What Happened in West Virginia Stayed In West Virginia
Barack Obama supporters have to be breathing a little easier, just a day after their candidate was crushed in the West Virginia primary by Hillary Clinton 67 to 26 percent, raising fresh concerns that the Illinois senator’s sagging support with white voters might damage his chances in the general election, someone came riding in on a white horse.
Before voters could even begin to second-guess the prospect of the presumptive Democratic nominee being unelectable in the general election, John Edwards, the son of a textile-worker and advocate of the poor and working class, put his stamp of approval on Mr. Obama, and with it came news from CNN , who reported six of the eight pledged delegates Mr. Edwards picked in South Carolina will move to Obama’s column.
Mr. Edwards wasn't the only one hopping on the Obama bandwagon.
California Reps. Howard Berman and Henry Waxman also endorsed Mr. Obama, as did the Communication Workers of America; while the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, a long-time supporter of Mrs. Clinton announced they were switching their support away from the New York senator in favor of Mr. Obama.
While questions still fill the air whether the former North Carolina senator’s support will fire up white blue-collar voters enough to vote for Obama, seeing these two young candidates side-by-side in Grand Rapids, Michigan, brought back memories of how attractive the Clinton/Gore ticket of 1992 and their sense of mission and idealism were, when they butted heads against the old Washington guard and elitism of H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle
In 1992, Bush the elder was 68, Clinton was 45; Gore, 44.
Should Obama tap Edwards, 54, as his running mate (he told pool reporters Wednesday aboard his plane: "I think John Edwards is obviously someone who would be on anybody's short list.") the Democratic ticket would head to the convention in Denver with two young candidates, filled with optimism, and committed to ending an unpopular war and saving the economy from sinking into further despair, all while running an anti-Washington crusade.
The day Gore was picked as Clinton’s VP in 1992, he told the crowd assembled: ``Throughout American history, each generation has passed on leadership to the next," That time has come again, Mr. Gore reminded the crowd assembled in front of the governor’s mansion, the time for a new generation of leadership for the United States of America."
If ever there was a time to pit the young against the old, the populists against the tired Washington elite, anti-war vs. an Iraq apologist, the time is now for Obama and Edwards to come together on a united ticket, hostile to the empty promises of a party who has occupied the White Houe for the last eight years, and opposed to a candidate, John McCain, 71, a tired war-horse if there ever was one- to remind voters, much like Mr. Gore did 16 years ago, that time has come for a new generation to pass leadership on to the next.
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
Before voters could even begin to second-guess the prospect of the presumptive Democratic nominee being unelectable in the general election, John Edwards, the son of a textile-worker and advocate of the poor and working class, put his stamp of approval on Mr. Obama, and with it came news from CNN , who reported six of the eight pledged delegates Mr. Edwards picked in South Carolina will move to Obama’s column.
Mr. Edwards wasn't the only one hopping on the Obama bandwagon.
California Reps. Howard Berman and Henry Waxman also endorsed Mr. Obama, as did the Communication Workers of America; while the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, a long-time supporter of Mrs. Clinton announced they were switching their support away from the New York senator in favor of Mr. Obama.
While questions still fill the air whether the former North Carolina senator’s support will fire up white blue-collar voters enough to vote for Obama, seeing these two young candidates side-by-side in Grand Rapids, Michigan, brought back memories of how attractive the Clinton/Gore ticket of 1992 and their sense of mission and idealism were, when they butted heads against the old Washington guard and elitism of H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle
In 1992, Bush the elder was 68, Clinton was 45; Gore, 44.
Should Obama tap Edwards, 54, as his running mate (he told pool reporters Wednesday aboard his plane: "I think John Edwards is obviously someone who would be on anybody's short list.") the Democratic ticket would head to the convention in Denver with two young candidates, filled with optimism, and committed to ending an unpopular war and saving the economy from sinking into further despair, all while running an anti-Washington crusade.
The day Gore was picked as Clinton’s VP in 1992, he told the crowd assembled: ``Throughout American history, each generation has passed on leadership to the next," That time has come again, Mr. Gore reminded the crowd assembled in front of the governor’s mansion, the time for a new generation of leadership for the United States of America."
If ever there was a time to pit the young against the old, the populists against the tired Washington elite, anti-war vs. an Iraq apologist, the time is now for Obama and Edwards to come together on a united ticket, hostile to the empty promises of a party who has occupied the White Houe for the last eight years, and opposed to a candidate, John McCain, 71, a tired war-horse if there ever was one- to remind voters, much like Mr. Gore did 16 years ago, that time has come for a new generation to pass leadership on to the next.
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
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