I agreed with you until this part:
because both know that if they endorse Obama, and Clinton wins, she will not work with them.
with its implication that they secretly want to endorse Obama, but that the evil witch Clinton could harm their agenda if she's crossed. I honestly think that both Edwards and Gore realize that both candidates have strengths and flaws and that for the good of party unity, it's best that they stay out of the endorsement business.
Good point, Inky.
I feel like Edwards. Both of them have strengths and weaknesses. Edwards' endorsement would influence me, but without one, I have no favorite between the two.
i do think they would endorse Obama (Edwards all but did that during the campaign & Gore didn't even want Bill to campaign with him as sitting president). but i do think Clinton would hold it against them, and that's why i think they are smart not to endorse.
and i don't think witches are evil. some of my best friends are witches.
Why in the world would President Hillary not work with Gore or Edwards on issues she agrees with? She's worked with real enemies in the past, Republicans who helped impeach Bill. Her idea of green collar jobs and energy self-sufficiency is right along with Gore's.
And her health care plan is closer to Edwards, as Edwards himself has stated.
I was an Edwards supporter in part because I felt that he had spent real time thinking about the issues. When he was still in the race, a common criticism of him was that so many of his current positions seemed to be at odds with his voting record in the senate. And that's true. But what he also talked about was the evolution in his thinking that caused him to come around to a different perspective. It is not hard to understand how he came to view his vote on the bankruptcy bill as a mistake, because it is necessary to be consistent with his understanding of the problems in this country. (And it's certainly not hard to understand how someone could come to believe that the interests of big business have come to be much more important to policy makers than the American people, especially with this administration.)
But the thing about all of it was that he really, really thought about it. And it is that careful consideration and his very real desire to change the circumstances of those who have the least in our society that is making his decision difficult. It really surprises me that so many Obama supporters thought that there was no question about whom Edwards supporters would eventually support. Health care is a huge issue for me and was a very important aspect in my decision to support Clinton. I can completely understand how that could be an issue that is weighing on his choice as well.
I respect both Edwards and Gore a great deal. And if either of them do decide to endorse (and I can't imagine that Gore will), you can bet that when they do so, it will be based on their own thoughts and in their own words, and they won't need any stage directions to tell them what to do.
