Why I won't vote for John Edwards in the Dem. primary

It's not because I was unhappy with his response to the criticism levelled against the two bloggers he hired to run his campaign website. I wasn't thrilled by the tone of his response, but I was pleased that he did not cave to the nutty fringe's accusations of anti-catholic bigotry on the part of Amanda Marcotte (of Pandagon) and Melissa McEwan (Shakespeare's Sister). Say what you like about those two, but I don't think a close reading of their work supports any of the accusations being thrown at them. Except maybe potty-mouth, but who the fuck am I to criticize someone about that?

[UPDATE 2/13/07: Amanda has resigned.]
[UPDATE 2/14/07: Melissa too.]

It's also not because I think Edwards is a hypocrite for pretending to be for the "little guy" while building an extravagant -- 'presidential,' even, according to some reports -- new house here in North Carolina. I mean, that's not how I live, and it's not how I expect the people I elect to live, but everyone is entitled to make their own choices here in America. And Paul Wellstone is dead, bless him. And Sheila, and everyone else on that plane. But Mr. Edwards is rich enough & everything. Let him build whatever house he wants.

Because wherever he lives, and however he lives, I really like his ideas about health care, and he seems pretty solid in his ideas about addressing the vast economic injustice that exists in this country. These are ideals I share, and I admire him quite a lot for speaking up about it. And I agree with what I'm hearing about his position on Iraq.

Mr. Edwards would have my vote in the primary, if I had one to give. Edwards is, in fact, my guy and I would support him wholeheartedly at this point if I were a registered Democrat. Which I'm not; I prefer -- strongly -- to remain unaffiliated with any party. See, the only reason I won't vote for him in the primary is that NC has a closed primary and I am not a registered Democrat, so I don't get to vote in the primary.

Having said that, however, I am pretty pleased with all the leading Democratic candidates so far. But then, I would vote for a big yellow dog if the Dems ran one for president in 2008. A yellow dog with Sasquatch as a running mate, even.