Good evening, and welcome a special edition of EENR For Progress. Please welcome the newest member of our team, michaelconrad, as he provides you with more than enough reasons to join us in endorsing and actively supporting the next Senator from the great Northwest, Jeff Merkley.
Many of us have been counting down the days to this year's general election campaign since the moment we heard that President Bush had won re-election. While the presidential race is obviously critical, if we want to really turn things around, we need to get rid of the Republicans who have been not only enabled Bush, but would also do everything within their power to block a Democratic agenda. This is the year that we can reclaim our party's identity, make it clear what we stand for, and expose Senate Republicans as the clueless right-wing sycophants that they are. And perhaps no Senate race provides a better contrast of the parties' priorities than the race in Oregon.
Good evening and welcome to another edition of EENR For Progress, cross-posted from EENRblog.com. This evening, I want to focus on poverty, particularly global poverty and children. So often during a presidential campaign year, Americans tend to focus inward, to look primarily or at times exclusively at the issues and problems we have here at home. It's not completely surprising, particularly this year when we know we will be facing so many self-inflicted problems next year regardless of who wins the election in November. While we focus inwardly, however, the crippling oppressive poverty faced by children living in poverty around the world will continue unabated -- in large part because of a lack of will from countries such as the United States.
While the nominating process for the Democratic standard-bearer continues, out in the states, other races are already moving along at a good clip and deserve our attention.
[cross-posted from EENR blog; while we normally publish our EENR For Progress series here on Sunday evenings, we thought we offer it this week on Monday morning to catch some of you early birds! Enjoy!]
"I believe in a sacred contract between our country and America's veterans and military families. We must stand by those who stand by us. When our service men and women sacrifice so much to defend our freedom and secure peace around the world, we have a moral obligation to take care of them and their families." - John Edwards
Yes, I know, John Edwards is not in the race for president any longer. But that does not diminish the power of his efforts to ensure that we treat our military with the respect they deserve -- the active military and their families and the veterans.
[For the troll hunters and other game players here at DKos, please see the new note at the end of the diary for your enjoyment.]
Recognizing I am probably breaking any number of rules here, there is a diary that deserves to be noticed NOW but is slipping quietly off the page. So, this is a personal diary rescue.
I'm not going to start this out with tears or with false gaiety, but with the same determination I have felt since I made my decision to support John Edwards on that beautiful afternoon last January when he came home to Chapel Hill after announcing his candidacy. I drove from Northern Virginia that day because I wanted to see if my instincts were right, that this was the candidate I would fight to the end for. I met some fantastic people that day, and saw a candidate who was unafraid to speak the truth with a refreshing directness. He could tell us what was wrong at the same time he could tell us what we together could do to make it right.
For the next 12 months, I have stood with John and Elizabeth Edwards. I can't be more proud of a candidate and his family than I have been all year and as I am right now.
So, today, as the Edwards return again to New Orleans, let's look back at the impact the Edwards campaign has had on this race and on many many people along the way.
The FISA debate continues in the Senate, and you can follow along through the live-blogging diaries up for the blow-by-blow. [Go to the mothership diary to find the current diary.]
In the meantime, it is critical that EVERYONE here contact your Senators and let them know that you expect them to support the amendment by Senators Dodd and Feingold.
As much of a supporter of one candidate that I am, this isn't about the primaries. This is about the rule of law and the Constitution.
The "early states" phase of the primary campaign ends Saturday in South Carolina. After that, it's a national campaign with much less retail politicking and a more distant feel to the campaign trail. For the candidates, it will become even harder to tell what city they're waking up in. And the campaign staff -- these folks are working round the clock as it is, imagine what the next few weeks and months will be like!
[UPDATE:Let me be very clear. This effort is intended to be a morale booster as our folks are ending one phase of the primary campaign and beginning another. This is NOT in any way shape or form a signal that I think Edwards is or should end this campaign. John Edwards has stated clearly he's in this to the White House, and I fully intend to work my ass off to get him there. Oh, and think public domain. There are lots of pictures out on the web that are not copyrighted. Most lawyers know this.]
On a conference call with bloggers and reporters this morning, John Edwards was clearly still pleased with the debate last night. He dismissed the squabbling and talking over each other by the other participants as unproductive. At one point while the bickering continued, Senator Edwards thought, "I'm John Edwards and I represent the grown-up wing of the Democratic Party." [I certainly agree with that; the early stages of the debate made for good television but not a good sense of where Clinton or Obama want to take the country.]
Hi folks. After 9+ months of continuous EENRs, we had a little oopsy tonight in terms of who was authoring this nightly edition. So, I'm tossing up something we can all contribute to.
The controversy over Senator Obama's use of Reagan as an example of a successful agent of change continues across the blogosphere.
Today, the owner of this site added his views including his opinion of John Edwards's reaction to Obama's comments:
Update: Edwards joins Bill Clinton:
Ronald Reagan, the man who busted unions, the man who did everything in his power to destroy the organized labor movement, the man who created a tax structure that favored the richest Americans against middle class and working families, ... we know that Ronald Reagan is not an example of change for a presidential candidate running in the Democratic Party.
A nicely crafted straw man argument, if I've ever seen one. Bravo, John, for being an ass and dishonestly distorting what Obama said!
[brief note of clarification: John Edwards did not "join" Bill Clinton. He did not refer to Bill Clinton nor Clinton to him. He did not agree with Clinton. He spoke his own mind in his own words. But nice trying to pin those two together...]
Nevada's caucuses are this Saturday morning; South Carolina's primary follows the following Saturday.
We're half-way through the "early states" part of this process with a long way still to go till the convention in August, and I'm sad to say I have only 31 more Thursday EENRs left to write. Who knew when TomP, NCDem Amy and a few stalwart others started this exceptional series that we'd be able to keep it up this long. Who knew we'd be having this much fun!
[update] 55 minutes and counting till THE BIG DAY! Debit card poised and waiting.......
In last night's Democratic debate, John Edwards distinguished himself from the other two candidates with his strong position in opposition to nuclear power as the answer to global climate change and/or energy independence. Yes, there are those who think this is the way to go but John Edwards and millions of other Americans don't agree.
Hey, all you wonderful Edwards supporters. Has this been a wild and crazy 10 days or what!? It's hard to even remember what 2007 looked like, in less than 2 weeks we've had the first caucuse and the first primary. 2 down, 48 to go!
"John Edwards has helped set the terms of the Democratic presidential debate on many issues... on issue after issue, Mr. Edwards has been the first to stake out where the party's consensus message seems to end up." - Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2007
Starting tonight, we're going to add a new feature to EENR -- a step back of sorts. We're going to take the staples out of the 80-page policy book and look at the different detailed progressive policy sections one by one. In the midst of running from one state to another, it's easy to forgot what a monumental task Edwards set out to accomplish in January 2007: setting forth the best, most detailed proposals he could so that Americans would know just what he values most, just what he believes we can accomplish together. So, follow me over the fold for today's news and our first Policy in Review.
Nataline Sarkisyan's father said today that there is a hole in his heart since losing his daughter. "Cigna killed my daughter," he said. "Vote for this man; vote for John Edwards."
"They tried negotiating with the insurance company," John Edwards responded. "If negotiating worked, we'd have universal health care already."
Senator Edwards also laid out three clear criteria for people to ask candidates to evaluate who should be our next president:
Are you for fundamental change in Washington or continuing the status quo?
If you are for fundamental change, will you fight for it?
Well, I hope we've all made the successful move from cold and snowy Iowa to cold and snowy New Hampshire by now. Here at warm and cozy EENR, it was a pretty smooth transition since we didn't have to deal with taking off our shoes at the air port (I do not give up my fuzzy slippers easily!). The Edwards campaign, as usual, doesn't seem to have skipped a beat at all -- and as usual, my head is a bit spinny just trying to keep up with all that's going on.
[update]NCDem Amy has a post-debate diary up with great videos.Come on over!
Take your rec off this Part 1 diary and head on over to the new live blog, hosted by Ellinorianne. We'll keep updating.
Well, it's here -- the 'real' start of the Democratic Presidential nominating process. After months of diaries and canvassing and phone banking, the ups and downs of the longest Presidential primary race I've ever experienced, we're finally here.
With the caucuses now started, we will be here until the final results are all in -- no matter what! If this diary gets too long or unwieldy, we'll move on over to EENR Part II, and at the right time, on to the Victory Party!
But first let's review some important Live-Blogging rules. Hold onto your hats, scarves and mittens as we make the leap!
Many of us have been counting down the days to this year's general election campaign since the moment we heard that President Bush had won re-election. While the presidential race is obviously critical, if we want to really turn things around, we need to get rid of the Republicans who have been not only enabled Bush, but would also do everything within their power to block a Democratic agenda. This is the year that we can reclaim our party's identity, make it clear what we stand for, and expose Senate Republicans as the clueless right-wing sycophants that they are. And perhaps no Senate race provides a better contrast of the parties' priorities than the race in Oregon.
Hi folks. After 9+ months of continuous EENRs, we had a little oopsy tonight in terms of who was authoring this nightly edition. So, I'm tossing up something we can all contribute to.
With the caucuses now started, we will be here until the final results are all in -- no matter what! If this diary gets too long or unwieldy, we'll move on over to EENR Part II, and at the right time, on to the Victory Party!
