John Edwards an underdog worth supporting

Adams, Quincy Adams, Tyler and Kennedy. If you subscribe to the theory that a first name makes a candidate presidential, then John Edwards is your man. We looked hard, but we couldn't find any former presidents named Hillary, Barack, or Rudy; even though we did find some guys named Rutherford, Millard and Ulysses.

Maybe it's a misnomer to call Edwards a dark horse candidate, he was after all John Kerry's vice presidential nominee in 2004. But after a few nasty relapses of verbal diarrhea, in one instance outing Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter in a televised debate, Edwards left a lot of Americans with a bad taste in their mouth. This time around, Edwards can't seem to crack his way into the top tier of contenders, and currently trails Clinton and Obama by a wide margin in most polls. Still, he's being afforded the same amount of spotlight in Democratic debates as the aforementioned, while candidates like Dennis Kucinich and Joe Biden are lucky to get a word in, not to mention answer a question.

When Edwards does answer, it doesn't give you the same feeling that, let's say, Ralph Nader does, to which even the most stoic individual can't keep their eyes from rolling. Edwards can heat the blood to a boil with his words, but can just as effectively calm it. From what we can tell, sometimes his answers aren't really even answers, they're questions. But they're the very questions that we find ourselves asking, like, "How am I going to afford health insurance? How am I going to pay for college? How can I make a difference?" All much better questions than (see the 2000 and 2004 elections), "How can I make billions for my company and screw over the American people for generations?"

We should want someone who not only asks the same questions we do, but seeks out the answers without isolating us from the international community or marginalizing us into apathetic disrepair. Edwards is eloquent. Edwards is ballsy. Edwards offers the potential for drastic change not only in Washington, but throughout the country. And, he is the best chance the Democratic Party has in defeating the Republicans in 2008.

Hillary Clinton, who, while a formidable presence, has in all honesty ridden her husband's coattails into the race. Plus, the dirt on her is enough to fill the burial plot for the Democratic Party should she get the nomination. Barack Obama lacks experience and substance. Yes, the Oprah Winfrey t-shirt looks nice on him, and the YouTube videos featuring the shapely "Obama Girl" were mildly humorous. But when you get past all the TiVo-worthy icon endorsements and pop culture, what is Obama really saying? Not much.

After announcing his retirement from the Senate in 2004 and subsequently losing the election alongside Kerry, Edward's star should have burned out, but it didn't. Edwards dedicated his time and effort to helping Katrina victims rebuild their lives, to studying the once-again very fragile relationship between the U.S. and Russia, to getting the minimum wage raised, and to combating poverty; all rounding out an already impressive résumé.

Before being elected senator in 1998, Edwards made his money as a tough trial lawyer, something many of his opponents have used against him. While claims he got rich at the expense of the medical industry may make us raise an eyebrow, there is little to substantiate any such claim. If anything Edwards initiated change. During a CNN debate earlier this year, John Edwards stated, "I think the people who are powerful in Washington; big insurance companies, big drug companies, big oil companies; they are not going to negotiate. They are not going to give away their power. The only way that they are going to give away their power is if we take it away from them."

That's the candidate Americans should stand behind. Someone who not only calls for change, but makes change happen. "Change." The word has been tossed around so much by candidates on both sides of the issues that it can be tossed into the same banal rhetorical dustbin as words such as, "terror," "freedom" and "nucular." For John Edwards, the word seems to mean more than a point or two in the polls.

In a time when America is inexorably linked to the problems of the Middle East, Edwards is a candidate that can soften the world's negative view of our country. He has dedicated most of his life to important domestic issues such as health care and poverty. He is what America needs after what will be 28 years of Bushes and Clintons.

As we get close to the primaries, the current Accent Editorial Board resoundingly endorses John Edwards for President. We think he's the best chance we have to get our country headed back in the right direction. When he demands change, he expects change. We just hope that he keeps putting his foot across the line instead of in his mouth.