I think im switching from Dean to Edwards

[mkultra]

Read subject. I think Edwards has a better chance of beating Bush.


***FLAME SUIT ON****

lets have it.

[TLM]

1. I still like edwards.... but he is a newbie to the process

and would be Gored as a trial lawyer hard by the right wingers.


Edwards is perfect VP material, however.

[rumguy]

8. Edwards would win the debate over him being a "trial lawyer"

That whole issue has never had a fair public hearing. I guarantee you the more people found out about him the more they will like him. His story right out of a Grisham book.

Remember, he fought for people, not corporations.

Edwards will eviscerate the rethugs on this issue....

[AP]

11. NC '98 - E down by 10 points in polls. Faircloth tries to put nail in ...

... coffin. Runs trial lawyer ad. Edwards brings out former clients to explain what he did for them. Edwards wins by 1 or 2 points.

In CONSERVATIVE NC, Edwards's career as a trail lawyer was worth 11-12 pt swing from loss to victory.

(the numbers are from memory).

[bearfartinthewoods]

44. plus, he has seen the problems of the system from the inside

he recognizes that there are abuses and how those abuses are impacting medical care. he has some interesting ideas to weed out unethical attorneys and incompetant practicioners make the system work better and more fairly for everyone.

[spooky3]

53. yep, see the WPost article he wrote in May 2003

(link is in another thread)

[cms424]

87. yes, but another problem with the system...

is the cost of malpractice insurance, which has skyrocketed due to huge settlements obtained by trial lawyers like Edwards.

Health care is the most important issue for me, and the only candidate who really seems to understand the system as it stands now, and what can *realistically* be done to fix it, is Dean.

[Rooktoven]

82. If I recall correctly he won by more than 2 (I remember 4)

But that further validates your point

[w4rma]

88. Bill McBride/John Edwards or Janet Reno/Howard Dean? (n/t)

[JohnLocke]

12. "A newbie to the process"?

Though it is true that Edwards has served only six years in elected office, those six were spent in the U.S. Senate representing a southern state. Before he was elected to office, Edwards spent 20 years battling for justice in the court system. Edwards is also on the Select Committee on Intelligence. To call him a "newbie to the process" is to deride the hard work he has done for this nation.

Furthermore, before Bush was elected, he only had six years of political experience as well, and that was as Texas governor, a famously weak office.

And as for being bashed for being a trial lawyer... I believe you support Dean? If nominated, Dean will surely be attacked for his somewhat abrasive personality and support for gay marriage.

[bearfartinthewoods]

47. he has more foreign policy experience than dean and more

domestic policy than clark and is a better communicator than kerry.
all in one package.

[funky_bug]

39. Maybe so

But if he can handle himself in the courtroom, he sure as hell can handle himself with Bush the Lesser.

If he can rely on a staff to prepare for litigation, he can rely on a staff to prepare for the GE.

It's all good... may the best man win!

[spooky3]

55. Bush the Lesser? which one did you mean?

so many choices! :-)

[funky_bug]

61. Right

Thanks... now I have to come up with a new nickname for him... but I'd have to say, between Bush the First, Bush the Lesser, Neil and Jeb... well, to quote a bumper sticker I saw at the Fl Convention...

"Who KNEW Jeb was the smart one?"

[spooky3]

71. LOL!

[MidwestTransplant]

45. There's an easy solution to the Trial Lawyer label

Tell of specific case in which he helped people as a laywer. There are many. I heard of one in particular where he went against a pool drain manufacturer whose drain sucked the large intestine out of a little girl who was sitting on the botttom of the pool. Of course it wasn't the company's fault though.

[Renew Deal]

74. If Trial Lawyer is all they got...

He will be fine. I support a guy that is called a war criminal by people in his party.

[kstewart33]

2. Good for you

I'm still for Clark but would donate to the Kerry campaign if he surges. The great thing about this turn of events is that we have three experienced, substantive guys--Kerry, Clark and Edwards--each with the intellect, savvy, substance, and character, to be a great candidate. None of these three guys will self destruct.

[GalleryGod]

22. Roger,that!

:grouphug:

[JohnLocke]

3. Welcome to the Club!

What were you're reasons for crossing over into Edwards-land?

[mkultra]

16. Reasons

Edwards stayed positive and still delivered. Plus he has a real common touch which can help him reach out to the middle. I still love Dean but its becoming obvious that people don't like passionate candidates as much as i do(my preference is that we have a candidate that will freakin headbut Bush in a debate). An I'm willing to forgive Edwards for voting for pissing on the UN as long as he PROMISES he will beat the living tar out of Bush.

[JohnLocke]

18. Great reasons, mkultra.

Much has been made of Edwards' votes for the Patriot Act and IWR. However, those people fail to understand that the IWR passed by 77-23*, and the Patriot Act passed by a wide margin. Edwards has taken a reasonable stance on the latter, saying that he wants to keep the parts that makes sense (and there are many; most provisions just bring law up-to-date) and throw out others that are repressive.

*Source: http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/10/11/iraq.us/

[HFishbine]

30. And

Edwards wants to establish a new domestic spy agency. That will be good, right?

[AP]

38. That'll be great. FBI is dominated by right wingers. I'd love to see a Dem

start a new agency in which EVERYONE involved is appointed by John Edwards.

That should save at least a generation of Americans from the bullshit that the FBI has inflicted upon America.

Wen Ho Lee should endorse Edwards on this issue alone.

[AP]

42. For emphasis, Wen Ho Lee would totally agree with Edwards. Take FBI's

domestic surveilance duties away from them and put them in the hands of an agency founded by DEMOCRATS!

[HFishbine]

56. Absolutely

Yes! A democratic version of cointelpro. That's a great idea! And then, when the republicans take power again, we will uh... what will happen? I haven't thought it through that far.

[aldian159]

91. USA PATRIOT passed 98-1 with one no-vote

Feingold said no, and I still haven't figured out who didn't vote.

[AP]

37. Edwards has passion and conviction.

[bearfartinthewoods]

50. please take this with respect

if this was won on force of will and strenght, i'd back dean. this will be a battle of words and Edwards has made his living on being able to convince people.

we need a professiuonal communicator. we're lucky we have one in the senate all ready to rise....John Edwards is what we need to beat bush.

[leyton]

Edwards is that communicator indeed.

Not only is he a successful trial lawyer.

He's a successful trial lawyer in rural North Carolina. I mean, this isn't a state where juries are gonna like big settlements. It's pretty conservative in that regard. And yet Edwards was wildly successful at convincing juries of his case.

[bearfartinthewoods]

77. keep an eye on cspan. for the rerun of his recent NH townhall

the part where he talks about how he dreams of going up against bush everynight. watch his face....he's serious.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mkultra]

6. if it bothers you so much

dont bother reading it and especially dont bother replying.

[JohnLocke]

14. Wow...

Mkultra, aren't you stunned by the arrogance and rudeness of some?

[K8-EEE]

23. Why Does It Belong In The Lounge?

It looks like Edwards won a lot of us over....that's Primary Discussion material in my view!

[IndianaGreen]

24. How you'll like it if everyone posted one of these vanity posts?

How you'll like it if everyone posted one of these vanity posts after every primary or caucus? How long before some of you go running to Admin complaining about all of the "I am switching to..." threads?

This sort of thing belongs in The Lounge.

Now, if a well-known poster like Will Pitt were to dump Kerry in favor of Kucinich, or DTH were to dump Clark in favor of Sharpton, that would be BIG news, but it would still belong in The Lounge.

(with apologies to Will and DTH for using them to illustrate a point).

[bearfartinthewoods]

59. wow...only the well known can discuss their choices?

how...um.....democratic of us.

[JohnLocke]

80. That's a very elitist attitude.

"Now, if a well-known poster like Will Pitt were to dump Kerry in favor of Kucinich, or DTH were to dump Clark in favor of Sharpton, that would be BIG news, but it would still belong in The Lounge."

[cms424]

89. I think all the switching is interesting

and hearing the reasons. I'm also shocked how many people have switched gears based on the results of ONE caucus, which will be forgotten a month from now. Do the opinions of people in ONE state carry that much weight in determining electability or lack therof?

[Melodybe]

15. Me too I trust a really good looking son of a mill worker over

over all of the other candidates, other than Dean. Clinton had a poor up bringing too and b/c of it he never forgot the little guys. I used to be head over heals for a Dean/clark ticket but now I don't trust Clark anymore. I can not deal with Axicom and SOA, both of those issues goes against my moral fiber, and this election is too important to just hope for his best intentions.

When it comes to Kerry opting out was good but I trust Edwards most b/c he knows what it is like in the real world. He did not get to hang out with John Lennon when he was 19 years old.

[ShaneGR]

26. Ummmm, who are you?

And they don't belong in the lounge, they belong in the primary forum because he's switching his support in the primaries.

[IndianaGreen]

35. There is an official Admin decision on this topic

right here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=120&topic_id=11351#11355

Case closed!

[ShaneGR]

36. Still disrespectful

The who are you thing. Perhaps he doesn't spend a lot of time here and doesn't have every single Admin decision bookmarked.

[IndianaGreen]

41. Why the "***FLAME SUIT ON****" on the post?

***FLAME SUIT ON****

lets have it.

If I wanted to explain switching candidates I would not use language such as the one used by the poster. IMHO. this sounds more like baiting rather than an Epiphany.

[ShaneGR]

43. Well, a point

He said he thinks Edwards is more electable. That's fair. If he had said Dean was a flaming psychopath than that would have been real flamebait.

[spooky3]

52. ?? I read Skinner as saying he thinks these CAN go

in the GD 2004 Primary forum, if written in a civil tone. Maybe my eyes/brain are tired.

[leftist_rebel1569]

67. Can you explain to me

how that's an official admin decision to keep these posts in the lounge? Skinner only says that these threads can be posted if given a reason why...:shrug:

[One Taste]

5. Welcome!

:toast: :party: :toast:

[quinnox]

7. Good choice

You are right about Edwards having a better shot against Bush compared to Dean's chances.

Edwards is a formidable candidate, although he isn't my top pick (I like Kerry the best) I would gladly support Edwards should he win in the end.

[BurtWorm]

9. Why Edwards, out of curiosity?

Why not someone more substantial?

[JohnLocke]

17. What do you mean by "substantial"?

[BurtWorm]

25. I mean a person of substance, who has a position more profound than

hope.

Edwards strikes me as being the kind of candidate who could run any election year. But this is not like any election year; this is a moment of crisis in the democracy. The Democrats have the opportunity to nominate someone who grasps that. Edwards seems the least likely of the front four to get it. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope he convinces me otherwise.

[AP]

40. What do you think is wrong with America?

I think it's the huge transfer of wealth to the wealthy. It's that Bush, all for greed for money, is destroying hope for a generation of Americans. He's ruining people lives.

I think Edwards is the perfect president for right now. I think he speaks to these issues better than any other candidate on EVERY level. It's the central theme of his campaign and it's the biggest part of who he is.

[spooky3]

58. Edwards' web site should be required reading before

anyone makes statements about "substance." I know it takes awhile to get through all of his proposals. But you'll be far more persuasive if you could support some of your criticisms.

[KittyWampus]

34. Having Actual Policy Proposals With Substance

My favorite Edwards fluff from this weekend-

Talking about Education and No Child Left Behind Edwards says:

Unfunded Mandates are Bad
Having Tests for Accountablity is Good

Then he launches into a brief spiel rationalizing his vote in the Senate.

What Edwards didn't do is give any kind of actual proposal or ideas for solving the problem.

And most of his answers were like that... kind of like Dean in that regard.

[SangamonTaylor]

48. You should try looking at Edwards' "Real Solutions for America" plan

Available here: http://www.johnedwards2004.com/real-solutions.asp

It is a 60 page pdf file that outlines Edwards' platform and is so far the best, most straight-forward, plan of all of candidates that I have seen so far.

Sen. Edwards addresses your education questions are answered on page 39 for your reference.

At most of the Edwards townhall meetings that I have seen, Edwards speaks broadly, and tries to stay away from getting bogged down into the details. However, he often refers to his booklet (especially when doing Q&A), and I have seen many people in the audience use it to refer to specifics.

More importantly, Edwards has a coherent vision that applies to all of the issues rather than being a mush conglomerate of stances. He has a general theme to his campaign which is based on hope, hope for a better America; he also has the substance to support his vision.

[bearfartinthewoods]

63. if you can't download, here is in a webpage

http://access.adobe.com/perl/convertPDF.pl


the converter screws up the formatting some.

[leftist_rebel1569]

69. Here's Edwards's education plan-

http://www.johnedwards2004.com/education.asp

He goes a lot more in depth on his site about his other policies too, if you want to look at those also.

[Jerseycoa]

10. Good luck. Good man.

:toast:

[Columbia]

13. I'm with you

I'm switching to Edwards too. :toast:

[JohnLocke]

20. Today's a great day for Edwards on DU!

[Hoppin_Mad]

19. Edwards is a good solid Dem - We'll leave the door open for ya !

If you ever want to 'come back' .

[mkultra]

27. if its close

If its close when it gets to Oklahoma I'm might still switch. But Edwards definitely my top pick next to Dean. Ill never forget my home though :)

[K8-EEE]

21. Me Too!!

Edwards really won me over with his "two Americas" speech, it was very well delivered, I'm so used to Shrub and his tele-prompters -- he really made me feel hopeful and that is what we need to motivate turnout for the Gen election. Still undecided but leaning towards Edwards!

[citizen snips]

33. Great!!

:toast:

Here is is his speech.
http://www.johnedwards2004.com/page.asp?id=481

[GalleryGod]

28. Just DO It!

:hug: :kick: :smoke:

[Ficus]

29. Switched from Dennis

at the caucuses - but I still like Dennis. But I guess my "viable" choice is John Edwards - a class act all the way.

[JohnKleeb]

62. So I am not the only one

My new guy is Kerry Ficus but I like John Edwards as well, and I have and had no problem with the deal.

[Ficus]

70. for me it was a tough choice

between Kerry and Edwards. When it came down to it, I like Edwards' tone of his campaign. Both would be fine Presidents! :toast:

[waterman]

31. I kind of like the guy too. Seems like a straight shooter to me.

And he does seem positive spirited. I'm sick of these doom and gloom, eternal war, fear-hyping chaos merchants.

[DjTj]

32. Welcome!

You have chosen wisely.

:cheers:

[andym]

46. For the apolitical masses needed to win, Edwards is a great candidate

For the apolitical masses needed to win, Edwards is a great candidate:
He's handsome, charming and is a good fit with the quiet compassionate leader stereotype. These surficial factors do win elections.

[mlawson]

57. That really, really does matter!!

Those 10 to 15% of voters determine the winner every time (except in 2000, when it was the SCOTUS). We ignore tham at our great peril.

Dean has this quality as well, IMO, and so does Clark. But not the current front runner... I am very afraid he will get the nomination.

[DjTj]

60. He can get the voters we need.

Winning this election is not about firing up the base and it's not about pandering to the middle. It's not about winning the Midwest or the South, although Edwards can do that. The people who will decide this election aren 't single issue voters and they don't listen to the pundits. The votes we need to win this election are in the hands of people who are looking for a message to believe in and a person they can trust. They want someone that can lift this country up and give them hope for the future. They're looking for real solutions to their problems. They're looking for a President that will make them proud to be Americans again. They will find John Edwards.

[foo_bar]

49. my labrador retriever switched from Dean to Edwards last night

True story. When CNN was doing their split-screen coverage of the two speeches, my doggy walked up to the tv and pressed her little nose against the Dean rally with the miniature American flags. But as soon as Edwards dropped that boatload of confetti, she lost all perspective and started licking the left half of the screen like a first winter's snow. I think there's a lesson in here somewhere.

[DjTj]

54. Get that dog registered!

...and to the polls on election day!

[ecstatic]

51. Edwards is my second choice nt

[chaska]

64. I don't get it...

Why would anyone think that Edwards has a chance of winning? He has no support anywhere in the country, not even here in SC. He has no organization. He has very little experience. He's too young. He bears the taint of "trial lawyer".

Be real, he's running for vp.

[OKNancy]

68. Did you know he is 50?

Older than Clinton was in 1992.

[mmonk]

65. somewhat of a big difference

[jsw_81]

66. I'm almost certainly switching from Dean to Kerry at this point

But I'd be thrilled to see Edwards as VP or Attorney General.

[bushisanidiot]

72. I've Been a Dean Supporter For a Year Now, But I'm Liking Edwards A Lot

more in the past few days.

I didn't realize until recently that he was born in South Carolina which may help him even more in getting the southern vote. Hell, all we need is Louisiana even if the pukes steal FLA again..

Edwards is a great looking guy and totally trumps the chimp in chief when it comes to likeability and the 'ol "who would you rather have a beer with" test. More americans can relate to him than to the chimp.

Also, this guy is very intelligent and so is his wife. Both lawyers.. wow, that sounds familiar.

Kucinich throwing his support to Edwards in Iowa probably caused some Kucinich supporters to take a second look at him too.

I don't know.. I'm liking the Edwards/Kerry matchup, or Edwards/Clark, or Edwards/Richardson, or Kerry/Edwards matchups very, very much. I don't think president AWOL could beat any of them.

I looked at Edwards' website for the first time today (it looks good) and found an interactive electoral map that shows how many different ways we could win. http://www.johnedwards2004.com/map/

I think we'll get FLA in our column this time around, but even if we don't, it just takes Louisian, or North Carolina, or TN.. there are so many possiblities.. and it could turn out to be a real landslide, especially if Edwards picks Richardson from NM as a VP. I think we'd have a good shot at AZ and Nevada with the hispanic vote.

I'm very very close to going with Edwards now..

[Renew Deal]

73. I don't blame you.

I wouldn't touch Dean these days. Edwards has a lot to offer.

[Maddy McCall]

75. Yes. Dean's a sinking ship and he won't make it out of New Hampshire

He has no chance on Southern Tuesday either.

[adadem]

76. You may be right n/t

[JohnLocke]

81. kick

[CWebster]

78. My vote is not negotiable

by the media's determination of electibility. By their measure, as soon as any Democrat become a potential threat they become unelectible. Of course if they were truly unelectible the media might give them a break.

[Capn Sunshine]

79. That goes a long way in explaining Kerry's coverage.

That man is simply unelectable.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

83. Kind of like switching from Bourbon to skim milk isn't it?

Or, Porterhouse Steak to unflavored gelatin? I guess it's all in the packaging. Blow dried, bleached teeth, and a glibness. Edwards should be a lawyer. Oh, that's right..he is a lawyer.

[flaminbats]

86. It's more like from caviar to cockroaches...

:puke:

[flaminbats]

84. If you want a repeat of the 2000 campaign, go ahead!

But please don't give me that elect-ability bs...:thumbsdown:

[Rooktoven]

94. We won 2000, if you recall.

Edwards will make it decisive enough that even the SCOTUS won't be able to steal it for the pretender.

[LiberalBushFan]

85. take some Kerry too

and put it together with Edwards

Kerry + Edwards = Clark!

[yaledem]

90. Welcome to Team Edwards!

From speaking to some of my Dean supporting friends, you're not alone!

[CalebHayes]

92. Your the man! Good move!

[Name removed]

93. Deleted message

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