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<DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">Alyssa:</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">Edwards's campaign sent out an e-mail explaining his stand and he IS calling for a timetable, not saying that there should be no timetable. He wants troops home in a year. So it's a watered down version of "troops out now," which by the way, Kucinich says all the time. This campaign strategy to position Edwards as a peace candidate does not change his stand on Iran and his support from AIPAC. (His supporters, along with supporters of several other candidates, wre recently profiled in the Chronicle, and AIPAC was listed.) In other words, he's still ready to involve us in another war and to allow Israel to continue to murder people in the Middle East using our tax dolars. In other words, his overall vision stinks. It's not a peaceful vision, but like his stupid universal health insurance plan, a patchwork that smacks of "progressive" but promises business as usual. Listen to Molly ivins: look at the record. His meager record (Come on, his only government experience is six years in the Senate.) is one of following the corporate dollar. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">Another thing I've noticed: he's borrowing a lot of rhetoric from Kucinich's Web site. I said this to another friend and she thought it was great that he was getting on the peace train. But what he's trying to do is win over progressives with fuzzy, less principled stands than those of Kucinich.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">As far as I'm concerned, it's Kucinich's vision that sets him way apart from a hack like Edwards. Edwards tried to avoid even mentioning the occupation in 2004. His handlers have probably advised him that he needs to talk more about it. What will he really do? I think he'll just keep that presence in Iraq that Hillary and Obama are always talking about and </FONT><FONT size=4>move the rest of the troops to the next Middle East country that the press vilifies, i.e., Iran. I just wish he was still in the Senate so everyone would see how little he would actually push his call for a timetable and no funding. Let's stop talking about supporting Edwards and the fear that if we vote in the primaries for a "loser" like Kucinich we'll risk losing a great "progressive" like Edwards. Let's start worrying about losing a great progressive like Kucinich.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>Kathleen Kain</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:kkain1@earthlink.net">kkain1@earthlink.net</A></DIV>
<DIV>EarthLink Revolves Around You.</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=aburgin4peace@gmail.com href="mailto:aburgin4peace@gmail.com">Alyssa Burgin</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A title=ie3456@yahoo.com href="mailto:ie3456@yahoo.com">Ivan Espinosa</A>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc: </B><A title=graham2639@mindspring.com href="mailto:graham2639@mindspring.com">graham2639@mindspring.com</A>; <A title=discuss@paa-tx.org href="mailto:discuss@paa-tx.org">discuss@paa-tx.org</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 9/5/2007 10:25:06 PM </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [PAA-Discuss] Edwards and Kucinich</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2>Okay, you asked for feedback, so I'm giving it, but....<BR><BR>Well, I'll go this far. I do not believe that Edwards is as much in bed with the corporations as is Hillary or even Obama (he has serious ties to the coal industry, and I don't like the stances that he takes on emissions that I am sure are directly a result of that---there we go, campaign finance reform again!). I also believe that Edwards at least understands who the "common man" is. <BR><BR>I think Edwards would make a helluva lot better president than most of the people running for the office, yes, I will go that far. To imagine him as president and his intelligent, thoughtful wife as first lady is a far cry better than the boobs we have now. And no, you can't say they're all the same, because they're not. Edwards has a "sign" on his site now saying that there should be no timetable, troops home now. Not too many other people saying that in national political circles, they don't have that much guts. <BR><BR>Kucinich is by far the candidate with the least ethics and judgment issues. If I were to analyze all that on some chart somewhere, there is no doubt that Kucinich is in line with the core beliefs that my organization works for, although of course, we don't take a stand. <BR><BR>I remember once in a campaign in Austin, back when I was a political consultant, I was working for a progressive student PAC, and we made endorsements and then tried to get students to vote for our candidates. We had a race wherein we didn't like any of the candidates all that much, but one of them, we knew to be a slimeball. We called that the "ABC" race. "Anybody but Caveness." I think a lot of Democrats are probably thinking that way--next November they'll say "Anybody but Romney," or "Anybody but Thompson" or whomever. They'll hold their proverbial noses and vote for someone like Hillary or Obama or Edwards, if that is the choice. <BR><BR>But with all the people we have in these United States, can't we do BETTER?<BR><BR>Alyssa Burgin<BR><BR>
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 9/5/07, <B class=gmail_sendername>Ivan Espinosa</B> <<A href="mailto:ie3456@yahoo.com"> ie3456@yahoo.com</A>> wrote:</SPAN>
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<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=verdana>Here is a comment that was made on the CommonDreams.org article about Kucinich/Edwards. I don't necessarily agree with the author's commentary, but he does raise a valid point.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
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<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=verdana>Here it is: </FONT></STRONG></DIV>
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<DIV><EM>"I was a Kucinich supporter in '04; I even worked as a volunteer on his campaign. And I still have an immense amount of admiration for the courageous stands that he takes. He is the prophet of the Democratic Party. </EM></DIV>
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<DIV><EM>But I agree with this article's analysis. Edwards is a great progressive candidate–quite possibly the best progressive candidate who has been given a least something of a fighting chance in a very long time. Edwards has his flaws, to be sure (his health care plan especially, though it is certainly better than C's or O's, along with his initial support of the Iraq authorization). But he is as progressive as he can possibly be at this juncture and not be treated as a pariah by the media.</EM></DIV>
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<DIV><EM>I don't like it that Kucinich is marginalized, for his ideas are worthy. But Edwards gives us the chance to push towards real, substantive change. If we go get Edwards as President, we will be MUCH closer to achieving our goals than either O or C (or any of the GOP, of course). By all indications, he is also probably the most electable Democrat running, even including the marginalized candidates. So we have the perfect, enviable scenario of having someone who would likely be the most progressive President in my lifetime, and he is well-liked, even by people who get their news from the traditional media. Edwards's progressive populist message is a breath of fresh air, in many respects an echo of Kucinich's message in '04, but with the very exciting additional feature that is being taken seriously (just barely enough) to give him a fighting chance.</EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM>Is Edwards perfect? Certainly not. But if we progressives miss the chance to support him and help propel him forward, I believe will come to deeply regret our mistake. </EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM>I also agree with the author that Edwards about his sincerity. Yes, he is wealthy–and I am actually one of those people who is deeply suspicious of all wealth–but at least he came from the working class. He is making a sharp, principled critique of corporate power in Washington, and he is offering specific proposals which, though imperfect, can be used to hold him accountable for his progressive populist promises. He is our best shot right now." </EM></DIV>
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<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=verdana>Any Feedback? Kris? Alyssa? Bill? Charlie? Kathleen? Aleithia? Anybody?<BR></FONT></STRONG><BR><A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:graham2639@mindspring.com" target=_blank><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>graham2639@mindspring.com</FONT></EM></A><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><U> wrote:</U></FONT></EM></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black"><A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Edwards.htm" target=_blank><EM>http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Edwards.htm</EM></A></SPAN></FONT><EM><FONT color=#0000ff> </FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.ontheissues.org/Dennis_Kucinich.htm" target=_blank><EM>http://www.ontheissues.org/Dennis_Kucinich.htm</EM></A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><EM></EM></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Above are links that will take you to the On the Issues website. I have included John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich as a comparison for everyone. These two candidates are rated based on their stands on the issues. You can review the other Democrat and Republican candidates if you wish. They all should be listed. </FONT></EM></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><EM><FONT color=#0000ff></FONT></EM></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#0000ff size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><EM>I noticed on the Brains and Eggs blog this morning, that Perry listed some more bloggers who are endorsing John Edwards for president. While the On the Issues website has Edwards listed as a "populist leaning liberal", I just don't trust him. He says some good things, but I have to wonder if he is not saying these things just to get elected. Dennis is listed as a "hard core liberal". Even though he changed his mind from being Pro Life to Pro Choice, I think Dennis' stance on the issues has remained virtually unchanged. Please correct me if I am wrong on this. </EM></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><EM><FONT color=#0000ff></FONT></EM></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#0000ff size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><EM>Take a look at the website and tell me what you think.</EM></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#0000ff size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><EM></EM></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#0000ff size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><EM>Kris</EM></SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><SPAN class=ad>
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