MOMocrats

BREAKING NEWS: Edwards endorses Obama

John Edwards—the reason MOMocrats was started back in September of last year—will endorse Barack Obama tonight.

Read it here.

Go Listen: Edwards' New Poverty Plan

On NPR on Friday, John Edwards talked about more than just party endorsements.  The only thing being reported by most of the media outlets were his statement to Michele Norris about it being difficult to make a "compelling case for the math" of a Clinton nomination. 

While I admit that I was eager for John Edwards to endorse either Clinton or Obama immediately after he dropped out of the race, I now understand why he hasn't.  John and Elizabeth Edwards are using their political capital to support the causes close to their hearts.  For Elizabeth, this is health care.  For John, the issue is poverty.

Now here's the part most media outlets ignored: John Edwards talked to Michelle Norris about his new poverty campaign "Half in Ten."  Half in Ten seeks to cut poverty in half in 10 years and eliminate it in 30 years. He mentions things such as raising the minimum wage, providing access to quality childcare, and expanding the income tax credit as steps to lift people out of poverty. 

Elizabeth Edwards testifies before US Senate on Funding The Cancer Fight, Healthcare reform

Elizabeth Edwards and Lance Armstrong are backing legislation sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, that would create a more comprehensive approach to fighting cancer. Both testified before the U.S. Senate today on the importance of cancer research, prevention and treatment funding.

Christine-Modern English

Go Read It: John & Elizabeth Edwards on Clinton/Obama

If you've ever wondered why the MOMocrats were founded to support John Edwards' candidacy, look no further than this week's People Magazine Article, "What We Like (and Dislike) about Clinton and Obama."  No endorsement from either one, unfortunately, but we do get a glimpse of the discussion around the kitchen table in the Edwards home.

The MOMocrats have been sitting around our virtual kitchen table for months discussing the very same topic as the Edwards, how we like and dislike things about both Clinton and Obama.  We have a few die-hard Obama Mamas, and some Hill-Raisers among us, but many of us still miss the Edwards' presence in the race.

How about John Edwards for Attorney General and Elizabeth Edwards for Secretary of Health & Human Services?  That's a dream team I'd like to see in leadership positions in either a Clinton or Obama administration.

Even Obama Supporter Believes Media Coverage of Hillary is Sexist

I've taken a lot of heat for continuing to talk about my belief that many in the media have treated Hillary Clinton unfairly because of her gender.

Comments like, "If you look hard enough for sexism, you'll find it" or that any sense that the media critiques of Clinton are infused with sexist undertones are mere propaganda, abound in the comments section here and at PunditMom.

I didn't start out being a Hillary supporter, but ended up being one after John Edwards dropped out of the race.  I suppose some people think my opinions on the gender discussion are because I support "the woman" candidate and I'm upset about any attacks on her.  It's not the case -- I'm a feminist from way back.  But trying to convince people otherwise has been a futile act.

So for the naysayers, I wanted to link to this piece by Jessica Wakeman at The Huffington Post, On Sexist Media Coverage of Hillary Clinton.  Jessica, a supporter of Barack Obama, attended an event at The Paley Center for Media in New York (I am so bummed I missed it!), where the discussion,  "From Bella to Hillary: Women, Media and Politics" was a lively one.

The upshot from an evening with so many notable women who are experts on this subject?

There is no absence of "sexist male punditry" in the media today.  But a lot of people don't want to see it, because if they do, they'd have to take some responsibility.

 

Tomorrow We Can Breathe

One more day.

Just one more day.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Primary will be over tomorrow and maybe then, to quote Gerald Ford's speech writer who passed away this weekend, "Our long national nightmare will be over."

Wishful thinking you say?  Maybe.  But I'm sensing that even though there are many who believe this will play out until the convention in Denver, my gut says something is going to happen in Pennsylvania that will change all that. 

Maybe we're all just too tired to keep listening.  Maybe each candidates' supporters are beating each other down and we're just too weary to continue.  But I'm sensing there will soon be a shift in this campaign.

While some have not believed me when I've written that my farming parents in Pennsylvania still are on the fence about who to vote for, I spoke with them this weekend and they are still undecided about whether they're going for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.  But they'll have to choose tomorrow.

I realized after a quick yoga class this morning, though, that no matter what happens tomorrow, we can all get through it if we just breathe.

Why I'm Having a Hard Time With Barack Obama

Barack Obama never misses an opportunity to get a personal dig in at Hillary Clinton.  While he tries to remind us all of her negative campaign style, his negative approach is to kill her with a thousand cuts.  More subtle, but no less effective.

Before you all start attacking me, hear me out. 

No matter what Hillary Clinton says -- negative or positive -- Obama seems to find a way to minimize her in a way I am sure he would not do if his opponent had a Y chromosome.

Here is this week's example:

This sounded less like a counterpunch against a worthy opponent than a weary husband complaining to his buds about the nagging little woman. 

"Turned the knife?"  When was the last time you heard any candidate make a remark like that about another male candidate?  And do you think for a minute Obama would have done the shoulder-brush move if he was talking about the male war hero?  Or the former male vice-presidential candidate?

Don't think so.   

A John Edwards Endorsement...

...of Kawasaki jet-skis. Psych!

He was on The Colbert Report last night, and killed. I mean, comedy chops like nobody's business. (It was a heavy hitters of the Democratic Party trifecta: Clinton and Obama also made appearances. Clinton started off the show.)

Edwards stood up for the white male voter and his neglected interests. Take a look:

Obama closed out the show.

And there was more substance and issues, if not a smattering information on candidates' platforms, in six minutes and thirty on The Colbert Report than in ten times that on the ABC "debate" the night before. You know, the debate where the viewer had to bring all the substance?

Cynematic's personal blog is P i l l o w b o o k.

Follow the Leader -- Elizabeth Edwards at the Center for American Progress

It's no secret that many of us here at MOMocrats are big fans -- I mean BIG fans -- of Elizabeth Edwards.  She's long been a woman after my own heart -- politically-oriented, not afraid to speak her mind, at the ready to set the MSM straight when it's needed.

She's not afraid to take on the McCain, as she proved recently when she took him to task for his version of health care for America.

Even though her husband's race for the Presidency is over, Elizabeth is not resting her political voice.  She's joined the progressive think tank Center for American Politics as a senior fellow on health care issues.  Plus, she won't be far from the blogosphere -- she'll be contributing to the CAP blog, Wonk Room, as well.

Elizabeth Edwards on Universal Health Care -- "I'm for Ideas That Succeed."

As I posted a couple of weeks ago, Elizabeth Edwards is speaking out against John McCain's health care plan (such as it is) and endorsing Hillary Clinton's proposal.  Why not just come out and endorse Hillary as a candidate?

Just as I would expect her to say, Elizabeth Edwards believes that she and her husband John can do more good for the country speaking out on the issues that matter most to them.  For her?  She wants to spend what political capital she has talking about improving health care.

As for her husband?  She believes he will continue to advocate for and work toward ending poverty in this country.

If they don't qualify as the new dynamic duo, I don't know who does. 

When she's not dreaming of an Edwards/Edwards ticket for the White House, you can find Joanne at her place, PunditMom, where she's thinking up new ways to get all political.