The Coalition to Stop the Demolitions salutes former South Carolina Senator John Edwards for making the ongoing agony of the peoples of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region a central focus of his Presidential campaign.
Senator Edwards was the first Presidential candidate to take a principled position in favor of Senate Bill 1668 and took the strongest position on the sub-prime mortgage crisis which is devastating countless families in our city and region. For this we again applaud him.
The Coalition is disappointed that the clearest and most consistent voice addressing our basic concerns in the Presidential race to date is choosing to end his campaign at this time. Given the overall failure of the debates thus far to critically address substantive issues – such as the equitable reconstruction of the Gulf Coast; the right of internally displaced persons (IDP’s) to return home with dignity and justice in a manner that is in keeping with internationally agreed upon standards; the right of IDP’s to vote in their home states; a critical need for affordable housing; a living wage and the right to unionize; and the end to the unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; just to name a few – we are concerned that the items that desperately need to be addressed during this election cycle will be sacrificed to political symbolism and posturing that will only aggravate the suffering of working class New Orleanians and millions throughout the US.
