Edwards is out

January 30, 2008 by Phil Barron · · · Post a comment ⋅

I suspected that the John Edwards campaign would not survive South Carolina, and, well, here we are.

As I said a few days ago, there is still a noble purpose awaiting him, elections notwithstanding.

Still a sad day, though.

And as long as Edwards’ name is on the ballot come Super Tuesday, he’s got my vote. Hillary, Barack - sorry.

Filed Under: Blogged
Tagged: John Edwards, White House 2008

Similar posts:
Edwards = White people!
John Edwards: The second act
Tough second choice
Edwards, after all
Three take-away points from Bittergate

Comments

2406CommentsEdwards+is+out2008-01-30+15%3A03%3A14Phil+Barron to “Edwards is out”

Linda Maloney on January 31st, 2008 2:59 pm

I was glad to find your column on AlterNet Peek; always glad to hear a voice of reason from St. Louis, my sometime home (three degrees from SLU, two grandkids born in Sant Louis, now alas in California).

You are probably right that John Edwards can play a more constructive role independently, provided he can get funding and media attention (Carter and Gore might be some help there). The core of leaders of the Edwards movement here in VT are people like Matt Dunne, former head of Americorps who now runs his own Service Politics institute here. The one thing I like about McCain is his advocacy of national service (not just military). The papers here just announced that VT is going to be one of the places targeted by the Army with big bribes (er, incentives) for enlistment: $25,000 to $40,000 for a three- to five-year hitch. I went in the hardware store one day and saw the stack of flyers for the National Guard. The holder was just labeled: MONEY.

My wish (and I even wrote a paper for my Congressman about this) is that, nationally, we could help young people up out of poverty, whether urban or rural, by offering them just such incentives for two or three years of service (with no priority for the military!). Imagine if any kid could start life with $25,000 to $50,000 in the bank instead of $100,000 of debt! Imagine a generation poised to explore opportunities instead of spending their first two decades of work in indentured servitude!

Like you, I wish I could get John Edwards’ ear about that for a few minutes — or even the half hour Congressman Welch gave me.

Meanwhile, when the March 4 primary rolls around in Vermont, I’ll still vote for John Edwards (after all, I helped collect the signatures to get his name on the ballot, and filed to run as his delegate).
Phil Barron on January 31st, 2008 3:18 pm

Linda, thanks so much for stopping by.

The kind of program you describe sounds like a sound investment to me - and I wish that people would actually recognize it as an investment not just in the future of these kids, but the country’s future as well.

That description of the “money” sign near the recruitment fliers is at once both funny and rather sad. There’s honor in serving in the military, but it would be good to promote alternate avenues for national service that also provided “money.”

Always good to hear from folks with an STL connection, and a SLU one!

Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!

Videoed

Dynamic violence! Savage action! Spectacular thrills! Yes, it's the theatrical trailer for the 1956 American edition of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, with Raymond Burr spliced in just for you Yanks. It's Godzilla as he oughtta be!

Recent Posts

Edwards is out

Comments

Videoed

Recent Posts

Commented

Advertisement

Edwards is out

Comments

Bettie says:

Videoed

Sponsored

Recent Posts

Commented

Advertisement