Edwards announces opposition to new Free Trade deals

Sorry for the lack of postings, its been a busy week. However, this is huge.

The Democratic presidential field tilted to the left over the weekend as John Edwards came out against the US free trade agreement with Peru. Mr. Edwards is the first leading contender for the nomination to oppose the pact with the Latin American nation, now making its way through Congress.

This sets the stage for what could be an actual debate over corporate interests in the democratic party. With Obama having already pissed me (and others) off by supporting this deal, this forces Hillary Clinton to show her hand.

The vote on the Peru agreement will be a key test of the New York senator's desire to distance herself from her husband's legacy, which includes passing the North American Free Trade Agreement, now unpopular with the party's grassroots.
"This is where the rubber hits the road and we find out how far Hillary thinks she needs to go on trade to court the Democratic base. Peru is about to go to a Senate vote so she can't duck the issue," said Lori Wallach, a critic of the deal at Global Trade Watch.

In addition, as Sirota points out, this move places the major split within the democratic party front and center. I don't consider myself a supporter of anyone in the race yet, I see myself as more of a dork who likes to talk about it a lot. However, as far as showing actual leadership on such a vitally important issue, this is exactly what I want to see. Edwards is also the first candidate who has made me consider giving them 20 bucks that I don't really have, so take that for what it's worth. This is a smart move, and hopefully it can shake up the stale media narrative and shift the debate to the real differences between these candidates.