Edwards v. Obama

It seems to me that the majority of eligible voters (not the majority of actual voters) have signed out of the process thanks to both parties failing to change their lives for the better.  And the folks last night furious that Obama's supporters are not being good progressive democrats miss the fact that "progressive democrats" have not made the case that they can and will actually create change in ways that impact most people's daily lives.

As I said in the past on this blog, I'm not saying Obama would actually deliver that (and clearly Edwards is closer to an analysis that leads in that direction but he is not good at capturing the spirit) but Obama clearly knows how to message that ... and I sure hope we listen.

This is something I've been mulling over myself in recent weeks as I've studied the split between the progressive blogosphere's support of Edwards and the general success of Obama; especially in light of last night's caucus win.

What some progressive bloggers and commentators tends to forget is that while their -- our -- influence as opinion movers and force multipliers is vast, it's not always good at connecting on a basic level with what the average voter wants. Note that I used the word "wants" and not "needs." While on an intellectual level, we understand the dominance of corporatism and how it's enabled by the right-wing conservative empire, and how Edwards is best positioned to fight that, Obama is expert at appealing to the emotional desires of voters who want an end to arguing and just want things to change.

It's a very simple, primal need that is suffusing the electorate after eight years of being choked to death by Bush and his cronies. Edwards is a stronger "change candidate" (I hate that phrase) than Obama in terms of his policies and willingness to fight hard, but Obama appeals more to those who aren't in the trenches, looking around and seeing nothing but anger, rage, and bickering with little real results.

Edwards has already pushed Obama more progressive on several key fronts, and as the race tightens up between the two of them, I think you'll see even more of that occur as they spar. If Obama commits himself to more progressive values in order to gain more Edwards supporters, I call that a win.