John Edwards is a Hypocrite

Edwards slams Dean again for Confederate remark

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards called rival Howard Dean's Confederate flag remark elitist, and Edwards, Rep. Dick Gephardt and Sen. John Kerry criticized Dean's decision to opt out of public campaign financing.

[...]

Dean, who has since apologized for the remark, said he was trying to state his intention to make the party more inclusive and bring poor Southern whites back from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party.

But Democratic rivals, like Edwards, seized on the comment as condescending and even accepting of people who are racists. He said he has talked personally to Dean about his concerns.

On "Meet the Press," Edwards said the flag is a "very divisive symbol" and it is wrong to stereotype Southerners.

"It's like saying to any group of voters ... you don't know what's best for you. We know what's best for you," Edwards said. "There's an elitism and condescension associated with that attitude that's enormously dangerous to us" and that voters want to be "treated with respect."

Emphasis mine.

Alright, Mr. Edwards. Explain how your views and platform AREN'T saying you know what's best for the voters and they don't know what's best for them.

I challenge any Edwards supporter (or anyone with the free time) to do so.

Just to warm things up, allow me to begin:

Instead of giving tax breaks to companies that move their headquarters overseas, we should offer tax incentives for companies to manufacture here in America. We should be exporting American products, not American jobs.

The economy (and by extension, the workers and managers participating in it) include a good portion of voters. You'd distort the tax system in order to provide advantages to companies to domestically manufacture their products. Hey, doesn't that mean you think you know what's best for the people who run those companies?

One more:

It is wrong that 12 million children are without health insurance. My plan will, for the first time in history, cover each and every one.

An overwhelming percentage (somewhere around 100%) of children don't vote. But their parents do and they are responsible for their kids. It seems to be Mr. Edwards believes those parents who voluntarily decide to not buy health coverage for their kids don't know what's best for them.

Don't get me wrong: the vast majority of presidential candidates (Bush, Dean, Gephardt, Clark, etc.) have platforms and proposed policies that engage in the very elitism and authoritarianism Mr. Edwards decried above. I'm just slamming Mr. Edwards because he put his position so plainly and clearly.

Posted by Drizzten at November 10, 2003 11:27 PM