how many people here are Edward supporters? and how many are Ron paul supporters? have any of you thought about MCcain?
You may have missed some points about both Paul and Edwards.
Ron Paul has voted against Amnesty for illegl immigrants 100% of the time. He's voted against ALL "free" trade agreements 100% of the time. He's sponsored legislation to withdraw from NAFTA and the WTO. He's voted against Presidential Fast-Track authority 100% of the time. He voted against PNTR with China. Paul has sponsored legislation to allow doctors to collectively bargain. All of these positions are pro-worker, and anti-Corporate. Both free trade and Amnesty for illegal immigration reduce American employment and put downward pressure on wages. Stopping illegal immigration and the free-trade induced outsourcing of American jobs puts upward pressure on American wages and increases employment. Removing the ban on collective bargaining for doctors puts upward pressure on doctors pay, while reducing profit margins for insurance companies.
Paul opposes all Corporate giveaways, bank bail-outs, and investor giveaways. He has the voting record and bill sponsorship to back him up. Paul advocates eliminating the Federal Reserve, which functions largely as a Corporate subsidy machine for the commercial and investment banking industries.
ALL of these are economic populist positions. Paul's positions benefit workers and the middle class, to the detriment of Corporations and the rich. Ron Paul talks like a Libertarian, but that's not all bad. He votes as a populist. In fact, Ron Paul is THE most economically populist candidate running. Giving power back to Congress—the true representatives of the people—is a populist position.
Ron Paul stresses adherence to the Constitution, and for good reason. It is the Constitution, not the laws passed later, that is the true protector of the people. The Constitution was written for the expressed purpose of limiting the power of government, and protecting the rights of the people. The overwhelming majority of legislation passed subsequently, is designed to protect the rich and the elite, at the expense of the non-rich and middle America.
John Edwards strikes the same general tenor, though he favors more government involvement and spending. He's not as good on illegal immigration as Ron Paul, but he is better than all other Democrats. Edwards is more pro-labor regarding unions than Paul. His voting record on free trade is not as good as Ron Paul's, but he seems more opposed to free trade than Clinton or Obama (who could easily be Republicans.)
Both Paul & Edwards oppose the Iraq War, and want US troops withdrawn ASAP. Both oppose the Patriot Act. Both favor the right of Americans to own guns. Both are personally against gay marriage, but both oppose a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Though Paul takes an anti-populist position by opposing the Federal Income Tax system, he's not about to suggest its immediate elimination. Paul is the only candidate who has a grasp of how bad US finances are. And as a result, he'd be the LAST of the candidates to eliminate the IRS. Like the recent comment by Bernanke, Paul "believes in arithmetic."
Edwards has proposed national health insurance. But his financing proposal is nowhere near enough to pay for it. Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Medicare Part B (Outpatient Insurance) cost a total of over $400 billion per year—but for only the 40-45 million current enrollees. Doubling that number would cost nearly that much more in addition, though it may be somewhat less, due to an average younger age.
In contrast, Ron Paul has proposed a Health-Savings Account—but with a twist. He proposes a stand-alone plan, that does
not mandate purchase of a high-deductible health insurance plan in conjunction, unlike the plan proposed by the Bush Corporatocracy.
(I'm working on a plan myself, which I'll post at a later date.)
From a Populist standpoint, both Edwards and Paul have strengths and weaknesses. Paul has the most Populist voting record of anyone in Congress. Edwards has the most Populist campaign rhetoric of any of the candidates.
If Paul and Edwards ran against each other, I'd probably vote for Paul. But it would be a close call.
Of course, it doesn't appear that we'll have that choice.