Why John Edwards?

Dear Friends,

First, I’d like to plug an event I’m co-hosting with Tom Carsner tomorrow, Wednesday, December 19^th, from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Fair Grounds Coffeehouse, 345 S. Dubuque Street in Iowa City.  Tom and I will lead a discussion of John Edwards’ campaign and ideas.  If you’re undecided about whom to support for President, or if you’ve made up your mind but would still like to be a part of the discussion, I hope you’ll join us. 

Yes, I know, the caucus season has grown wearisome.  It’s truly an honor to be first in the nation, but it’s a tremendous responsibility as well.  Over the past 1½ years, I have come to know John personally.  He and Elizabeth have become friends, and I am confident of their sincerity when they speak out against poverty and injustice.  There is no doubt in my mind that John Edwards will make a great president, and that he is both the most progressive and the most electable candidate.

I became interested in John Edwards’ candidacy when I heard him speak about poverty at a conference in Washington, D.C. in July of 2006.  The fact that any candidate for President would be seriously, genuinely interested in poverty impressed me.  In visiting with him after his talk, I pointed out an aspect of his poverty plan that I felt could be improved.  The next time I heard him speak on the subject, John had incorporated my suggested change!

John Edwards listens.  He is the kind of charismatic thinker, listener and communicator I want representing America to the world.  All his adult life, John has worked to take on powerful corporate interests, like insurance and drug companies, and he has won repeatedly on behalf of regular people.  His proposals are clear, progressive and set him apart from other candidates.

He is the only presidential candidate never to accept donations from PACs and Washington lobbyists, and he is the only candidate to use the federal public financing system to fund his campaign.

He is calling for a moratorium on new coal-fired plants until carbon-capture technology is developed.

He has called for an end to the construction of nuclear power plants.

He wants a national moratorium on the construction and expansion of hog confinements.

He has made fighting poverty a key cornerstone of his platform, and anti-poverty initiatives have been an important part of his life’s work.

He was the first candidate to pledge to lead an international effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

He was the first candidate to articulate a bold plan for universal health care.

He is committed to ending combat missions in Iraq within ten months of taking office.  The only troops remaining in Iraq will be those guarding the U.S. embassy or helping with humanitarian efforts, and John will prohibit permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

He will close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, ban the use of torture and end illegal spying on Americans.

What’s most exciting to me is this:  JOHN EDWARDS IS NOT ONLY THE MOST PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE BUT ALSO THE MOST ELECTABLE!  A wide range of polls shows that John Edwards wins against all Republican opponents, particularly in key battleground states like Missouri, Ohio, Virginia and Oklahoma.

And at this time of enormous crisis, when America has lost its way, when we are mired in a tragic war that most Republican presidential candidates want to continue indefinitely, when 47 million Americans lack adequate access to health care, we need a President like John Edwards more than ever.  This is an election we simply cannot afford to lose.

As someone who found a role model and mentor in the late Senator Paul Wellstone, I’d like to reference a story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune (In The Name of His Father, August 28, 2007).  Bill Lofy, a Wellstone biographer who was also an intern and former staff person for Wellstone, says, “Whether you call yourself a Wellstone Democrat or not, are you speaking to the issues that he spent a career fighting for?  What it really comes down to is fundamental messages.  In reality, those are reflected by John Edwards.”  The article goes on to say, “Indeed, some of Edwards’ policies and actions seem to mirror those of Wellstone.  Wellstone embarked on a poverty tour in 1998 that followed the model of Robert F. Kennedy’s in 1968.  Edwards did the same this year.”

I hope you’ll join me in caucusing for John Edwards on January 3^rd.  Iowa could well decide the nomination . . . and whether or not Democrats will have a candidate who can lead us to victory in 2008 and bring about the changes America so desperately needs.

Sincerely,

Ed Fallon