John Edwards for President

"We cannot replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats, just swapping the Washington insiders of one party for the Washington insiders of the other."

And there you have it.

The entire speech is worth reading, but that one sentence above is what separates the former senator from North Carolina from all of the other very fine Democratic candidates for president. For me.

Yes, Edwards has the most aggressive environmental platform (here's more about that), and yes, he's the only candidate who is talking about poverty in America by going to the most poverty-stricken areas in America and talking to impoverished Americans. And yes, he's got deep grassroots and netroots support.

Today he receives the endorsement of two of the nation's largest unions of working men and women, indicative of his strong support for and from American labor.

There have been many brighter minds than mine who have written about the choice we have. Stirling Newberry is one. Derek Larsson is another. Julie Kornack is a third.

Republicans, conservatives and assorted ankle-biters have whined about his haircut, the size of his home, even his wife's frank comments. Ann Coulter called him a "faggot", employing the unique Republican definition that is only a gay slur secondarily. (It's the same way "bleeding heart" and "tree-hugger" are derogatory, in case you were wondering.) There have been screeds written about his investments, about his SUV, about whether Karl Rove is terrified of an Edwards nomination. Their latest insane ranting is about his health care proposals.

There have been far more attacks from the right on John Edwards than there have been on the seemingly inevitable front-runner. (This is a a subjective quantification by yours truly, to be sure.)

If you need to know whether you agree or not with any of his positions, the entire listing from ontheissues.com for Edwards is here.

There's a bottom line and here it is: There's nobody else who comes close to the progressive, populists ideals than John Edwards. This blog happily and proudly endorses his candidacy.

Update (9/4): Texas bloggers TXsharon and refinish69 join me in the endorsement. Also Vince and Hal. My dear friend Prairie Weather is almost there. David Mizner of MyDD also endorses, and has the collection of blogs around the nation who do likewise. Neil Aquino at Texas Liberal and The Texas Cloverleaf add Rick Noriega to an Edwards endorsement.

Edwards also is the current leader in the Texas Democratic Party's e-Primary poll.

The Weekly Wrangle

Even though it's Labor Day, Texas progressive bloggers are still hard at work, and so the Texas Progressive Alliance is proud to present the TPA Blog Round-Up for September 3, 2007. This Labor Day edition was compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

In the opening part of his in-depth series on the policies of the Democratic presidential candidates, Phillip Martin at Burnt Orange Report examines where the candidates fall on issues concerning energy and the environment. From their stance on CAFE standards to new coal plants, to renewable energy and greenhouse emissions, the post provides a well-sourced comparison of all eight of the candidates' platforms.

Texas Toad at North Texas Liberal lets us know that, even after the resignation of embattled attorney general Alberto Gonzales, Texas' unpopular Sen. John Cornyn is still defending Bush's crony.

As Bush prepares to ask Congress for $200 billion in supplemental spending, TXsharon at Bluedaze tells us just who the Iraq War Profiteers are.

Muse at Musings live-blogs NASA administrator Michael Griffin's press conference about astronauts and alcohol use and finds his "sensationalism" and "urban legend" accusations of the independent commission's report a little tiresome. Not to mention defensive.

Over at Texas Kaos, in "Clinton Did Nothing to Stop Bin Laden" Is a GOP Lie, Krazypuppy takes on the Republican frame that Democrats are soft on terror with some of them facts we in the Reality-Based Community are always on about. As one commenter notes, Dems aren't weak on terror, they're weak on Republicans. Time for that to change -- for America's sake, Iran's sake, and the entire world's sake.

Someone shoved a press release under Hal at Half Empty's nose: Ron E. Reynolds will challenge Dora Olivo for state Representative in HD 27.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on TxDOT's plan to buy back interstate highways from the federal government and put tolls on them and asks Will TxDOT' Plan To Toll Interstates Be the Tipping Point?

The last public hearing prior to METRO choosing a route for its Universities light rail line was this past Tuesday. Alexandria Ragsdale attended the hearing, made her statement in favor of a Richmond Avenue alignment, and blogged all about it at Off The Kuff.

Whosplayin.com shares correspondence with his congressman urging the avoidance of pre-emptive war against Iran and shares a study regarding the administration's probable plans on the matter.

John at Bay Area Houston claims the recent changes to the Texas Residential Construction Commission makes it the most expensively worthless commission in Texas.

Vince at Capitol Annex examines some interesting questions raised by the lawsuit against the changes to the pledge to the Texas flag made by the 80th Legislature.

Unchecked development in Texas now threatens the continued long-term existence of an iconic bird species, the whooping crane, notes Peter at B & B.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme shows how El Paso women are taking a stand against NAFTA. These courageous women staged a hunger strike for the Labor Day weekend to bring attention to the loss of American jobs due to NAFTA.

And, McBlogger will be celebrating a birthday soon and has some conveniet gift ideas for everyone.

Be sure to check out these other great Texas Progressive Alliance blogs, too: Brains & Eggs, Casual Soap Box, Common Sense, Dos Centavos, Easter Lemming Liberal News, Feet To Fire, In The Pink Texas, Marc's Miscellany, People's Republic of Seabrook, Rhetoric & Rhythm, Three Wise Men, Truth Serum Blog, Winding Road In Urban Area, and Wyld Card.