And Then There Were Two

This morning the news was leaked that John Edwards will be dropping out of the race, marked by a speech in New Orleans this afternoon. Although it pains me to write the name "John Edwards" next to the phrase "dropping out of the race" it was evident that this scenario would come to bear a long time ago. See, when you run a campaign to fight the fundamental ills of our society it can only be an uphill battle. John set out to bring light to the dire poverty that runs rampant in our country. Of course we don't see it very often, the media and advertisers do a good job of showing you what you should become instead of what actually happens to millions of Americans.

When he announced his candidacy in the Ninth ward over a year ago he showed us that our nation was not working and something had to be done. His participation in the debates and the race as whole moved the two other candidates to speak about progressive issues. John led the way in the debate about health care, fighting poverty and against the corporate greed of Wall Street. Instead of attracting a mega following like Obama, the media dogged him about a haircut, a fucking haircut!

As Barack and Hillary would go after each other in a tit for tat fashion, Edwards tried to calm the two and bring the debate back to the substance and policy ideas that the audience wanted to hear. In fact, when most people watched the three way debate, they favored Edwards...but then the media narrative before and after these events rubbed him out of the picture. The AP's article linked above called his campaign scrappy, but this man is anything but scrappy. He has been an inspiration to us all. His family is an inspiration and his message is as well. Who knows where he goes from here, but his presence will be missed on the campaign trail.