To the Finish Line
By Kevin Robinson in News on Jun 15, 2007 1:50PM
In the marathon that this presidential political season is becoming, presidential hopeful and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards made a pair of brief campaign stops in Chicago Wednesday, just one day before Barack Obama made a campaign stop in North Carolina. At BB's bar and restaurant on Hubbard, part of his "Small Change for Big Change" series of fundraisers, Edwards told the crowd, who had paid between $15 and $100 a head to hear him, about his positions on Iraq, energy, the environment, and poverty, a theme that has quickly become his signature. At a later, smaller, and more private event, guests were charged a minimum of $1000 a pop for the stump speech.
In this front-loaded and hyper-competitive presidential race, one of the earliest starts in history, Edwards has remained a front-runner in a crowded field. Although still widly popular back home, Obama faces his own challenges in this race as well, and Hillary looms large in the foreground.
Although far too early to tell who might come out of the primaries with the nomination on the Democratic side of the race, it is important to note that Edwards has been running for president for four years now - a man that might have otherwise been the also-ran to John Kerry's tremendous belly flop in '04 now appears to be a serious contender for the White House. As the Republican Party desperately tries to shake the stink of the failures of the Bush presidency off, each candidate trying to evoke the ideological power on the right and the unifying message in the center of Ronald Reagan, the left side of the political spectrum is seeking it's own savior. Although the appearance of inevitability surrounds Hillary's camp, it's not insignificant that the two other front-runners are trying to evoke the power of the message Franklin Roosevelt brought to a generation of Americans. And while this time it isn't the son of wealth and power from the state of New York, it is two fellows who have had the opportunity to ascend to the ranks of the upper-class.
It's only June, and the marathon to the finish line is going strong.
Image via Kiruba Shankar