Persona Non Grata

A few days ago I posted about a couple of politicians that the Republican Party didn't want at their convention, and went out of their way to ignore in convention speeches because frankly, they were an embarrassment to the party -- George W. Bush and Michael Steele. The Democrats are not immune to this phenomena themselves. They have their own persona non grata politician -- John Edwards.

Edwards was once a rising star in the party, and many thought he had a good chance to become president someday. To my own shame, I once supported Edwards (for a short period in 2008 after Richards dropped out, and before it was obvious that the race was between Obama and Clinton). A lot of other Democrats have that same dark memory.

But that was before Edwards revealed his true nature -- as a scumbag. We now know that Edwards cheated on his wife while she was battling cancer, had a child with his mistress, and misused campaign money to pay that mistress of in an effort to save his political career. He was an adulterer and a criminal (regardless of whether he was finally convicted), and he was a liar. He lied to his wife and family, to his staff and supporters, to Democrats, and to the American people in general.

Edwards will not be at the convention in Charlotte. He was not invited and is not wanted there -- either by party leaders or delegates. And while he hasn't shown himself to be the brightest bulb on the tree, he is smart enough to know that he would not be received well if he went. Democrats are still angry at him (and he would stand a better chance of being tarred and feathered and ridden out on a rail, than being accepted or praised).

No one can predict the future, and there might be a time in the distant future when Edwards will again be accepted in the party (if he is able to suppress his narcissism and truly become repentant for his actions). But that time is not now. Currently, he's just a bad memory for most Democrats.

Good News For John Edwards (Sort Of)

The last few months have not been good for John Edwards. He has not only lost his credibility and his political career, but it now looks like he may actually go to jail for misusing campaign funds (to pay his mistress to keep quiet). He has been indicted by a Grand Jury and has been unable to make a deal with prosecutors. Edwards is a man who could use a little good news.

And a new poll by Public Policy Polling has delivered that little bit of good news -- a very little bit. They recently conducted a poll in Edwards home state of North Carolina. And it turns out that he is not the lowest rated politician they have ever polled about. He is only the second worst, losing out to Illinois' Rod Blagojevich. Here are the numbers:

JOHN EDWARDS
favorable...............9%
unfavorable...............81%
rating...............-72

ROD BLAGOJEVICH
favorable...............8%
unfavorable...............83%
rating...............-75

So Edwards can take heart. He is not the most unpopular politician ever polled in the history of this poll. He is only the second most unpopular (although I think he would probably beat Blagojevich in a national poll). But when you have dug yourself as big a hole as Edwards has, you have to take whatever little victories that come along -- even a very little one like this one.

But while most everyone believes Edwards is a scumbag, not everyone thinks he is guilty of a crime. The poll found:

IS EDWARDS GUILTY OF THE CRIMES HE'S CHARGED WITH?
no...............16%
maybe...............32%
yes...............52%

Personally, I agree with the 52% of North Carolina respondents.

Four Unions Now Backing Edwards

Most regular readers of this blog know that I've been backing Bill Richardson for the Democratic presidential nomination. However, his prospects are looking dimmer at this time. Unless he breaks through in one of the early states soon, it looks like the nominee will be chosen from Clinton, Obama and Edwards.

Personally, I just can't see myself supporting Obama or Clinton. I like Obama, but I really think he needs a little more experience before he gets such a high office. As for Clinton, I don't feel comfortable about her at all. Of all the Democratic candidates, I believe she is most in tune with keeping the corporations in charge of America's destiny.

Her husband was a supporter of NAFTA, and I believe she is also. She has already told us that she thinks the outsourcing of American jobs is a good thing. I just believe that a Clinton presidency would be bad for American workers.

If I can't have Bill Richardson as our candidate, then John Edwards is the candidate that I would prefer out of all the rest. It looks like a lot of other people are coming to that conclusion also. Edwards is currently leading in the polling for Iowa. He also won the Democratic party's Texas straw poll this last week, and many progressive Texas bloggers came out in support of him this last week.

But perhaps even more important, several large unions have climbed on board the Edwards bandwagon recently. Yesterday, the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) declared their support for Edwards. The TWU has 200,000 members.

On the Labor Day weekend, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBCJA), the United Steelworkers (US) and the United Mineworkers (UM) all threw their support behind Edward's candidacy. The UBCJA has 520,000 members, the US has 1.2 million members and the UM has 105,000 members.

Together, these unions have over 2 million members. This should give Edwards a huge boost in the race for the nomination. It is satisfying to see the unions acting in their own best interest in this primary race. Far too often in the past, they have had to choose between the lesser of two evils. This time they're backing a candidate that will actively support workers and fight the corporations.

I'm still not ready to give up on Bill Richardson, but it is good to see Edwards doing so well.

Richardson Tops Edwards In N. H. Poll

It's not happening fast, but Bill Richardson looks a little better with each poll and each passing day. On the 17th, a new CNN/WMUR poll was released on the race in New Hampshire. The poll was conducted by the University of New Hampshire, and surveyed 333 voters who said they were voting in the Democratic primary.

Bill Richardson is now sitting at 11% in the poll. But even more remarkable is the fact that he's now sitting in third place among the Democratic candidates. A month ago, John Edwards was in third place with 14% support, but his support has slipped since then. Edwards is now sitting at 9%, putting him in fourth place behind Richardson.

And the poll had some great news for a candidate like Richardson, who has had to claw his way up from the bottom (he started with less than 3%). It seems that most New Hampshire voters are not locked in to a particular candidate.

Only 10% of primary voters say they have definitely decided on who they will vote for. Another 26% say they are leaning toward a particular candidate. But a full 64% of New Hampshire Democrats say they are still trying to decide who to vote for in the upcoming primary. With nearly 6 months left, it looks like New Hampshire is still up for grabs.

Here are the results of the latest poll:

Clinton...............36%

Obama................27%

Richardson........11%

Edwards.............09%

Biden.................04%

Kucinich............03%

Dodd..................*

Gravel................*

No opinion........09%