With Friends Like Danny Glover...

There have been no formal announcements as of yet, but it appears that actor Danny Glover is coming close to making a decision for whom he intends to vote for President of the United States. On a local Fox affiliate this morning, Glover was on discussing who he liked for President. He rather handily dismissed Democratic front runners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as mere "glamor candidates." They are both attractive and articulate, he argued, but lacked the roots and understanding necessary to meet the needs of poor people. The candidate who does, according to Glover, is former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards. He believes the multi-millionaire trial lawyer understands the needs of the poor and is the candidate the nation needs.

Getting love from Hollywood is always very popular among Democrats, so many would translate this as very good news. But Glover is extremely radical, even by Hollywood standards. Following his famous speech in which he referred to President Bush as "the devil," Hugo Chavez (see photo of Glover and Chavez above) went out and met with his good friend Glover. Chavez, the individual who wants to see the US government overthrown and many believe he is supporting the drug trade, appears to be good friends with the one time popular actor. This is the same Chavez who now runs his government by decree and with a parliament that has given him permission to govern as he so desires. Instead of good news, this could translate into the kiss of death for Edwards.

Edwards has decided to take on the radical mantle of the Democratic Party, similar to what Howard Dean attempted to do in 2004. The logic behind this is that all of the other candidates are trying to crowd the safe "middle" positions. The candidate's more radical stands are in contrast to the Edwards who tried to portray himself as a moderate in 2004. There is a saying in politics that now seems to transcend both parties to a certain extent -- campaign to the right, govern from the middle. Edwards has has failed to receive that memo.

In the end, Edwards will likely not be on the ticket at all. I have no idea what cabinet position he desires. He is quickly becoming, especially with friends like Glover, a very small footnote in US political history.