A Message (Mainly) For The Edwards Campaign

Aside from “reporting” on an anatomically correct model of Jesus appearing in someone’s bed and the new, improved design of miniature toy cars in time for holiday shopping (God, I don’t even want to deal with that yet), CNN bothered to inform us that the candidates from the Democratic Party seeking the nomination to run for president have arrived in these parts for another debate tonight.

And with that in mind, I want to point out that John Edwards gave another terrific speech yesterday in New Hampshire, hitting on all of the important issues of the campaign (you can read it here; it’s truly great, stirring stuff).

Every issue, that is, except one; I did a text search for FISA, and couldn’t find anything.

And that is sad.

Yes, I know the person who owns this issue now, and rightly so, is Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. And it is also a fair reward that his campaign has gotten a huge shot in the arm over it.

But even though Dodd has hit on what is for me personally, aside from the war, the most important issue facing us of many important issues (health care is third, but not by much), I’m sure that, if I were to ask Dodd about it directly, he would say that this issue is owned truly by all Americans (certainly all Democrats and supporters of Democratic candidates, as well as other U.S. citizens regardless of political affiliation – I would include Republican supporters and their candidates too because that statement covers them also, but unfortunately, they’re apparently too busy letting demagogues frighten them and actually taking people like Fred Thompson seriously to join the fight with us).

And John Edwards and the other Democratic candidates should stand up and say that, though they may not agree with Dodd on other issues, they sure as hell are with him on this fight (and to get an idea of Dodd’s newfound clout because of his brave stand, consider the fact that Little Timmeh Russert thought Dodd was suddenly important enough to invite him on his little Sunday morning gab fest so he could pretend to be nice and then try to bust Dodd’s kneecaps for speaking out against the preznit).

Also concerning the Edwards campaign, I should point out the fact that he has received numerous endorsements from the Latino and LGBT communities (here and here; in addition to standing with Dodd, he should play up this support also as part of an “Act 2” to this campaign that I haven’t seen yet, though I think “Act 1” has been great; partly my fault too I guess because I didn’t mention it earlier myself).

One more note; former Senator John, do me a favor and forget about taking pot shots at Hillary Clinton, OK? Even though some are deserved, particularly on her vote for the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, overplaying that hand just ends up generating more focus on her, and that’s the last thing you need at this point. As I said, you need an “Act 2” that expands on the vision of “Act 1,” and nobody likes a whiner.

This is actually a pivotal moment for the Edwards campaign, and I’m sure he realizes that; not only is Dodd ascendant, but the Obama campaign is stuck over this weird stumble on Donnie McClurkin (so…replacing a black bigot with a white gay Southern preacher is supposed to be a counterbalance? This is a “duuh” moment worthy of Frederick of Hollywood, not a presidential candidate endorsed by Patrick Murphy, among others. And suddenly refocusing on removing the cap on earnings subject to Social Security withholding, while a good position, is the wrong way to deflect criticism and actually trivializes a good move on another important issue).

And with Dodd now leading the opposition to the nomination of Mike Mukasey for AG (and I had a feeling that someone would stand up against him since he seemed to indicate that Dubya could be above the law, as well as the fact that Mukasey had trouble with the fact that waterboarding is actually, truly and for real, torture), the Connecticut senator has now taken the lead on another critical issue reflecting the administration of justice in this country (to be fair, though, Obama has joined that fight also).

So there are a few challenges facing the Edwards campaign, though I believe they can be overcome (and another reason to forget about HRC is that our corporate media has already pronounced her the winner, though given their abominable track record – a big part of the reason why we face so many problems in this country – I wouldn’t concern myself with it; Edwards should be true to himself and his campaign first and foremost as he has been, showing courage and vision throughout, and hold his head high regardless of the outcome).