John Edwards

Check out John Edwards and see what you think.

I thought he was the best of a weak field of the four top candidates in 2004, but that was damning with faint praise then.

Since then he has been traveling the country building a case for the Democratic Party making its case in 2008 on rebuilding the middle class. He is studying ways to make it possible for hard working people at the bottom end of the economy to climb out. It was Bill Clinton who said that anyone in this country who is willing to work hard and play by the rules should have a chance to make something of him or her self.

That is quite counter to the message the Republican party has been selling for a generation, that the so-called free market can make you rich. And if you find yourself falling behind it is surely your own fault.

The Republicans have stacked the rules, the tax laws and busines perks, in favor of the richest Americans.

Can John Edwards find ways to help us wean ourselves from the lottery mentality that says a few of us can beat the odds, get lucky and become filthy rich, even while increasing numbers find it harder to simply stay even?

I wonder if John Edwards might adopt the simple but telling slogan Republicans used when Ronald Reagan ran against Jimmy Carter; Had enough? Vote Democratic.