Lawrence O'Donnell Is A Loser.

OK, maybe a bit harsh, but he's way off base here, and he shows a total lack of understanding of the primary process, if it's not just shilling for his preferred candidate.

While the media has focused on the more fiery and more negative aspects to Edwards' stump speech, he actually has considered a model to get things done nd leverage that anger into progress. He probably does need some more optimism in his core argument, more of the nuts and bolts of how to actually reverse the ship. But it's undeniable that he has made a valuable contribution to the primaries; namely, by driving the policies of all the front-runners and moving the entire debate to the left.

No matter who wins the Democratic nomination, the fact remains that the Edwards campaign has set the domestic policy agenda for the entire field. He was the first with a bold universal healthcare plan, the first with an ambitious climate change proposal that called for cap-and-trade, and the leader on reforming predatory lending practices and raising the minimum wage to a level where it regains its lost purchasing power....Ultimately, though, the Edwards campaign has been both a campaign and a cause, with the latter outperforming the former. Few remember that the signature economic policy of Bill Clinton's presidency, balancing the budget, originated as a plank in the platform of his primary rival Paul Tsongas. If the next Democratic President manages to pass universal healthcare or a carbon cap-and-trade, we'll owe the Edwards campaign a significant debt.

Anyone who doesn't understand that worthiness just doesn't understand politics. Edwards has made what was unacceptable in 2004 acceptable in 2008. I thought, and I continue to think, that this leadership ought to be rewarded with the nomination. That's obviously remote now. But Edwards let liberalism and populism become part of the mainstream Democratic Party again. He made poverty and economic justice central planks of his campaign. He really moved the health care debate and came up with a plan that can seamlessly flow into single payer by including a public option that can compete with the insurance companies. And he'll have a significant chunk of delegates to enshrine that all into the platform. If that's a "loser," I wonder what Lawrence O'Donnell considers a winner.