Cenk,

I think its great that you decided to risk being considered a stalker and drove up to Edwards to talk to him, and try to get him on the show. I wish you had had more time and a chance to explain to him that the Young Turks is a very popular show for progressive Democrats and is strongly supported by the Democratic Underground and DailyKos, and that you fight against the very corporate lobbyists he does everyday. Of course, that would have taken a lot of time, and we know you did your best for the 15 seconds that anybody could hope for with a big name politician.

 I think you gave it a good shot, and we are glad you did.  Who knows, maybe Edwards will ask Joe Trippi, "hey, do know who the Young Turks are?", and of course Trippi would say, "oh yeah, sure, Cenk Uygur, my friends at Democratic Underground run his stuff all the time, he's on our side. Great show, I watch it too - you should do an interview with him John."

Now, I was a strong supporter of Edwards in 2004 (I sent him money) and again in 2008 until he dropped out in January, and then I started supporting Obama. For me, this was a no-brainer - Edwards and Obama both staked their campaigns on fighting powerful corporate lobbyists who have a stranglehold on our government, both pledged not to take lobbyist and PAC money (while Hillary took all she wanted!), and both fought TOGETHER in a campaign against Walmart in November of 2006.

So, the decision was pretty easy; I thought Edwards was a little bit better on the issues, but at least Obama was on the SAME PAGE as Edwards. Both are progressive Dems, and Obama had the added bonus of the power to inspire the people as well. Better Obama ANY DAY than the corporate lobbyist friend, "republican lite", Democratic Leadership Council's so-called Democrat Hillary Clinton. Yeah right, "republican lite" DLC Hillary, thats all we need!

 But I'm thinking, maybe you should have actually confronted him Cenk. Did you consider that? Now, I don't mean in an angry or irrational way, but in a way that left Edwards with a real moral question that he needs to address.

 "Hey, John! Hey! I need to ask you, I really need to know: did you really MEAN what you said about giving the government back to the people, and breaking the stranglehold of giant corporate special interests in Washington, did you really MEAN that, or was it really just a big political game for you? Because John you KNOW as well as I do, hell, you said so yourself many times on the campaign trail, that Hillary is just the "status quo" in Washington, and that Hillary is a "PART OF THE PROBLEM". YOU said that John! So WHY THE HELL aren't you backing Barack John? You know also that Barack is on our side! C'mon John, what are you doing?"

John, you can't let fear hold you back, NOW is the time to stand up for what you believe in and endorse Barack, the people need you to do it. We all fear 'the race card', we all do, but we can't let fear hold us back John. We just can't do that, or those corporate lobbyists would just win again with their 'divide and conquer' tactics. You got to make a move John!"

Of course its not easy to say something like that to politician, or even a friend for that matter. But I think we all need to ask Edwards this - not because we are tyring to anger him, but because he is our friend and we feel a kinship to him. Sometimes you need to jolt people out of their complacency.

But of course there is another possibility, one that I certainly hope is not true, but is, nonetheless,  a real possibility. Listening to Edwards on Jay Leno, mouthing the standard uncommitted  boiler plate "both are great Democrats in their way" line, it struck me that maybe Hillary got to him. The John Edwards I knew on the campaign trail never towed the line with Clinton, but fought her tooth and nail, stood up strong against Hillary's DLC buddies and lobbyist pals. What the heck happened to that John Edwards?

Cenk was talking the other day about some South Florida Dems, who, given a golden oppurtunity to oust 2 or 3 Republicans from the Miami area, and replace with Democrats in a "red to blue" effort, these Democrats chose to sit on their asses and do nothing. And, as Cenk pointed out, these Democrats were all supported by a Cuban-American PAC, the same political action committee that supported the South Florida Republicans. They had sold out.

Which leads me to a terrible thought. Cenk, maybe Edwards did the exact same thing. Maybe Edwards sold out for "lands and titles" too, sold out so that the Hillary could restore the "House of Clinton" to the American lobbyists' throne.

I certainly do NOT want to believe this, but after looking at what those South Florida Dems are doing, I know it is a real possibility. Maybe Hillary offered him to be Attorney General, Labor Secretary, or maybe even Veep, or possibly even unlimited $400 dollar haircuts at the chain of salons the Prince of Dubai owns. Whatever she offered, Hillary most certainly laid some heavy FEAR TACTICS him, "Obama can't win in the Fall because of the rednecks, you know that John". To John Edwards, a lawyer and Senator from the South and a state where Jesse Helms played this card so successfully for years, these tactics might certainly blend together with her offer of "lands and titles" to make him think twice and stay uncommitted.

 Well, only time will tell. But I certainly hope and pray daily that John Edwards, with a little introspection, can pick himself up, shake off the "fear" that so many of us are facing right now, and stand up with courage and conviction with an endorsement of Obama before the North Carolina Democratic Party primary on May 6th.

C'mon John!!! We are all rooting for you, you can do it. YES, YOU CAN!"