Honorable Mr. Edwards:
Not long ago, one of your perky campaign aids called me and cheerfully asked if “Chet” could count on me to help by putting up a sign in my yard. I told the delightful young thing no, and I told her why. I am certain that nothing I said to her made any impression, much less got passed on, so now I am going to tell you.
Mr. Edwards, I am a Liberal Democrat. That means I have certain values, among them are civil liberty, peace, and equality under the law. From my experiences with you and from my analysis of your voting record in Congress, you do not share those values.
When I wrote you and urged you to impeach the Bush administration for its criminal wrongdoing, you wrote back and said, in effect, “Thanks for your input. I’m going to do as I jolly well please.” When I signed petitions, which were sent to you urging the same thing, you ignored them. When we begged you not to lead us into a war with Iraq, you proudly stood up and voted to bomb a people who had done us no harm and posed us no threat. When I urged you to register with Project Vote Smart, you sent me campaign literature and told me that your spin on the issues spoke for itself.
No, Mr. Edwards, whatever else you may be doing, representing me is not part of it. You have voted to suppress my right of free speech on more than one occasion. You have refused to take law-breaking criminals to task on my behalf. It is very clear to me that your main concern is not the people of your district, but rather your continued tenure in office.
For many years, I have proudly labeled myself a yellow-dog Democrat, meaning that I would vote for a yellow dog before I would vote for a Republican. Mr. Edwards, you have done possibly the worst thing a politician can do, in my estimation, which is to masquerade as something other than what you are. Please do us all the favor of joining the Republican party. They are desperately in need of people with values like yours.
“You throw like a girl,” was probably the worst playground insult I ever heard. Mr. Edwards, you vote like a Republican.
Sincerely,
Ann Weaver Hart
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