CBS News covers Edwards, as well
what’s not to like? Maybe some prefer mistake-prone presidents. Or maybe some voters don’t like presidential spouses championing the health and well-being of citizens.
I can think of just four presidential spouses who did so in the last 75 years. Eleanor Roosevelt had several successes and was wildly popular. Betty Ford’s work on addiction makes her popular still. Nancy Reagan’s position favoring stem cell research has won her admirers across the political spectrum. The fourth, Hillary Clinton, failed to get her early 1990s healthcare plan passed. And waited till this year to create another one.
Her supporters say her high disapproval ratings, the highest of any candidate, come from being a woman and a Clinton. But Elizabeth Edwards is a woman and she’s better liked than her husband.
I know that health care wreck - at a time when 2/3rds of the country wanted a plan - remains my biggest reason for opposing her candidacy. And no matter how many progressive Dems say they’ll never vote for Hillary, it seems they don’t believe us.
I’ve had doctors who wouldn’t listen to me and I went home sick rather than accepting that. I don’t hate her, but I only vote for candidates who I think will achieve good things. Too many Democrats take my support for granted. Or they think my vote simply doesn’t matter.
It’s their loss.
December 23rd, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Hillary is banking on the “hold your nose all the way” or “lesser of two evils” vote among Progressive Democrats and I think many of us will oblige. I’m certainly trying to reconcile myself to that eventuality, though I haven’t made up my mind yet.