I'd like You to Meet Our Next President

I'm writing this article to introduce gatherers to one of my all-time favorite people on Gather.  His name is John Edwards.  He is a former senator from North Carolina, and he is running for president of the United States.

I've written quite a few articles about him in the past several months, but I suspect that many people here don't know he's on Gather, so you might want to connect with him.  Also, his wife, Elizabeth, will be answering questions on Gather tomorrow.

By way of introduction, here's a modified version of a letter I recently wrote to a local Democratic club I joined: 

Every time I try to talk about why I support John Edwards the hardest part is trying to whittle down the hundreds of reasons I support him to just a few.  

 

A few years ago, I had a fairly successful career in the software industry in Silicon Valley.  All of that changed quite suddenly one day when my wrist got slammed in a door at work, tearing an important piece of cartilage. It permanently weakened my hand and limits my ability to type on the computer. I've had to learn a whole new way of working. Meanwhile, I've lost my career.

 

About the same time, along comes John Edwards running for president in the 2004 primary.  John talks about lower income and middle class families living paycheck to paycheck, often with no health insurance, and how one mishap, like a sudden medical problem, could send them right over the cliff. 

 

I was in denial about my own situation, still employed though working reduced hours, and still had foolish faith that the workers comp system would take care of me. I couldn't quite see myself in the category of people that John was talking about yet (the ones who were falling over the cliff), but he appealed to my sense of justice and I supported him in 2004.

 

My transition has been hard, but I have been luckier than many people who face a sudden catastrophe.  Many people in this country are facing much worse, and I know that John Edwards is fighting for them and for me.  I like his support of workers and labor unions and universal health care, and I like how he describes his reason for running for president:

 

“The reason I’m running for president of the United States is because I want the kind of chances that I’ve had to be available to every single child in America, no matter where they’re born, who their family is, what the color of their skin. It is what drives and motivates me every day.”

 

I want to ask you to support John Edwards because I know him just a little bit and I trust him.  I've supported him for years now and I've volunteered a lot of my time for him.  In the course of that, I've met him very briefly about 10 times, and I’ve met his wife Elizabeth as well.  I don't know them well, but I think I have a good sense about people, and I trust them.  They are good, decent, and down to earth.  It’s time for a president we can trust.

I also want to invite all of you to join these groups:

John Edwards 08

Edwards for President 2008