John Edwards: The Substance of Change

As I predicted yesterday, John Edwards' candidacy has a great chance to stun the dullard pundit class, who seem insistent on an Obama-Clinton throwdown. It was nice to see my analysis parroted by Keith Olbermann on Countdown last night. ( See video below) It'd be nicer if he credited me, but I guess that's just the Colbert in him.

I'm going to try and finish doing these "Substance of..." pieces before New Hampshire, and perhaps publish a round-up, with my own summation. It's Edwards' turn. I didn't do him earlier because I had published a different, very positive piece on him just before the Iowa Caucus, and I wanted to be balanced. For the uninitiated, I will review the candidate's positions from his own website, along with my own analysis. I filter the positions through the prism of my own beliefs, mainly to demonstrate what I believe to be the first real step in deciding for whom to vote, rather than listening to skewed polls, gaffe-and-fluff coverage, nonsense criteria like "electability", and pundits with agendas of their own.

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PD toolbar!As with the other candidates, I'm going to review selected issues from John's online platform, but I encourage you to read all of it. In my summation, I will discuss other factors, but understanding the candidates' positions is paramount to making a sound decision in the voting booth.

There's a lot here, more even than at Barack Obama's website, and there's even an 80 page PDF booklet. Here are what I think are the highlights:

Economic Policy - "Restoring our moral authority means leading by example and making clear that the hard challenges don't frighten us. There is no better opportunity than the challenge of poverty – the great moral issue of our time." -- John Edwards

Some have questioned the wisdom of making poverty his signature issue, and I do think John needs to include in his message, not just the moral imperative, but the fact that poverty costs all of us better lives, and gains us nothing. A nation without poverty is a nation with little crime, less drug abuse, lower healthcare costs, less emergency social spending, and more ability to be a leader in the world.

His anti-poverty plan is comprehensive and sound, centered around building a "Working Society." Job creation, increasing and indexing the minimum wage, supporting unions, reforming housing and lending policy, supporting public education, and supporting families are all parts of his plan to help working people and people working. The Republicans like to say, "A rising tide lifts all boats." Edwards wants to make sure we all have a boat.

Education - "There is nothing more important to our future than our country's schools. We all pay a price when young people who could someday find the cure for AIDS or make a fuel cell work are sitting on a stoop because they didn't get the education they needed." -- John Edwards

Reforming No Child Left Behind is pro forma in all of these platforms. I like that Edwards' focuses on making the standards fairer, rather than just addressing the funding issues that other plans obsess about. He also proposes pay incentives to reward high-performing teachers and schools in needy areas. It's a nifty way to reward merit without weakening unions.

Healthcare - "This is a moral issue. I will stand up to the big drug and insurance companies and guarantee health care for every American, while cutting costs and improving care." -- John Edwards


Forty-seven million Americans lack insurance and families and businesses are struggling to pay skyrocketing premiums. Edwards has proposed a specific plan for truly universal health care that will take on the insurance and drug companies, cover every man, woman, and child in America, and get better care at lower cost.

Edwards' plan is similar to other Democrats' in that it espouses Universal Insurance. Noting again my own objection to that notion, it's the best of what's being offered. A key to Edwards' plan that I haven't seen elsewhere is allowing individuals to band together and negotiate a group rate on a regional basis. This demonstrates that Edwards' familiarity with this issue is deeper than that of the other candidates. Under the other Democrats' model, people can buy into a national plan, like FEHBP (Federal Employee Health Benefits Program), but then they are rated in the larger risk pool, a disadvantage to many.

He also proposes that, after several reforms are enacted, Americans be required to carry health insurance. Again, not my ideal solution, but certainly better than what else is out there.

His plan also addresses increasing America's readiness to respond to a public health crisis, something I haven't seen elsewhere.

Foreign Policy - "We don't need debate; we don't need non-binding resolutions; we need to end this war. In order to get the Iraqi people to take responsibility for their country, we must show them that we are serious about leaving, and the best way to do that is to actually start leaving." -- John Edwards

Edwards supports the immediate withdrawal of 40,000-50,000 troops from Iraq and the complete withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq within nine to ten months. He correctly identifies regional diplomacy as the key to any stability in Iraq. He also has plans for leading on humanitarian crises like Darfur, and for engaging Iran. Restoring America's moral leadership in the world is key to enlisting aid in pressuring Iran to behave itself, and Edwards, like other Democrats, knows this.

Civil Liberties - "We are not the country of Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. We are not the country of secret surveillance and government behind closed doors. We are Americans, and we're better than that." -- John Edwards

America must do whatever it takes to defeat terrorism, but securing a lasting victory will take moral as well as military strength. President Bush's failure to respect the Constitution and our commitment to the fundamental rule of law has badly damaged our security and our standing in the world. President Bush has sent a message that torture and other human rights violations are acceptable, creating a precedent of disregard for the law that is being exploited by terrorists and repressive governments across the world. We must restore our moral leadership in the world, and we should begin here at home. If we want to spread democracy abroad, we must strengthen democracy in America, including our constitutional freedoms and the rule of law.

Say No to Torture - Ban torture, extraordinary rendition.
Restore Habeas Corpus and Shut Down Guantanamo
Protect Americans' Privacy and Freedom - End warrantless wiretapping, data-mining, and racial profiling, reform the PATRIOT Act.
Defend the Constitution - No more "signing statements", no politicizing the Justice Dept., greater transparency, no immunity for telecomms

This is all good to me, decidedly lacking any Republican-lite equivocation on civil liberties as relates to terrorism.

Energy and Environment - "Our generation must be the one that says, 'we must halt global warming.' Our generation must be the one that says 'yes' to renewable fuels and ends forever our dependence on foreign oil. And our generation must be the one that builds the new energy economy. It won't be easy, but it is time to ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war." – John Edwards

Wow, there's a lot here, so I'll just highlight 2 things that I liked. First, he ties the issue of energy and environment to the economy. Republicans act like there's no money in new energy, but what they know is, it's just not the money they already have.

Secondly, I like Edwards' rasing of fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon by 2016, the most ambitious standard I've seen. I'm tired of hearing automakers cry, when I remember those GEO commercials from the early '90s where they got 60 mpg. Spare me.

Finally, the reason Edwards is my new favorite candidate. He's the only one I've seen address gay and trans issues right in his platform. He took some flack for some gaffe-ish quote about needing to work on feeling comfortable with gays, but the proof of the pudding is in the platform here. Comfy or not, he will protect the rights of LGBTQ Americans. He supports the repeal of DOMA, supports a trans-inclusive ENDA, and Civil Unions.

There's been a narrative going around since Iowa that Obama and Edwards are redundant "change" candidates. My examination belies that. Edwards' policies go farther than Obama's in many respects. Stay tuned for my summation to see if that's a good thing.

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