Endorsing a Better Choice

I am not exactly surprised by the endorsement by the Press-Citizen today for Barack Obama. Editorial boards are fickle known for supporting new faces and with the Des Moines Register supporting Hillary Clinton, it makes sense in a more progressive community that either Obama or Richardson might get a nod for diversity, as well as for positions.

I was, however, surprised at dismissive tone used against John Edwards in making the endorsement. While largely ignoring Clinton and the other candidates beyond a summary of their experience, the Press-Citizen board makes a point to treat Edward's populist message as a negative like encouraging Obama to avoid "the flights of populist rhetoric that has made Edwards' good analysis sometimes too easy for critics to dismiss."

It is true that Edwards and Obama support some of the same goals, but when it comes to leading a nation, it is not clear that Obama would be more effective. What is broken in Washington can be addressed with a majority of Democrats in Congress and the White House, but it will take a leader that is motivated to seek change that is substantive. Obama's style is to seek the middle ground, while Edwards' is direct.

As we have seen by the Bush administration, direct works. Democrats have been largely ineffective of pushing a middle ground against a President who is direct--to the detriment of the country. Imagine that same directness was coming from their own party? This could lead to clean election laws, a health care system that favors people over health care lobbyists, that could really address raising opportunities for those families living in poverty, could create an energy future that wouldn't have coal and nuclear power in the center--in addition to ending the war in Iraq and diplomatically rejoining the world community to combat global climate change, support economic interests, and create a more peaceful world?

The point is, Edwards is a fighter who understands politics. The question: Is Obama a politician who can fight? That is what voters will decide first in Iowa and, more importantly, in November 2008.