Wampum

While I agree with the legions of my fellow lefty bloggers who argue that our leaders need to grow spines and point out the obvious, e.g., that the Abramoff scandal is all about the GOP, that Bush has become a full-fledged tyrant, etc., ad nauseum, I believe there is also a dangerous downside to going negative 24/7. The American public needs to know that Democrats are more than just "anti-Republicans".

So my challenge is for every blogger to include a post, everyday, on some positive aspect of either a Democratic or other liberal/Progressive party's policies and/or membership, whether it's on a national, state or local level. Give people a reason to vote FOR someone, not just a reason to vote against someone else.

My positive person of the day? Mr. Sunshine himself:

John Edwards: Turning every question into an answer about poverty
MARTHA WAGGONER
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. - Ask former Sen. John Edwards a question about foreign relations, and he's likely to respond with an answer about poverty.

Edwards, who leads the new Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is building his foreign policy resume - perhaps in response to criticism during his 2004 presidential run that he lacked overseas experience and with an eye toward another possible campaign. But his work on poverty seems to touch everything he does.

When asked Thursday about his focus on Russia - a nation more associated with the Cold War than the war on terror - Edwards mentioned his recent op-ed article about Iraq that was published in the Washington Post.

Then he talked about the poverty he had seen during a recent visit to India and also the suffering of the poor in other countries.

"In addition to Iraq, Russia, I'm also very focused on the issue of world poverty, what's happening in the Sudan, and then Darfur with genocide," Edwards said Thursday. "All are issues I care deeply about and I think are important to America's ability to lead on the big moral issues that face the world."

Edwards went to Moscow as co-chair of a Council on Foreign Relations task force examining U.S. relations with Russia. He met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Britain's treasury chief, Gordon Brown, earlier this year, and visited India.

But on Thursday, he focused solidly on domestic issues while speaking with the students at Wake Tech Community College during a forum sponsored by Generation Engage, a nonpartisan group working to connect politicians with young people who don't attend four-year colleges.

Edwards' oldest daughter, Cate, is on the group's board.

Forty-nine percent of 18-to-24-year-olds have no experience at a four-year college, which is typically where politicians reach young people, said Generation Engage's executive director, Adrian Talbott. Generation Engage uses electronic technology to make politicians available to people in that age group at community colleges, bars and restaurants.

During the forum Thursday, Edwards stuck to the poverty issue whenever possible, warning students that the world is watching how the United States responds to the poverty left behind by Hurricane Katrina.

Read the rest. And to find out what else former Sen. Edwards is up to, check out the schedule at the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity and see what you can do to help in this great effort.