont.

If Edwards puts his nose to the grindstone like Al Gore, then I'll
trust that he can do as well as speak.

Edwards will have another chance in 4 years, if Obama wins the primary.

The Junior Senator is a lightweight. He's the chic, rich left's
poodle in a teacup.

Please be careful of calling Barack supporters trolls because in my short experience on these boards you'll be called a RACIST. I'm just saying. And God Bless You And The Edwards Camp, From A Hillary Supporter. :)

I have been for Edwards but it has become a 2 candidate race now, if we can shift our support to Obama then it would help the
country and the Democratic Party.

??

or candidate. It also forces the other candidates to use their resources against him. It also causes diviseness and actually can work to the Repukes' advantage. And, finally, he loses an opportunity to get in early with and start planning with one of the other candidates.

Then what we Edwards voters do won't affect him.
However if he NEEDS the support of Edwards candidates...then he is NOT a viable candidate who can hold his own.
Yeah...that is what we REALLY need. :eyes:

candidates.

And do you really think the divisiveness can get any worse than it is between Obama and Hillary (and their supporters?)

In my case, it's because I read posts in here for the last three months telling me that I should dump Kucinich for Edwards.

Well, I finally did so. Not because I don't believe in Dennis, but because he chose a different battle.

The thing is, if Hillary has even ONE more fucking delegate than Obama does on February 6, we're going to see a bunch of very similar posts in here telling us we have to "rally around Hillary" so she can beat the Repuke.

Well fuck that. I've gone as far to the right as I'm going this primary season. Edwards is where I draw the line.

If Obama is the nominee, ask me again in November what I'll do. Maybe by then he'll remember that "uniting the country" doesn't start at the center-right and only move in the wrong direction.

Whatever lead Clinton has, Obama, at the very least, will take this to the convention. Any calls for Obama to drop out will be swiftly shot down.

As far as being heartbroken, MY guy- Gore- didn't even freaking RUN. But I had to deal with it.

Considering the Hillary & Obama factions would never concede to the other, they would have to draft another nominee. Al Gore would be the obvious choice.

There is no way in Hell Hillary walks out of a brokered convention as the nominee. Obama? Maybe, if Edwards is holding just enough to put him over the required number.

I'm getting soo sick of hearing this.

It's posts like this that will make me IF Edwards were to drop out of the race (which he won't) support Hillary Clinton instead of Obama. Just to be spiteful.

when my candidate, Joe Biden, dropped out.

I felt that it was important for me to pick. The choices were Edwards and Obama. I liked Edwards positions, but his candidacy seemed sort of one dimensional. I picked Obama, mostly because he IS an inspirational speaker, one that will attract a team of motivated and highly intelligent subordinates to his White House. However, with the constant battle back and forth between Hillary and Obama, I saw a new John Edwards emerge. One with more leadership qualities. I was even hoping he would do well in the SC primary, perhaps a close second to Obama with Hillary a distant third. But that was not to be. John may well fight on to the convention, he might well be some sort of power broker, especially if Hillary does well on super tuesday, and providing that John doesn't fall off the radar. However, in light of his rather distant third place, I'm afraid that the media has their self-fulling prophecy (i.e. we don't have to pay attention to JE, because he will be a distant third place... see, he IS a distant third place so we were right!).

Now would be the time for Edwards supporters to think, especially those in super tuesday states. Who, out of the top three, is your second choice? If you vote for your second choice on Feb 5, you might well determine the next President of the United States. It's going to be close.

It will be difficult for you. Much harder than it was for me, because my candidate dropped out. I didn't have to hold on to hope that a miracle would occur and people would wake up and see that my candidate would be the best person to lead the nation.

Keep the faith... but think carefully about your choice.

But I'll stick with Edwards on the the 5th.

It's not my problem worrying about the Obama and Clinton campaigns.

I know it's would be hard for me to vote for someone other than Biden if his name was on the ballot.

You have a much more difficult decision to make than I did.

Good luck. (And I mean that).

and who I should vote for, feignng "concern." This is especially true of Obama supporters, who seem to be on a holy mission. If you switched, fine. Have a good time. I choose to stick with Edwards, and it's really none of your business why. If you understood the electoral process, you might KNOW why, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain it to you.

but can I beg you to reconsider?

Really, I don't know why voters have rejected John Edwards. If we were voting for candidate's spouses... Elizabeth would be my NUMBER ONE choice by a long shot.




She would make a great first lady. And she has some real competition this year.

Anyway, if you don't want to, that's cool.

Good luck to your candidate! (and I mean that)

great photo!

Dean (who I also supported) was worthy of sticking with, Kucinich was worthy... but Edwards is not? What kind of crap is that? Maybe he isn't to YOU, but he is to me. Sorry your "support" for Edwards was that thin and meaningless, but that certainly isn't the case for the majority of his supporters.

And I completely disagree that the most important thing for our country is to defeat Hillary, a Democrat. I can't even believe it needs to be said on DU.

You think we'll lose if Hillary is the nominee. You might be right about that. I personally think that Edwards is the only real electable one, but I digress. Hillary will be a battle, that's for sure. But guess what - Obama WILL lose, guaranteed. Now THAT is a reality that you need to come to terms with.

Obama's race would actually work greatly to his advantage, not the other way around. It will help to shield him and make the Republicans extremely uncomfortable about criticizing him.

Believe me, the attacks on his heritige and religious background are already out there, and they'll only increase - slander or not.

But it's not just about that. Yes, there are people that do care about the issues more than race, and some of those people reject Obama on those terms.

"Yes, there are people that do care about the issues more than race, and some of those people reject Obama on those terms."

They're not "uncomfortable" telling people he's a muslim. They're not "uncomfortable" making sure they say his full name because his middle name just happens to be the same as the last name of the former dictator of Iraq.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Rationally, shouldn't you reconsider writing stuff like this? If that makes you angry, try just sitting back and thinking about what I'm saying. It's just reality, don'tcha know?

I'd rather not have to see the "I'M GOING WITH EDWARDS TILL I DIE!!" posts, though.

That's a very simple concept, if you don't want to see the "I'm going with Edwards till I Die!!" posts. What did you THINK would happen?

And no, I won't reconsider. I'll support John Edwards, not "till I die" but through the electoral process.

That will be a sign of national support and viability. To tell Edwards that he can't go to the Big Show is not fair.

Let democracy continue its path.

If Obama is going to win he will have to do it on his own.

I would not vote for Obama. I like him LESS than Clinton. And every Obama supporter who has started a thread telling us to give up Edwards, makes me want to vote for him less. I have a real distaste for Obama, at the moment. Someone would probably have to put a gun to my head to make me vote for him right now.

I prefer the devil I know, to the devil I don't know. Thank you very much. And until Edwards gives up, I won't. He is the ONLY ONE who has even mentioned poor people or even veterans. Neither Obama or Clinton cares for anyone that can't give them money.

zalinda

Stickin to him no matter what. I've already given my solemn word of honor - I WILL NOT GIVE IN TILL HE DOES. Period.

I will stick with Edwards as long as he is in this race. Not just because he needs my support, but because he IS my chosen candidate based upon my principles and his being so closely aligned.

In fact, I have already voted for John in the Tennessee early voting.

At this point in time neither Hillary or Obama have my support and they will have to work very hard to ever get it.

Frankly, I am not impressed with either of them.

It's Edwards for me.

and I've already voted for him. He's going to be in town tomorrow and my sons were begging to see him. As it turned out, when I need to go help set up, etc., coincides very well with their being out of school, and we are soooo excited.

Every day he stays in the race is another day where he influences the discussion. His message is absolutely the right one we need for America.

He also has delegates and may very likely become a king or queen maker. I see no reason why he shouldn't continue to gain delegates, speak his message, influence the other candidates, and keep the power to negotiate for his issues for as long as possible. His number of delegates will likely give him the power to influence planks of the party platform in the convention. All of these things are good reasons to keep speaking out and keep fighting.

"I think he, out of the three of them, has the greatest understanding of the effect of and need for leadership in our country."

"Edwards offers standing up to BS Repuke policies."

"I have to say that there are some candidates that are just that good, that you SHOULD stick with until the very end."

"Of the three, he is the best."

"Edwards is great."

That's why I will vote for John Edwards.

why the hell do you think that we should give up our candidate for yours? Nothing has been decided.

Fucked up posts like this make me understand why states started moving their primary dates around. They wanted a chance to participate in the election process not just watch someone do well early in the game and then be told over and over and over that the race has been decided.

He's the only guy really pimping for populism.

If populism can catch a wave, there may be some hope (ooh, there's that word).

and I say stand your ground John!

I am not angry, but I don't buy your argument. I will stick with my candidate, Edwards.

to me than voting ABC or ABO.

narrow it. Bush has narrowed it almost to extinction in the last 7-8 years. Edwards' proposals vehemently seek to restore economic justice as a defitional trait of government of, for, and by the people, and I feel that should be our starting point this election cycle.

I'm more for John Edwards today than ever.

Why don't all of his supporters urge him to drop out now and support Edwards?

There...how does it feel to be told you should drop your
candidate and support another just because some poster says so?

Johns message is more important than ever and I'm sticking
with him until the convention.

Probably not popular on these boards but after supporting Edwards for months I'm now fully on board the Obama bandwagon.

It's six of one, half a dozen of the other. I will not vote for either of them.

Also, if the goal of this clumsy, inept display of concern trolling is to gain support for your candidate, you have badly miscalculated. I used to like Obama, but the antics of his cult here, along with his hopping into bed with every homophobe and fundie knuckledragger he can get his hands on, cured me of that.

if he's the nominee -- i'll think about it.

Don't you remember how we all felt seeing the process manipulated by the media, being told to throw our ideals overboard and get on board the Kerry express to nowhere? I can't believe that you would dare ask any other candidate's supporters to go through what Dean supporters (and to a lesser extent Clark supporters) did in 2004.



It truly amazes me how the supporters of other candidates (Obama's in particular) can't seem to fathom that there really in truly are people who will not support their candidate. The other 2 go away and it still isn't some walk in the park with rainbows, blue skies, flowers blloming everywhere and birds whistling from the trees fairy tale for Obama. Seriously.

And this comes from someone who is not firmly IN anyone's camp, I just know the camps in which I won't be a member.

YOU don't get to decide if or when it is time for ME or any Edwards support to let him go.

Oh, and if I should at some point decide to switch, Hillary gets my vote.

When are you people going to learn?

1. We need to win the GE - not easy to do with Clinton or Obama
2. We need a real leader in the WH who isn't compromised by corporate money and influence - also a major problem w/ Obama and Clinton.

I'll continue donating to and supporting Edwards because he's the only one left who stands for the principles I admire and he's not going away anytime soon. He'll be in the thick of it all the way through the convention.

It seems you've fallen into one of the many mind-manipulation traps laid for you by the MSM.

They just didn't go for it.

This race is not over yet, and if nothing else Edwards keeps the real issues front and center, not like the fighting BS of Obama and Clinton. Nope anything can happen between now and the convention, so until Edwards drops out, I am with him all the way.

From Smirkingchimp.com about sums it up for me.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/12429

:P

I'm voting Edwards Feb 5th