The Poetist

*This is the first post in what will likely be a series on why I support John Edwards.  I’ll post about my experiences too… later.

A lot of the candidates have good positions – they’re all very intelligent and driven people; but there is one thing that only John Edwards seems to realize and that is: that the source of America’s strength is the American people. The fact that America has a lot of problems right now is not in question, and I think that’s a direct reflection of the problems facing individual Americans. How can we expect international leadership if we don’t have domestic leadership? And how can we expect domestic leadership or results from a president who doesn’t directly address the problems facing individuals and crippling the nation? We can’t. A lot of candidates have great plans for restoring America’s position vis-a-vis the international community, but honestly – things will not change until the American people are empowered and enabled. And that’s the change that a John Edwards administration will bring.

John’s policies are solid across the board, but his dedication and commitment to strengthening the position of each and every American, whether through ensuring access to healthcare, creating green-collar jobs that will benefit both the environment and the economy, or cleaning up the mess of illegal immigration, always shows.

A president that cares as much about the American people as John does almost seems too good to be true. But it’s not! John’s policies are realistic, and here’s why:

He is not starting from scratch; he’s following through on issues he has been committed to for a long time. His message on poverty is nothing new – and he’s not waiting until he’s the president to do something about it. He founded a Center for Poverty Research at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill law school. He wants to increase American volunteerism and community participation at home and abroad with an environmental service group within Americorps and with the establishment of a “Marshall Corps” of professionals that can work on international stabilization and humanitarian projects. This is in addition to the successful One Corps program he and Elizabeth started. John simply wants to offer the whole country ideas that have already proven to be successful, the biggest of them being the College for Everyone program. Again, he started this as a successful non-profit in NC and wants to bring it to the entire country. He wants to offer a year of paid tuition, fees and books to any student willing to work part-time – thus offering thousands of Americans the opportunity to boost their incomes by $1,000,000 over the course of their careers. Talk about empowerment!

John is committed to the American people and he can stay committed because he has never taken money from corporate lobbyists (or Wall Street insiders – and that’s something no other major candidate can claim). That means there is nobody he has to answer to except the American people, and that’s how he’ll get it done.

This post has to be quick. I’m really hungry, but I’m comfortably ensconced in the top bunk and I’d rather just get on with it and go to bed instead of getting out.

The 2-day trip out here was thankfully uneventful, especially because we were driving a congressman’s car. Apparently on Saturday there was a huge ice storm… there were remnants of its damage strewn on the shoulders of the interstate: bent guardrails, cars in ditches, and most notably a toppled tractor trailer which had caused traffic to be diverted so its shipment could be unloaded. Luckily the worst weather we ran into was heavy rain.

We got to the Des Moines office around 5:30pm, and someone promptly put us (me, my dad, and the intern that rode with us) to work making phone calls about an event happening tomorrow. Just for the record, the office is not glamorous; but it is spacious, and that’s the important thing. I found out that I’m going to be an organizer. Not sure yet what I’ll be doing, but at least I have some kind of title. I think I’m going to get an email address too!

Another organizer and I are staying in the home of an Edwards’ supporter… so it’s basically like a homestay, but in Iowa. The family is nice and the house is very roomy. Our ‘host mom’ is really thoughtful and moved her two sons out of their bedroom and into the guestroom so that we could have a roomier space. After having a cup of tea with the parents and their two daughters I set to unpacking… and more or less took over a whole corner of the room. One of my main goals here is to stay warm, so to that end I brought 3 pairs of boots, 4 pairs of gloves, 5 scarves and countless sweaters. And I have all of them within easy reach.

Tomorrow is my first real day on the job and it starts with an 8:30am meeting. Goodnight!