A note of encouragement to Edwards supporters

[cleveramerican]

I have been very tough on John Edwards.
Here and elsewhere I have been blinded by his long shot status.
Verbally attacked him for being a no-shot also -ran.

I have been so very wrong.
I can't help but admire his determination and sheer force of will.
His stump speeches are inspired.
His campaign has been professional and on point.
I saw him this week in New Hampshire.

I saw his address to the convention in'04
I was stunned that night by the power of his speech
I have seen a bit of the'04 Edwards this week
He should be proud, his supporters should be too.
I am glad he's in the race, no matter the outcome.
He has elevated the debate at every turn.
I just can't help liking the guy.



P.S. I still think he's the longest of long shots, But I don't care about that as much anymore.

[mirrera]

1. He is one of those candidates that has to be heard.

I never liked him in 2004, because Kucinich was so right on everything, the others just paled. I kept hearing how much people liked him and honestly I had never heard a single speech of his. Thank you YouTube. This time around, it was the Google forum where he was given over an hour that I first noticed. Then I read his book Four Trials, and realized how smart he is and how he kind of fell into his expertise.

Now I laugh when he is called an ambulance chaser. His first case was given to him as a rookie and he was expected to loose. Instead he did his homework and won big. No one at the time was able to get big settlements out of the corporations he was fighting. In his area, he became an expert because he found out that any world can be learned about if you study it. He took smaller commissions than the other lawyers and other lawyers would travel to see his court room remarks.

When he finally opened his own office with a friend/partner his 16 year old son Wade was killed. Wade was working with him at the time. He said he went from being on top of the world to total devestation in one day. He took a long time to be able to recover, and was helping a family get justice for their child when it happened. Work helped him get through.

Now finally he is saying what needs to be said. This is an epic fight, he is absolutely right. But as Obama says in his book The Audacity of Hope, once you are in the Halls of Power you are so surrounded by wealthy people that you can start to forget about the people you are serving. I really think that is what happened to Edwards. Newly rich, new kid in an old boys club. It is like he shook him self off, went out among the poor, and knows what he has to do.

I would love to see:


It would be great to have a President and a VP who come out of the kind of schools most Americans go to —if they are lucky and work hard— instead of the Ivy League.
Edwards is going to take Iowa...

[AmBlue]

2. The little engine that could

This is a matter of "If you think you can, you CAN." And "If you think you can't, you CAN'T." The media has been giving him positive coverage all of a sudden and my friends on the ground in Iowa tell me of all of the top three, he's the one with the MO. Here's a big clue: WE are his secret weapon.

I watched his interview with Chris Matthews yesterday in NH and Matthews asked him how he's going to take on all these powerful interests. He said something like, "Their power is NOTHING, compared to the sovereign power of the people." This is a guy that wants to put us back in the drivers seat of our own nation. All we have to do is be ready with a big "HELL YESSS"!!!

And hopefully you and millions like you are beginning to think of him not as the "longest of long shots" but rather as the guy that we MUST put in OUR White House. For the sake of this nation.

Very nice post.

p.s. Think of this: Edwards has done all of this-- and ended up poised to win-- in Iowa spending the least amount of money and with the least amount of coverage from the MSM. He IS the little engine that could. He only needs US to get on board.

[DaLittle Kitty]

4. Join The E Train and Get On Board NOW

Before the train leaves the station.

[PDittie]

3. I was on a conference call with Texas supporters Monday evening

The campaign's strongest request was for volunteers with time available to come to New Hampshire.

Think about that for a moment.

Edwards will win the Iowa caucuses. Hillary will place no better than third. Mark it.

[DaLittle Kitty]

5. Contact Info to Help in New Hampshire

2) REMOTE PHONE BANK for New Hampshire right from your own home in Florida using your cell phone minutes or many of us have UNLIMITED NATIONWIDE LONG DISTANCE ON OUR HOME PHONES with which calls to potential Edwards Caucus Goers in Iowa or New Hampshire Voters could be made to encourage them to support John Edwards. Sign up at:

http://johnedwards.com/nh/volunteer/signup/

and/or just go directly to: http://www.johnedwardsphonebank.com/ to help out John Edwards in NH!

Many of us have nationwide no-roam/no-long distance plans with a lot of spare minutes that we rarely use. This month consider signing up to make calls into New Hampshire (and possibly other states) using your minutes. This can help make a difference if you can spare the time and the minutes.


3) ROAD TRIP FOR ONE AMERICA: Take your support on the road and volunteer to travel for the John Edwards campaign to one of the early states and spend a weekend (or week!) helping them campaign. Temporary housing can usually be arranged through the help of local supporters in these states so all you have to do is get there, help'em out and then get back later.

http://johnedwards.com/roadtrip/signup/

Just Do It!

[glowing]

6. I signed up... might as well... FL won't count.. might as well hit a state

that will and I'm from the region.. May be able to sway a few opinions.