Sat
Jan 26 2008
11:25 am
Edwards in WaPo
By: Pam Strickland

(link...)

Interesting story on John Edwards in today's Washington Post.

pgs

Topics:
JaHu's picture

Just Curious

Submitted by JaHu on Sat, 2008/01/26 - 12:58pm.

I may be mistaken about this, but wasn't there a time in this country when the media was supposed to give equal coverage to all of the candidates?

Adrift in the Sea of Humility

captainkona's picture

Once upon a time in america

Submitted by captainkona on Sat, 2008/01/26 - 2:07pm.

When the media was more about News than money, yes. Now the big media is 100% corporate and it's simply not in their best financial interests to support candidates that will tax them or try to keep them honest, or prevent monopolies.
The MSM is about money and could care less about people. Thus, Hillary and Obama get the press. Neither one of them can beat the Republican candidate in November and the Corporate Media knows it.
And in the event they're wrong and Hillary wins in Nov., she's still a corporate whore and they can live with that for four years. Win-Win situation for corporate interests.

The thing that grieves me the most about it is that so many Democrats are swallowing the bait hook, line, and sinker. The spineless voters that consistently vote for the kind of spineless Democrats we've been having to put up with for the past seven years are at it again.
They're like one big Rubber Stamp brigade. They complain about war, privacy issues, etc...then support Democrats that advocate war, the Patriot Act, the Real ID....
And at the moment, Netroots is failing miserably to support the only true liberal candidate left in the race which is John Edwards.

I continue to hold out hope for an enlightening, but it's not looking good at the moment.
Still early though :)


"The mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open."

Eleanor A's picture

I really don't understand

Submitted by Eleanor A on Sun, 2008/01/27 - 9:13pm.

I really don't understand this emphasis on Edwards not taking lobbyist money, when he absolutely takes money from corporations that employ lobbyists. What's the discernible difference, again...?

From Opensecrets.org, top contributors to Edwards...

ActBlue $1,965,274
Fortress Investment Group $187,850
Stearns, Weaver et al $131,000
Lerach, Coughlin et al $93,950
Goldman Sachs $77,100
Whitten, Nelson et al $66,250
Girardi & Keese $64,400
Beasley, Allen et al $61,850
Watts Law Firm $61,000
Morgan & Morgan $60,050
Skadden, Arps et al $54,950
Deutsche Bank AG $54,750
Citigroup Inc $49,200

Goldman Sachs:

The firm closely monitors issues including economic policy, trade and nearly all legislation that governs the financial sector. It has been a major proponent of privatizing Social Security as well as legislation that would essentially deregulate the investment banking/securities industry. In August 2002, following months of corporate scandals, congressional investigators launched a probe into whether stock analysts at Goldman Sachs issued biased investment advice in order to protect corporate clients.

Citigroup:

Citigroup is the world’s second largest financial services firm, with $1 trillion in assets. One of the company’s subsidiaries is brokerage firm Salomon Smith Barney, which has been plagued with lawsuits and government investigations into its financing of bankrupt Enron and ailing WorldCom. In 1998, Citigroup’s lobbying helped repeal a federal law that prevented banks from getting into other businesses, allowing the company to acquire an insurance firm. Citigroup continues to lobby on a number of issues, including financial privacy, bankruptcy reform and terrorism reinsurance.

Article in Washpost on Fortress Investment Group, which has a storied history in trying to help corporations avoid paying income taxes. I seem to remember a flap a while ago in which a subsidiary of Fortress was helping speed up foreclosures in Katrina-struck neighborhoods in New Orleans.

I'm not saying it's not great that the majority of Edwards' supporters have given through ActBlue...but to pretend he's somehow above reproach in regard to taking corporate money is disingenuous.

Eleanor A's picture

Clinton isn't appropriating

Submitted by Eleanor A on Sun, 2008/01/27 - 9:23pm.

Clinton isn't appropriating a halo when comparing herself to the other two candidates on this issue.

bizgrrl's picture

The corporations can't hide

Submitted by bizgrrl on Mon, 2008/01/28 - 6:20am.

The corporations can't hide behind the lobbyist?
It's more straight forward?

R. Neal's picture

To me, this is the money

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2008/01/28 - 7:56am.

To me, this is the money quote from that article:

Retiree Virginia McDaniel at the Giant Burger: "He needs to get those books of quotes that the Kennedys used for their speeches. I think he has the beliefs, but he doesn't have the memorable words."

Other than virtually no media coverage prior to SC, maybe that's why Edwards isn't getting traction -- the primaries have become all about personality instead of policy.

Maybe Edwards ought to put on his trial lawyer hat and pretend he's got a weak case and all of the evidence is against him (because it's about personality and perception, not policy or facts). So in closing arguments, instead of talking about real problems and solutions and policies and all that stuff, he should go for the emotional appeal and convince the jury that they should decide for him just because. Just because he's a fighter, he'll look out for you working people, make America a safer better place for everyone, blah blah blah without saying how or why or anything of substance. Go for the jury nullification, so to speak.

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