Why I am supporting John Edwards

I had the opportunity to shake John Edwards’ hand only shortly after I had decided that I wanted to support the man. It was last summer and he had announced his candidacy as Hilary and Obama also had already. I met him after he drove up to a short Q&A at a conference of evangelical Progressives in Washington. He had his wife by his side and he gave a wide grin.

I don’t get star-struck usually, having grown up in Washington and been exposed from my early years on to Congress-people and other political celebrities that happen to walk by or around the nation’s capital. But, there was certainly something pleasant and warm in the few seconds that I got to shake the man’s hand. Compared to the Hilary and Obama groups that had well-orchestrated shouting and placard placement on the narrow street by the Lisner Auditorium in Foggy Bottom, the Edwards supporters were fewer in number. After the arrival of the other candidates, there were nice watching-parties of the Q&A on CNN with food and refreshments purchased by the campaigns. That is all of them except for the Edwards supporters. There was a bit of a badge of pride for the few of us that were there. We were the only ones that got to shake Edwards’ hand and talk to his wife and we didn’t have a fancy reserved room somewhere to rush off to.

This quality of simple respect and to put in the political term of “populist” is among the key reasons that I support Edwards. The other reasons are:

Ø He is the only candidate to have a clearly-defined and outlined agenda. The points of support are: (1) Global Warming (2) Iraq (3) Health Care and (4) Jobs and Poverty.

Ø For each of these agenda items, he has defined clear plans for achieving the goals. His 80-page PDF document is available on his website.

Ø He is the only candidate taking public federal matching funds, therefore subjecting himself to a substantially lower ceiling for raising funds and also subjecting himself to more transparency and accountability for his campaigning funds. He does not take funds from lobbyists or PACs.

Ø His message is one that represents change in not only Washington, but for this country. His agenda once again stresses what this country needs to focus on to move forward.

Edwards has a fight ahead, and the media has been covering him minimally compared to his competitors. If people were able to hear his message, they would certainly be drawn in if not at least influenced in their decisions.

We are choosing the next president here and now; not merely the next Democratic party nominee.