Edwards is still on the stump

Monday, May 10, 2004 6:18AM EDT

His White House bid deferred, N.C. senator campaigns across the country for Democrats

By JOHN WAGNER, N&O Washington Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- These days, you get the sense that Sen. John Edwards is trying to network his way onto the Democratic ticket. At a party dinner Saturday night in Columbus, Edwards delivered a 20-minute speech that brought 1,200 activists to their feet a half dozen times.

"Senator Edwards brings a real spark, a fire," said Jason Wilson of Bridgeport, who said he was reminded of why he was attracted to Edwards' White House bid.

When John Kerry appeared in Ohio two weeks earlier, Wilson told the presumptive Democratic nominee that Edwards would be a good vice president. "He said, 'I'm hearing a lot of that,' " Wilson said.

Democrats have been hearing a lot of Edwards in recent weeks. Two weekends ago, he drew thunderous applause at a party convention in South Carolina. Today, he plans to campaign in Colorado alongside a Senate candidate. He will do the same Tuesday in Illinois. Trips next month will take the North Carolina senator to Florida, Louisiana and Iowa -- all potential presidential battleground states in the fall.

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"Kerry needs some swing in his campaign right now, and Edwards is probably the best crooner the Democrats have out there."

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Dick Harpootlian, former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, said putting Edwards on the ticket would validate Kerry's campaign in rural parts of the country. "He resonates with these folks' hopes, wishes and dreams," he said.




http://www.newsobserver.com/election2004/story/3576707p-3178868c.html

 

 
 

Johnny Reid will be President someday.

If Kerry picks someone else and loses, JRE is definitely going to be the favorite for 44.

I really think the chances of one of those two scenarios taking place is about 85%.

I think Edwards must realize it too.

Poll shows that support for Edwards was increasing

The more voters across the country learned about Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the more they supported his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, a new study says.

A group of political scientists put together a scientific sampling of 750 voters across the country and provided them with information about the candidates. The voters received position papers, saw campaign TV ads, posed questions to nonpartisan experts on issues and talked with each other through Internet hookups. In return, they were provided a free computer.
The idea was to go beyond the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two nominating states, and find out what informed voters were thinking across the country as the Democratic contest played out. Political scientists call it a deliberative poll.

"But Edwards was gaining so fast that even though it was a dead heat, the slope of increase was so great, if it had gone on, it was clear that Edwards would have won," said James Fishkin, a communications professor at Stanford University who oversaw the study.

Fishkin said the poll showed that Edwards was winning support for personal qualities because voters viewed him as intelligent and sincere and because they believed he thought like them. But they also liked his stand on the issues, especially his criticism of foreign trade deals and outsourcing of jobs.

http://www.newsobserver.com/election2004/story/3576707p-3178849c.html

He is working so hard for Kerry and Democrats across the country. I am really proud of him - bringing money, energy, excitement - and fighting for the Democratic cause.

Kerry/Edwards '04. And beyond...

The more people find out about Edwards the more they realize why he is such a poor choice and why the Bush supporters and corporate media are salivating for a Kerry/Edwards ticket.

I wonder if the information provided to potential voters included the following information (that Rove and the corporate media would be sure to use if Edwards is VP).

1. The channeling of an unborn child. They will argue that either Edwards is another Democratic kook or snake oil salesman who lied to a jury in closing arguments. She speaks to you through me," the lawyer went on in his closing argument. "And I have to tell you right now — I didn't plan to talk about this — right now I feel her. I feel her presence. She's inside me, and she's talking to you." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/31/politics/campaign/31EDWA.html?ex=1390885200&en=4fb97ac07a96f186&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND.

2. Phony populist message. His two Americas I feel your pain speech (which is nothing more than recycled campaign rhetoric from other campaigns) does not hold up to scrutiny. The Republicans have long accused the Democrats of being phony defenders of the little guy. They will relish in discussing Edwards ZERO pro bono work and his record. "Edwards, who comes from a state where banking is big business, played a critical role in brokering legislation to allow banks to sell mutual funds and insurance, and to engage in other speculative ventures. This law, worth hundreds of billions to the banks, blasted a gigantic hole in the Glass-Steagal banking law’s firewall of protections designed to prevent the kinds of bank collapses that marked the Great Depression of the ’30s — meaning that it put the money of Joe Six-Pack depositors at risk."
…..Sometimes, the pamphlet contradicts Edwards’ reality. Example: "Some tax lawyers make millions through flimsy letters telling clients how to shelter their income. Edwards will stop these abuses," it claims. But in 1995, Edwards — already a multimillionaire — set up a professional corporation to shelter at least $10 million in legal earnings from having to pay Medicare taxes on them, saving himself some $290,000, according to the News and Observer, which quoted a top specialist from the American Institute of CPAs as labeling this trick "gaming the system." Populist hypocrisy?
(A Populist Make-Over Meet John Edwards, the Corporate Man, http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan04/Ireland0129.htm

3. Rabin who? "One evening while he was campaigning for the Senate in North Carolina, Edwards was faced with a choice of several events he might attend. An advance man suggested, 'Maybe we ought to go to the reception for Leah Rabin.' Edwards responded, 'Who's she?' 'Yitzhak Rabin's widow,' replied the aide. 'Who was he?' asked Edwards" (Charles Peters, Washington Monthly, June 2003). (I can hear it know - The Democrats slammed Bush for not knowing the name of some obscure leader. Edwards didn't even know who Rabin was).

4. Campaign funding raising scandal. "Several newspapers have reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun a criminal investigation into donations to the Edwards campaign from an Arkansas personal injury law firm. Michelle Abu-Halmeh, a legal assistant at Turner & Associates, told The Washington Post last month that she expected to be reimbursed by her boss for her $2,000 contribution." http://www.hillnews.com/news/050703/edwards.aspx

I really think Edwards can sway those squishie independents in the middle here in Ohio. Clark has his share of loyalists, too, but I think Edwards brings the inspiration that gets people out to the polls.

Hoping that either JE or Clark gets the call.