If there is a God...

I think he'd vote for John Edwards.

Now, I must have those radical right-wing conservative "Christians" hanging effigies in my cyber likeness.

Remember my post-hell (aka post-operation) blurb about the DNC meeting? Howard Dean emphasized the need to clarify the meaning of "moral issues." The Repuglicans have hijaked the term and somehow made the Dems out to be reckless, unruly antiChristians worshipping some pagan (and Socialist) idol. Now, most people with an iota of sense know that is NOT true. They might be in serious denial, but they understand that one's sense of morality is not dependent on the extent to which one flaunts his religion.

Who was listening? Besides the ailing 17-year old angry with the fact that despite having one of the most advanced medical technology, taking out four wisdom teeth hurt like hell... JOHN EDWARDS.

The Washington Post touts:

Edwards Builds New Platform-U.S. Poverty Called Great Moral Issue

DES MOINES, June 14 -- John Edwards may formally deny he is a candidate for
president, but it's awfully hard to tell. Last year's Democratic vice presidential nominee pulled into Iowa -- whose caucuses gave Edwards his biggest victory -- Tuesday to talk about poverty and moral values. He began at a housing conference, met with Maytag workers and wrapped up the day at a Democratic fundraiser.

Along the way, he criticized President Bush for a "failure of leadership" in Iraq and a refusal to deal with a growing national health care problem. Edwards said he may not speak with the same voice as Democratic Chairman Howard Dean, under fire for sharp attacks on Republicans, but the former North Carolina senator said he shares Dean's goal of putting the Democrats "back in power."

Now, now, Senator Edwards... what better way to put America's party back in power than to put you where you belong- in the White House?

Edwards, who won a following with his two Americas (rich and poor) campaign speech, accepted a faculty job at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, designed as a platform on the issue. He signed a deal to put together a book on first homes and what they meant to the people who lived in them. And he has begun working with college students on more than 10 campuses to build anti-poverty activism.

He's gone back to the people. Yeah, he's still a billionaire and nationally recognized. But he's getting in touch with his roots... And the article later mentions that his position at UNC-Chapel Hill will last two years. What superb timing!!! He will have the greatest experience working with a SERIOUS domestic (and international, if the U.S. does decide to do ANYTHING about some of the global crisis regarding poverty) for the two years. His wife, God bless her, will be better by then. His children will be as adorable as ever.

Edwards, 52, also hopes to define himself after last year's bruising race as a Democrat who has strong convictions and, yes, a set of moral values that liberals and moderates could learn to love -- not least the southern voters Edwards would need to win the 2008 nomination and the White House...

Faulted by his opponents for inexperience in foreign policy and national security after only one term in the Senate, Edwards faces the challenge of developing expertise while out of office. These days, he makes a point of mentioning a recent visit to London and a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Nor is Edwards shy about mentioning his position as co-chair, with former GOP vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp, of a Council on Foreign Relations task force on Russia. He salts his speeches with references to genocide in Sudan, imprisoned Christians in China and the Kremlin's prosecution of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

His lack of foreign policy experience was EXACTLY the reason I was skeptical about Edwards... when TIMES introduced him as a sunny, energetic young political superstar. But he's learned his lesson. If he pairs up with someone with UNQUESTIONED expertise in global affairs (funny thing, Kerry comes to mind), he's a very strong candidate. Especially in a country torn by LIES and ECONOMIC TURNMOIL.

He's also made poverty a bipartisan, pressing issue (his co-chair is a Republican). So during a time when people are disenchanted with the government (actually, that's most of American history), he's the refreshing outsider with incredible amount of experience and, importantly, national fame.

Born and raised a Southern Baptist who drifted away from church and then returned to it, Edwards said faith is fine in political discourse if it is authentic: "It is not a good idea to treat faith as a strategy. Invoking the name of God 50 times in a political speech is a mistake." But that does not mean leaving God out of political speeches. "You know, the Lord gave us minds to think," Edwards said in Chicago, "but He also gave us hearts to inspire us."

So, God. Please... PLEASE save this once democratic and just nation. Deliver us from evil. Guide the man who is one of the few leaders in the country fully using both the heart and the mind that you gave him.

Because frankly, you must be tired of hearing your name "dropped" in nearly every political speech to veil sometimes un-Christian things.