I only have half an eye on the national stories, so I don’t know how well they’re covering this stuff. MyDD does an excellent job of tracking national polls. Today, the site posted an entry entitled New Iowa Poll Puts Edwards in the Lead. Nationally, I guess Edwards is running third behind Clinton and Obama.
Personally, at this point, I favor Edwards as a candidate. More than Clinton and Obama, I think he sees a rock solid middle class as critical to the health of our democracy. I don’t think Clinton or Obama dismiss the need for a strong middle class; I just think it’s lower on their list of priorities.
I was also impressed when he had the courage to point out that “War on Terror” is a slogan, particularly as implemented by the Bush administration. Let’s be clear since folks who hear this become deliberately obtuse since it suits their cause. There are people and groups who wish to do us harm. These people and groups will use terror as a tactic if given the opportunity. These people and groups should be stopped. To stop them, we need to identify them and take away their means and will to cause us harm. War, a term most commonly used to indicate a state of hostility between two states, is a poor metaphor for our efforts against these malicious people and groups. Terror is not our enemy. Rather, the people who want to harm us, whether they use terror or not, are our enemies. So, “War on Terror” is a poor description of what our efforts ought to be. And, as used by the Bush administration, “War on Terror” seems to mean – “Gimme! And shut up about it!”
Folks who don’t particularly like Mr. Edwards should take heart. I haven’t backed a winner since 1988 when I favored the Bush/Quayle ticket.
Doug…You say “These people and groups will use terror as a tactic if given the opportunity.”
That line right there illustrates the fundamental difference between those of us that believe this “war on terror” is not a “crime of opportunity” but rather a well planned, patient, well thoughout movement to annihilate all things and peoples not Islam, and those of you that believe this is just a handfull of nutjob suicide bombers that get lucky every once and a while.
I’m not an alarmist yet, because I live in Indiana and the next big 911 will most likely happen on a coast again. Living this far into the mainland will give us a reasonable amount of time to regroup and respond.
It’s no longer a matter of “if” it’s a matter of “when”.
Tim,
I think maybe you have our positions reversed. I think the leaders of these groups are quite rational. That’s why I don’t think they will use terror as a tactic if there is no opportunity for it to advance their objectives. I don’t see them using terror for terror’s sake; I see them as using terror as a means to advance their objectives.
It’s the nutjobs who would attempt to use terror in the absence of opportunity.
Theres a weblog for Hoosiers supporting Edwards: Indiana for Edwards.
Its slow going so far, we’ll pick up soon as the Indiana campaign for signatures to get on the ballot gets going.
Edwards UHC plan I think is the best of a market-based approach to providing coverage for all through forcing competition upon private insurers. Its by far my personal #1 issue.