Here's the post I promised Eliot about the email he sent me last week urging me to vote for Edwards. I haven't made up my mind yet. Cause caucuses are alright cause you can go and vote on issues to bring up, which I will most certainly do. Here's Eliot's email:
"...In the meantime, i think you really should take a close look at edwards and kerry, and when you do, you will probably find you like kerry slightly more. BUT, that can be thrown out the window, because he's not that electable. I dont understand why the media has pronounced him- to quote the NYTimes- "mr electable". I find this absurd, as he is only slightly better at appealing to the center than Dean. I continue to find it amazing that when people backed away from Dean in the final days before Iowa, they fell back on Kerry-- the choice they had abandoned a year ago. Mark my words: had wes clark been in iowa, we would have a very different race today.
Anyway, I feel edwards is much more electable (and you can post this in your blog, if you feel the need) on a number of counts
-He certainly is more likable and charismatic than kerry, and I would say more likable than Bush. His JFK good looks and his friendly-Clinton manner of speaking are very appealing to silly undecideds. In 2000, we witnessed the power of "likability" as a factor in voters' minds.
-Bush and the right will have far less ammo on him (I consider this to be very very important), as he just hasn't been around much. He hasn't made many votes, isnt' hypocrtical when he assails Nafta (kerry voted for nafta), and takes positions which really speak to the prosperity of the lower and middle classes. What are they gonna do? call him a dirty lawyer (yes).
Granted, he's inexperienced, but that didn't stop bush last time around. But i do admit it's a liability.
Overall, i think Kerry comes off as too stiff, too liberal, too out-of-touch, too northeastern, and too beatable. Both he and edwards are fighters, and both have very similar values at heart. kerry just appears more vulnerable to attacks-- attacks which the Right wing mount every day
those are my thoughts- vote edwards, i will (I like kerry as my senator!)
Eliot"
I think I am finding Edwards kind of annoying. And Kerry a bit tiring. And they are both just alike. My grandpa is not going to the caucuses tonight (I invited him) because he thinks it will just end up with Kerry winning and Edwards running as VP anyway, so he doesn't want to bother, he will go out in November.
Does Edwards look old enough to be trusted with this office? I dunno. People want someone who looks experienced. Yeah, people say he's got the charm (I've never actually seen him speak).
I was looking over their campaign websites at their health plans, and Kerry seems to focus mainly on people below the poverty line, while Edwards says he will mandate insurance coverage of children under 25 (ie if I drop out of school I will still be on my parents' insurance until I am 25, not 18). Edwards says he will go for reimportation of American drugs, which I am not such a big fan of. Erin, we already discussed that one. They have a lot of the same talking points -- subtle differences which I don't think will matter in the end cause platforms are always a lot bigger than what actually happens. Kerry was pushing for greater employment coverage though, and I'm sitting here thinking, ok, well, I'm unemployed, I'm not technically under the poverty line even if I got a job and moved out on my own cause my parents still claim me as a dependent, but I'll get kicked off insurance soon, and I can't afford to buy my own. Who's gonna help me out? If I can't maintain a steady job (or only get one where it's the under-the-table pay as I worked this summer at
Rant over.
