I support Bill Clinton and John Edwards/Barack Obama

I am a pretty calm man, but I got a few pet peeves. One of them is people on the left that refer to President Clinton as a Republican and trash his administration, the GOP does that enough (well not the call him a Republican part) we don't need to partake in that. So I thought I would write this explaining why I am a strong supporter of President Clinton and why I now support Senator Edwards and Senator Obama.
Let me start off with President Clinton, I know he can't be described as a progressive, that he is a moderate Democrat who is a member of the DLC. But that doesn't mean he is not a Democrat. The Democratic Party is a big tent party made up of liberals and moderates and we need to be united to defeat the Republicans. Let's examine his record as President shall we:
1. NAFTA: One of his major policy decisions early in his Presidency, the big complain with NAFTA is that it does not include worker protections clauses. When I was in college I learned that the lack of worker protections clauses were due to the insistence of the Mexican government. Should the US have been more insistent on adding these sure but it didn't happen that way, perhaps if a progressive wins the White House in 2008 they can change this.
2.Don't ask Don't tell: A compromise that allowed homosexuals in the military provided they don't share. Should we change it now, of course but at the time it was what could pass.
3.DOMA: Ok this was a bad idea, no getting around that
4.Rwanda: A major failure for not acting but after the disaster in Somalia the previous year no US President would get involved in Rwanda.
Now for some of President Clinton accomplishments: 22 million new jobs, Family Leave, Americorps, expanding head start, Brady Bill, Assault Weapons Ban, Helping with the cease-fire in Northern Ireland, inflation and unemployment at record lows, leaving office with a budget surplus.
I also learned in college political parties dominance comes into power. The last two being the present GOP Rule (1980-Present) and the Democratic Rule (1932-1980). Both have similar characteristics. Both start off with charismatic leaders who win big (FDR, Reagan) both have a period of opposition (Eisenhower/Nixon/Ford, Clinton) and both end with dismal Presidencies (Carter, Bush).
Look I know President Clinton compromised and use triangulation but that is what he had to do at the time. The US is a nation that likes to move in small steps so before we can go from a period of Republican Rule to a period of Progressive Rule we need an in-between, that was Clinton was he gave a win when we needed it and opened the country up to the idea of Democrats in power.
So that why I now support Senator Edwards and Obama, they are the strong leaders to start this era of progressive rule. But we can't forget about President Clinton and what he has done for the party. I am proud of all three of them.