Democracy for Vancouver

Senator Edwards,

I was an active supporter of both your 2004 campaign and this year’s, and in my heart I still am. It is the issues you brought to the campaign that are still foremost in importance, though of necessity I am now supporting Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.

My husband, 9-year-old son and I practice tae kwon do together, and this morning when I was explaining to our son my concerns about the results of yesterday’s primaries, he likened it to a tournament sparring match: to let one sparring finalist rest and rehabilitate, while on the other side neither of the bloodied and exhausted semi-finalists has enough advantage to close the bracket, is a recipe for disaster.

I know that you bowed out of the race for the sake of the country, for fear of what a protracted nomination battle on the Democratic side would mean for the general election. I am asking you to now declare yourself in support of Senator Obama in order that the damage to our chances in November can be minimized.

As I said, Senator Obama is my default choice only, a somewhat trustworthy Dem who can win in November; I have too many reasons for distrusting Senator Clinton.

This morning, Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio said that his preference would be for both candidates to turn their sights on McCain, and let the electorate in the remaining states judge Clinton and Obama in comparison to the general election rival, rather than each other. I’d love to believe that the Clinton campaign was capable of such restraint, but recent events indicate otherwise.

I doubt that Senator Clinton has enough perspective on the enormous issues at stake versus her own ambitions to bow out gracefully for the sake of the country, as you did. I suspect that she still truly believes that she can win, whatever the numbers say; but what you can accomplish says nothing about the damage that you may do, and the principles you may sacrifice, in the process.

We cannot afford another seven weeks of round robin sniping between senators Clinton and Obama, while John McCain stands on the sidelines, pristine and presidential. Please step up now and give your endorsement, and lend your considerable stature on the critical issues facing this country, to Senator Obama.

Thank you.

EMAIL SENATOR EDWARDS.