John Edwards Evening News Roundup

Edwards Evening News: America Belongs to Us

2007-11-28T23:45:00.000-05:00

Welcome to tonight's Edwards Evening News. Today, the Edwards campaign unveiled the America Belongs to Us campaign with a goal of getting one million voters to sign a pledge not to vote or caucus for any candidate who takes money from lobbyists and PACs. America belongs to all of us, and we're taking our country back! Click the image to sign the pledge.

Here's more on why America Belongs to Us from TomP's diary earlier today.

The "AMERICA BELONGS TO US" 2008 Pledge and website was anounced today by the Edwards campaign.

Lobbyists have taken control in Washington and America’s hard-working families pay the price. They've stopped universal health care. They've secured unfair and unsafe trade deals that have cost America good middle-class jobs. They've left our children at risk from unsafe toys. They've sabotaged clean energy legislation that would address global warming. And they've squashed efforts for cheaper generic prescription drugs. Enough is enough. America belongs to us.

If you want real change, Sign the Pledge:

Because I believe we need real change in America and an end to the broken system in Washington that works for special interests and not us, I pledge not to vote or caucus for a Democratic presidential candidate that accepts campaign contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs.

AmericaBelongsToUs2008.com

Edwards Walks the Picket Line with Striking Writers in New York

Yesterday, John Edwards walked the picket line in New York with striking members of the Writers Guild of America East. This is the second time during this presidential campaign that he has walked the picket line with striking workers, as Miss Laura pointed out in her front page diary earlier today. (It's definitely not the first time that he's showed up to support union workers, however, having participated in nearly 200 union events over the years.)

Edwards speaking to striking writers in New York

Edwards Explains His Healthcare Mandate

Today, Edwards explained the details of his healthcare mandate, which allows his healthcare plan to be truly universal.

"We need true universal health care reform that covers every single man, woman, and child in America. It is wrong to leave anyone without the care they need. A universal system will work better for all of us – delivering better care at lower cost.

"Barack Obama's plan leaves out 15 million people. The truth is that some people will choose not to buy insurance even though it's affordable, knowing that the rest of us will pay for their emergency room visits.

"But it is just as bad to say that everyone will have insurance without a plan to get there. Hillary Clinton says her plan will cover everyone through a 'mandate' but does not provide even the most rudimentary idea much less a detailed plan of how this 'mandate' would work. To get fundamental change in our health care system, we need a fundamental change in our politics. That starts with being clear and direct about what we are going to do and how we are going to do it."

Edwards' truly universal health care plan will ensure that every American has health insurance. He will require proof of insurance when income taxes are paid and when health care is provided. Families without insurance will be enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP or another targeted plan or be assigned a plan within new Health Care Markets.

Families who lose coverage will be expected to enroll in another plan or be assigned one. For the few people who refuse to pay, the government will help collect back premiums with interest and collection costs by using tools like the ones it uses for student loans and taxes, including collection agencies and wage garnishment.

Ezra Klein at Tapped had this to say:

Later today, John Edwards will announce the specifics of how his mandate works. And they're quite good. Whenever you come into contact with the health care system, or whenever you pay your taxes, you will be asked to provide proof of insurance, presumably a policy number or some similar identifier. If you cannot, you will automatically be enrolled in either a public plan that you qualify for (like Medicaid or S-CHIP) or the cheapest plan offered by his Health Insurance Market. Bills will then get sent out, and if they're not paid, will be collected just like the government collects on student loan debts, or taxes, or anything else, using tools up to and including collection agencies and wage garnishment. (It's notable, here, that Edwards doesn't shy away from saying what his stick will be.)

In this way, Edwards' plan is much less an individual mandate and much closer to a government mandate. The burden is less on the individual to seek new insurance and more on the government to simply enroll them in it. From there, they can opt in to a different insurer if they so choose, or simply stay with their default plan. It's a smart and efficient way to move towards universality, and, for now, it puts Edwards ahead of both Obama and Clinton on the substance of the policy, and the speed with which he presented it to the public.

PSSST! I hear a new ad is coming out in Iowa

I hear through the blogosphere grapevine that a new ad is coming out in Iowa in a couple of weeks, and our own Im4JRE, a longtime supporter from the Edwards blog, was there when they filmed it! So cool! Check out her first hand account:

John was relaxed and joked with all of us and he thanked us for our patience, hah...like it was an effort to see and listen to him...not.

I won't tell you what the ad was about as you will see it for yourselves in a week or two.

After the camera men were through, they took pictures of JRE just talking to the crowd, no sound, and it wasn't about politics, just ordinary people talking about this and that. I did ask JRE that when he won the Iowa caucus, would he wait for me to get to the celebration before he made his VICTORY speech... and he said for all to hear... Count on it!

I wanted to share this event with all of you to let you know that JRE is our man for President and that he is powerful and he will stand with us and for us to make America ours again.

You can read more in her diary. Congratulations, Im4JRE!

Send Out the E-Signal! Upcoming Events!

Edwards will be on Charlie Rose tomorrow, November 29th. Check your local listings. It's on at 12:35 PM where I am in Maryland. Thanks so much to Terre for this information! Charlie Rose also has a page of prior interviews with John Edwards.

UPDATE: Terre also tells me that Keith Olbermann will be interviewing John live from the campaign trail tomorrow on Countdown on MSNBC. Couldn't find confirmation on his web site, but anyway, Keith is always worth watching!

Also tomorrow:

John Edwards will deliver remarks to the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council
Nov 29, 2007
6:00 PM
Hotel Vetro
201 S Linn Street
Iowa City, Iowa
Click here to RSVP

John Edwards will speak to the DNC Fall Meeting outside of DC in Vienna, Virginia on Friday morning. I was at his speech to the DNC Winter Meeting much earlier this year, and it was fabulous! If you are in the DC area, come out to support John! You can RSVP for the event at the link above.

If you can come to an early state and volunteer, the campaign would love your help. Sign up here.

Some Cool Diaries You May Have Missed

Democratic Presidential Ads in NH and Iowa - What do you think? by Ellinorianne

A Plea to Early State Democrats From an Edwards Supporter by RDemocrat

John Edwards, in dead heat in Iowa, quietly starts to move up in NH and SC by JSamuel

Edwards Evening News: Report from New Hampshire

2007-11-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to your Edwards Evening News! I just got back from a weekend volunteering for the Edwards campaign in New Hampshire, so tonight we have my special report from the Granite State. I'll tell you about door-to-door canvassing, making phone calls to voters, putting up a really large sign, and a visit to a house party for Elizabeth Edwards. All this, and the rest of the Edwards news, in tonight's EENR.

Manchester, New Hampshire City Hall

Road Trip to New Hampshire

This weekend, I finally got around to going up to New Hampshire to volunteer for the Edwards campaign. For the past couple of months, I have been meaning to do this, but I kept trying to plan it around an event. The trouble was, I would find out about the events three or four days ahead of time, and by then I would have other plans. Eventually, I had to just plan a trip to New Hampshire when it was convenient for me, and hope there would be an event I could go to. Everything worked out just fine, and on Sunday night I got to go to a great house party with Elizabeth Edwards!

On Saturday and Sunday, I spent most of each day canvassing neighborhoods in Manchester. I went out with other volunteers or Edwards staffers to knock on doors in specific neighborhoods assigned by the campaign. The plan was to try to talk to voters about their choices, answer any questions about Edwards, and at least leave some literature, whether or not they were home. I estimate that I personally knocked on about 150 doors over the weekend.

Front of campaign literature

Most people were not home, but of the voters I did get to talk to, almost all of them were undecided. Based on this experience, I would say that if anybody tries to suggest to you that a particular candidate has New Hampshire sewn up, they do not know what they're talking about. Most voters simply have not made a decision yet. Those voters I spoke with seem to be taking their responsibility as New Hampshire voters very seriously and still pondering the possibilities. Among the few voters I talked to who had made a decision, they seemed as likely to be supporting JRE as anyone else.

Manchester, New Hampshire is a very nice small town that presidential candidates just happen to spend a lot of time in. At first glance, it seems quite normal, but it does become a bit strange when you realize that almost everyone in town seems to have had some sort of contact with a presidential candidate.

For example, I found a great Mexican restaurant, Consuelo's Taqueria, which had the best burritos that I've had since I lived in California. I really miss getting good Mexican food, so I ate there twice. The people that work there are very friendly, and I had some great conversations with them, and in one of those conversations I found out that Bill Richardson just happened to have stopped in there and given a speech recently. Everyday happenings in Manchester, New Hampshire!

On Sunday morning, I had breakfast at the Merrimack Restaurant, which happened to be about the only thing open, but which is also a favorite campaign stop for candidates. They have the wall and the paper menu complete with caricatures of the current candidates to prove it.

I thought the party at the next table were just a bunch of tourists from New York until the camera crew arrived. They had mentioned Rudy Giuliani quite a bit and 9/11, but it took me a while to realize they were actually a group of firefighters who think Giuliani did a terrible job before and during 9/11 and they have formed a group opposing his nomination. I had seen their web site before, and I think I recognized one of the men at the table from this video. Everyday happenings in Manchester, I tell you.

On Sunday and Monday in particular, I spent quite a bit of time with a couple of the Edwards staffers, because I went out canvassing with them. One of them mentioned to me that campaigns always reflect the candidates, and I have to agree, because everybody that I've met on the Edwards staff is really nice. I enjoyed meeting them and talking about the campaign.

Sunday night I drove out to Hampton Falls near the coast to attend a house party for Elizabeth Edwards. Elizabeth was speaking at an old farmhouse that was built in 1753. I could tell it was really old as soon as I walked in. It had gorgeous wood paneling, fireplaces, and low ceilings throughout. Tracy, the owner of the house, told us it was built in 1753. I have not been in very many houses in this country that are older than the nation itself.

Elizabeth spoke for about 15 minutes and then took questions for perhaps another hour. She answered the questions in great detail, usually speaking for more than 10 minutes on a single voter's question. As usual, she was charming and direct and I'm pretty sure she convinced a number of undecided voters to support John. I spoke to one woman afterwards who for sure had decided to support John after hearing Elizabeth. I also overheard someone else saying they were moving closer to the Edwards camp after the event.

I took video of the event, but my camera battery died toward the end of it. The video I have is a little less than an hour long. After the battery died, she also answered a question on restoring our relationships with the rest of the world. I wish I had been able to record that, because her answer was really good. Here's my video of the event:

Here's a shorter clip from the same house party of Elizabeth answering a question about John's rural policy. This video was taken by a campaign staffer:

We hear that Elizabeth is a regular reader of Edward's Evening News, so Elizabeth, if you are reading this, hi there! I'm sorry that I didn't get to speak to you after the event, however, I thought it was more important for you to speak with New Hampshire voters, so I stepped back to let you do that. You certainly seem to have made a good impression.

On Monday, I went back to the campaign office to make phone calls. This proves that I am really dedicated. Making phone calls is probably almost my least favorite thing in the entire world. I think I made about 150 of them.

The purpose of the phone calls was to invite people to come hear John Edwards speak in Manchester on Monday the 26th. If you will be in New Hampshire on that day, he will be speaking at the Millyard Museum at 7 p.m.

I think people in New Hampshire must be really nice, because very few of them were upset at me for bugging them with a political phone call. Or maybe it was just because I was inviting them to see John Edwards, which quite a few of them were very excited about.

In the afternoon on Monday, I went out and did more canvassing with one of the staffers. As you might imagine, even fewer people were home on Monday afternoons than had been on the weekend.

In the evening, we had the pleasure of putting a really big sign on the fence in front of a supporter's house. It's on a very busy street, so it will be seen by a lot of people! Doesn't it look great?

That's about it for my weekend in New Hampshire! I really enjoyed the chance to go and help out with the Edwards campaign, and if you can travel to one of the early states, I encourage you to do the same. You can sign up to do that right here!

More of Tonight's Edwards News

New Hampshire Primary Set for January 8th!

New Hampshire has finally decided on it's primary date and the winning date is January 8th. Here's John's statement on that:

“I am pleased that New Hampshire will retain its rightful place as the first-in-the-nation primary. I applaud Bill Gardner's work to protect New Hampshire's significance in our nominating process. The New Hampshire primary is critical because voters in New Hampshire take their responsibility seriously: they listen to the candidates, look them in the eye, ask them tough questions and size them up. In New Hampshire, ideas truly matter more than money and that is precisely why this is anyone's race.

“I look forward to campaigning across New Hampshire during the final weeks of this campaign. I have spent time in living rooms and town halls in every corner of the state and everywhere I go, I hear from voters that they're looking for real, meaningful change in Washington next November. From now until January 8, I look forward to continuing to meet with voters to talk about my plans to shake up Washington and restore the power of government to the hands of regular, hardworking people.”

Edwards Announces Policies for Fighting Hunger in America

Tomorrow many of us will get together with family and friends and most likely eat WAY too much. But there are a growing number of hungry people in America. At this holiday, when the emphasis is so much on food, be thankful if you have enough to eat, but also, please do what you can to help your neighbors who may be going hungry.

In the spirit of the holiday, today John Edwards announced his plan to fight hunger in America. TomP had a great diary on this earlier, in case you missed it.

The six points of the Edwards plan:

1. Pass a Farm Bill with Strong Nutrition Programs: The nutrition programs in the Farm Bill are critical to increasing food security in America. Just two programs – food stamps and the Emergency Food Assistance Program for food banks – help about 25 million Americans a year each. Unfortunately, federal funding has not kept pace with growing need and rising costs. Last week, Senate Republicans used a filibuster to block the farm bill, sending Congress home for Thanksgiving without helping overtaxed food banks or hungry families. Edwards believes that Congress should quickly pass a strong and fair farm bill with robust funding for federal nutrition programs and President Bush should sign it. [ASH, 2007]

2. Get Food Aid to More Eligible Families: Food stamps – cash assistance averaging only about $1 per person per meal – help families purchase food and provide nearly a two-to-one benefit for the local economy. But one out of every three eligible families is not enrolled in the program, including millions of families who visit food banks and other community food services. Edwards will expand a pilot program, Express Stamps, which provides online enrollment kiosks at local food pantries. He will expand alternative hours at food stamp eligibility offices so that working families can enroll without missing work. To modernize eligibility and benefits, Edwards believes that Congress should quickly pass reforms to raise the minimum benefit level (which has remained at $10 since 1977), allow families to deduct their actual child care costs and protect families with modest retirement or education savings so they do not have to chose between putting food on the table and their longer-term need of preparing for the future. [CBPP, 2007; USDA, 2006 and 2007]

3. Provide Healthy Meals for Children: The 12 million American children who go hungry are 90 percent more likely to be in fair or poor health, have 30 percent higher hospitalization rates, and have lower test scores, attendance and other academic indicators. As president, Edwards will ensure robust funding to meet the nutritional needs of low-income school children through school breakfasts, free and reduced lunches, after-school snacks, fruit and vegetable programs, and the critical but under-used Summer Food Program. [Cook et al., 2004; Frongillo et al., 2005]

4. Strengthen Food Support for Seniors: One in six low-income elderly families does not have a regular, reliable source of enough to eat. President Bush has repeatedly proposed eliminating funding for the critical Commodity Supplemental Food program, which delivers nutritious food packages to nearly half a million seniors in 32 states and two Indian territories. Edwards will strengthen support for this program and expand other supportive services including Meals-on-Wheels for seniors and people with disabilities. [CBPP, 2007]

5. Address the “Heat or Eat” Crisis: Nearly half of the families served by the nation’s food banks have been forced to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel. Without assistance, even more families will struggle with this winter’s anticipated record home heating prices. Today, Edwards called on President Bush and Congress to fully fund the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program — nearly doubling it to $5.1 billion – and adjust the standard utility allowance in food stamp eligibility rules to reflect soaring prices. He will help states implement new low- and no-interest consumer loan programs through states and non-profits and double the funding for weatherizing homes. He also has a plan to fight rising oil and gas prices by creating energy competition, reducing speculation in the oil and gas markets, and bringing down demand through greater building conservation, fuel efficiency and access to renewable sources. [ASH, 2006; EIA, 2007]

6. Support Food Access in Every Neighborhood: Wealthy neighborhoods have over three times as many supermarkets as non-wealthy neighborhoods. Small corner stores are usually more expensive and offer less nutritious food. Food-insecure families in rural areas often face high transportation costs to reach the nearest food pantries. As president, Edwards will launch a public-private partnership to bring fresh, nutritious food to new neighborhoods. He will create a national food access map that identifies neighborhoods lacking grocery stores, emergency food banks and regular access to fresh produce. His new Healthy Neighborhoods Seed Fund will offer needy communities challenge grants for projects including full-service supermarkets, community gardens and food stamp-friendly farmers’ markets. [PolicyLink, 2005

Today, the Edwards family delivered food to a local food bank.

John Edwards is calling on his supporters to do the same by volunteering at a local food bank or donating food. You can find your local Second Harvest food bank here.

Here's a Thanksgiving message from John Edwards:

Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Edwards Evening News!

Events in Iowa

The Des Moines Register has a great article today: I Will Shake Up D.C., Edwards Thunders

Presidential candidate John Edwards declared Tuesday night that he would not back down in his quest to defeat the powers that he says have corrupted Washington, D.C.

"If you're considering caucusing for John Edwards, you know what you're gonna get because I'm gonna shake that place up," he told hundreds of Iowans packed into the auditorium at Des Moines' Roosevelt High School.

The former North Carolina senator gave one of his most emphatic speeches of the year before a crowd that had gathered partly to hear musicians Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne sing on his behalf. The musicians weren't the only ones drawing standing ovations. The audience cheered and whistled when Edwards called for their help in fighting to get the country back on track.

A voter asked him whether he had the management experience to lead the country, given that his professional background mainly consisted of confronting rivals as a trial lawyer. Edwards retorted: "Hell, yeah, I'm confrontational."

Earlier today, NCDem Amy had a terrific diary on Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt on the campaign trail with Edwards. I wish I had been there!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Edwards Evening News: Picking Up Steam Edition

2007-11-11T00:06:00.000-05:00

Iowa Caucus Goer seeking pres.

candidate - unvrsl health care plan

& provn ablty to win in a red state

rqd. Honest enuf to admt Iraq war

vote was mistake; strng enuf to

stand up to spcl intrsts. No PAC or

lbyist $$ EVER. Aply by 1/3/08.

Don't worry, Iowa Caucus Goer! John Edwards has you covered.

Welcome to your Saturday night/Sunday Morning Edwards Evening News. Exciting stuff tonight, including the Iowa Democratic Party Jefferson Jackson dinner that was on C-SPAN tonight, and a rock star on the campaign trail!

As the Edwards Extra (the campaign's newspaper) points out, John Edwards is picking up steam, not only in Iowa, but all across the country. That means this is going to be a fun EENR, so here are tonight's stories:

John Edwards on C-SPAN at the Iowa Democratic Party Jefferson Jackson dinner tonight!

A Rockstar on the Campaign Trail

News Article and Diary Roundup

Action Items

John Edwards on C-SPAN at the Iowa Democratic Party Jefferson Jackson dinner tonight!

Tonight is the big Iowa Democratic Party Jefferson Jackson dinner. John Edwards and the other candidates spoke to a crowd of 9,000. It's was on C-SPAN and will probably be replayed again later. For those of you who don't have cable, like me, here's the YouTube.

Prior to the dinner, there was a big rally of Iowans for Edwards. John Edwards and bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley were there. Maybe you can get a feel for the good times that I'm sure were had by all by listening to this video of Dr. Ralph Stanley, and I think this proves that good music has no age.

On the way to the dinner from the rally, folks were treated to a video presentation in "Edwards Vision." This is how the campaign describes it:

And as they head to the Veterans Memorial Auditorium for the JJ Dinner, they can watch "Edwards Vision" on a screen at the corner of 5th Street and Center Street. "Edwards Vision" is a slideshow of photographs and quotations from Edwards on his vision for our country.

But here it is in living color...

Popcorn, anyone?

If you're in Iowa at this event, at some point you will probably be handed a copy of the Edwards Extra, the campaign's newspaper. Those of us online can check out our own copy here.

Pretty cool and it looks like tonight is a multimedia extravaganza.

A Rockstar on the Campaign Trail

Tonight we have a special musical treat for you. Many of us think JRE is a rock star in his own right, but last night, he was welcomed onto the stage by a friend of his who happens to be a rock star who actually plays music - John Mellencamp.

"You know, I've got a friend that I've had for about the last seven or eight years. This guy's from a small town. And he just so happens to be running for President of the United States...Ladies and gentleman John Edwards has come to see the show."

I know you are going to love this video. It had me grinning from ear to ear.

News Article and Diary Roundup

There are a whole lot of wonderful news stories and diaries making the rounds today (and a few we may have missed from earlier this week), so I won't go into much detail on any of these, but here are some links you may enjoy...

Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner Live on C-Span: Edwards speaks 1st by sgary (Daily Kos)

politicsiowa.com is reporting that John Edwards will be kicking things off at this important Iowa event, and that it is one of the last opportunitys for Iowans to see all the candidates at once, and has been used in the past to unveil new campaign themes, such as in 2003 when John Kerry debuted his "Real Deal" theme.

Why John Edwards Must Be the Democratic Nominee by Michael Fox (OpEd News)

Polled head-to-head against each of the leading Republican presidential nominees, John Edwards wins each match-up by 5 points more than Hillary Clinton. As there must be no margin for error this time, that is truly significant.

Democratic Rivals Respond to Clinton's Planted Question (CNN Political Ticker)

"That's what George Bush does," the former senator from North Carolina said. "George Bush goes to events that are staged, where people are screened, where the'yre only allowed to ask questions if the questions are favorable to George Bush and set up in his favor."

A Problem of Priorities and the 15% Sensible Solution by Jamess (Daily Kos)

Some "sensible" Business Folks in Iowa have been crunching the numbers, and they think they have a solution, to this looming crisis. The answer calls for some simple "Budget Priority" shifting...

John Edwards - National Day of Climate Change by OneCarolinaGirl (Daily Kos)

Last Saturday I was in New Orleans where Senator John Edwards worked with Habitat to help rebuild New Orleans. (Videos available soon.) Then he went to the AdEgg building where he worked to help save the earth. It was National Day of climate change and the crowd gave him thunderous applause throughout his speech. They were avidly pro-Edwards and they showed it proudly.

Update: Edwards on Clinton's Planting: "That's what George does" & Another Plant Revealed by TomP

I wonder how long this has been going on? How many questions were planted? Remember Yearly Kos? A few people who attended her session told me that it looked like the questioneers were pre-selected at her break out session. Don't know, I went to John Edwards' session. Those questions definetely came from real kossaks and Edwards took whatever was asked.

Earlier this week:

Cate Edwards Makes Her Case by Jenn Abelson (boston.com)

On Friday, Edwards will hit the college circuit again in New Hampshire with Kate Michelman, former head of the abortion rights group NARAL. Edwards plans to spend more time on the campaign trail in January, closer to the first nomination contests.

David Bonior: NH's primary must go before my home state of Michigan's by David Bonior (UnionLeader.com)

Michigan's primary would heavily favor the candidates with the most money and the most hype. Remaining on the ballot there would mean that their pledge to support the role of small states was nothing more than lip service. I believe that after eight years of George W. Bush, Americans are tired of double talk and ready for a leader who will play straight with them.

Michigan is a great state that has produced some of the finest Democrats in the nation, and no candidate has fought harder for the interests of the hard-working men and women of Michigan. John Edwards was laying out his proposal to revive the auto industry to Detroit audiences back in April, before any other candidate was highlighting Michigan issues on the campaign trail.

But as Bill Gardner prepares to announce a date for the New Hampshire primary that will protect its first-in-the-nation status, John Edwards and I believe that the best way to start off our nominating process is to have candidates make their case to voters in their living rooms, instead of through their television sets.

Action Items

We have two action items tonight that you may want to join in so that you can help put this country back on track.

1. Watch Ben Cohen's BB demonstration about our nuclear arsenal and join True Majority here.

2. Make a small donation to John Edwards for President here.

UPDATE:

Video of today's webcast with Kate Michelman and Cate Edwards.

Edwards Evening News Round-Up: American Heroes Edition

2007-11-01T22:27:00.000-04:00

I have a few heroes in my life. My mother is one. She was a divorced single mother in Georgia over 60 years ago, at a time when that simply wasn't done. Even after she married my father and they combined their two families, she continued working full time. When I was a teenager, she went back to school and got a degree in accounting. Because of her, and at times to her dismay, I grew up a strong and independent woman.

Another hero is my son. He has grown into a strong dependable adult and is married to the girl he fell in love with as a sophomore in high school 21 years ago. His steadiness is something I admire more than anything, and his commitment to his children.

To others, perhaps, neither my mother nor my son are extraordinary people. These aren't people who have changed the world in dramatic ways, but they are my heroes. Every day, when my mother was alive and my son now, they remain true to their values of honest work, family, and leaving a better world for their children than they inherited.

1. Edwards Kicks-Off "American Heroes Week" To Stand Up For Hardworking Americans: Today, John Edwards begins a week of highlighting American Heroes--some will be people with extraordinary tales and others are living their lives with simple determination. Heroes, after all, don't need to leap tall buildings or run faster than a speeding bullet; sometimes, they are just the men and women who go about their lives every day making our country better for the next generation.

Running his campaign according to his plan, Edwards is on the air now with his first campaign ad in Iowa. (The small buy he had in May was urging Congress to stand up to Bush on Iraq funding.)

"If you're looking for heroes, don't look to me," Edwards says in the ad. ... "It is time for our party, the Democratic Party, to show a little backbone, to have a little guts. To stand up for working men and women."

These are the people John Edwards is fighting for, these are the people his policy proposals are largely directed toward, these are his heroes.

Over the next 7 days, Edwards will be:

-- in South Carolina, meeting with former employees of the Springs textile mill;

-- in New Orleans, working with Habitat for Humanity and volunteers building homes in the Upper 9th Ward and speaking at the Step It Up rally in that city;

-- in Iowa, highlighting the service of America's teachers and America's soldiers; and

-- in New Hampshire, honoring the bravery of America's veterans and first responders.

John Edwards is proud of Americans and is passionate about giving voice to all American heroes, the ones we read about in the papers and the ones across the street.

2. Edwards in NH: "The poison fruit of corruption": At BlueHampshire.com, mbair posted a diary yesterday about the community meeting in Exeter, NH earlier this week (pre-debate if you can remember that far back ;-D). [It is also cross-posted at Daily Kos here.] There are several videos that are real must-see's, and I urge all of you to head on over and take a look.

One thing in that diary struck me in particular--a list of examples of the corruption in Washington that Edwards is talking about:

In Iraq, our men and women serve while "politically connected people here at home make millions of dollars," like Blackwater.

CEOs plunder their companies and ordinary men and women, shareholders too, are left holding the bag on their pensions and shares.

Homeland security of container inspections? A joke. The biggest company in America, Wal-Mart, lobbies against it and there is no action.

What do we get for our trade policies? A multi-million job decline and multi-billion dollar trade deficit plus killer toys and food from China.

It is easy for us political junkies to hear "corporate lobbyist" or "Washington is corrupt" and think only of the money flowing to Congress. But if that was all it was, I don't think John Edwards would be making such a stink. I don't think he would care as much if it just meant that some Congresscritter got a nice dinner or a golf outing. It is not the campaign contributions or gifts that he is fighting against; it is the result of those contributions and gifts. So, watch the videos and listen to John Edwards speak. And next time someone tells you he's making too much out of it all or that we have to work within the system that exists, hand them that list and tell them, "No thanks, I'll stand with John Edwards."

3. Global Warming Legislation In The Senate Today, as diaried earlier today by TomP, the Senate Subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection (that's a mouthful) marked up America's Climate Security Act (S.2191), introduced by our very own Joe Lieberman (CfL-CT) and my very own John Warner (R-VA)--what an unholy pair! John Edwards responded quickly:

The critical question is simple: are we going to do everything climate science says is needed to save our planet? The Lieberman-Warner bill says no. Worst of all, it gives away pollution permits to industry for free—a massive corporate windfall—instead of doing what is right and selling them so that we can use these resources to invest in clean energy research and help regular families go green.

MoveOn.org and Friends of the Earth are sharply critical of this bill, even with the "improvements" that came out of today's mark-up. MoveOn is asking its members to sign a petition that reads:

"Any climate legislation that gives 'pollution credits' away for free means windfall profits for big polluters. Congress should ensure that corporations pay taxpayers for these credits. The money raised should help develop clean energy sources and support the workers and consumers affected by the shift to clean energy."

Friends of the Earth Action President Brent Blackwelder commented in today's diary and made this request:

Thanks Ellinorianne

and everyone else for your comments and support. We're doing what we can. But we won't get anywhere if senators don't hear from their constituents that this bill needs to get better.

I would encourage all members DailyKos community to call your senators (202 224-3121) with two key requests:

* This legislation should ratchet down emissions to get us to a minimum cut of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The current bill falls far short of this goal -- which is what scientists tell us is needed.

* 100 percent of pollution permits should be auctioned and giveaways to corporate polluters should be eliminated.

The Lieberman-Warner bill is not good enough. The laws of nature don't compromise and we must have legislation that does the minimum that scientists tell us is necessary to avoid catastrophe. Emissions are rising more quickly than almost anyone has predicted and we may not have a second chance to get this right.

by Brent Blackwelder on Thu Nov 01, 2007 at 03:42:52 PM EDT

[emphasis and contact links for the Senate added]

4. Great Answers to Great Questions: I'm going to end tonight with another hero of mine.

She's a woman who became a lawyer 30 years ago and a successful one. There weren't as many women lawyers then as there are now and so it's easy to forget what an accomplishment this was.

She has remained committed to her 30 year marriage and the life- and soul-mate she met back in law school. This during a period of time when divorces became as common as marriages.

She is the mother of 4 wonderful children: one who died far too early in life, one who is growing into a talented and spirited young adult, and two young ones who are clearly both the center of their parents' lives and strong in their own emerging personalities.

Every day, this hero of mine seems to get up asking "What can I do today to make a difference?" and every day she does, even if she does describe herself as "a comfortable shoes kind of mom."

Of course, I'm talking about Elizabeth Edwards. At the JRE blog, there is a diary up by OklahomaVoter with video links to a wonderful question & answer session with Elizabeth recently at a house party in Brentwood, NH. Again, I urge you to go over and read the original for OV's summary and comments. I'm just going to share the videos with you here.

Elizabeth's introductory remarks:

Q&A Session:

Edwards Opposes Lieberman-Warner Polluter Giveway

2007-11-01T17:01:00.000-04:00

By Tom P.

Friends of the Earth and Moveon.org oppose the Lieberman-Warner bill that was passed earlier today by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. This bill gives hundred of billions of dollars away to corporate polluters.

John Edwards today joined them in opposition to the Lieberman-Warner Polluter Giveaway bill now in the Senate.

Edwards opposes Lieberman-Warner because the bill "gives away pollution permits to industry for free – a massive corporate windfall – instead of doing what is right and selling them so that we can use these resources to invest in clean energy research and help regular families go green."

More after the fold.

On October 30, 2007, Friends of the Earth announced the results of their new analysis of the bill. They found that:

Corporate polluters will hit the jackpot if global warming legislation proposed by Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Warner becomes law. The Lieberman-Warner bill will reward corporate polluters by handing them pollution permits worth almost half a trillion dollars, and that's just one part of this bill. The levels of pollution-rewarding giveaways in this bill are truly obscene.

Friends of the Earth quantifies the giveaways here.

"The Lieberman-Warner bill will reward corporate polluters by handing them pollution permits worth almost half a trillion dollars," said Friends of the Earth's Erich Pica, one of the authors of the analysis. "And that's just one part of this bill. The bill also includes hundreds of billions of dollars of other mind-boggling giveaways. The levels of pollution-rewarding giveaways in this bill are truly obscene."

In particular, Friends of the Earth's analysis found that the bill:

* Provides the coal industry and other fossil fuel industries pollution permits worth $436 billion over the life of the legislation; 58 percent of this amount goes to coal

* Returns revenue raised through auctions directly to polluters -- for example, an additional $324 billion would subsidize the coal industry's efforts to develop carbon capture and storage mechanisms

* Directs another $522 billion of auction revenue to low or zero-emissions technologies, which could result in handouts to the nuclear power, big hydro and coal industries, which are not clean (these funds could also be directed toward important clean technologies, such as wind and solar -- the legislation is not specific)

snip

"The polluter giveaways are one of several major flaws in this bill," Pica said.

Friends of the Earth releases new analysis

Moveon.org also opposes this bill:

No free ride for polluters

A new bill in the Senate could be the first climate change legislation that has a chance of passing. The only problem is that it won't solve climate change, but it will give polluting companies billions in corporate windfall profits.

Companies could buy the credits from the government, and we can use the money to transition to a clean-energy economy. By carefully limiting the number of credits available, we can reduce pollution. But the bill being considered would give most of the credits away for free to the biggest polluters.

We need to speak out before this becomes law.

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to your Senators.

Full petition text:

"Any climate legislation that gives 'pollution credits' away for free means windfall profits for big polluters. Congress should ensure that corporations pay taxpayers for these credits. The money raised should help develop clean energy sources and support the workers and consumers affected by the shift to clean energy."

Sign the Petition

I just received an email from FoE Action with a new John Edwards press release opposing this bad bill:

EDWARDS STATEMENT ON GLOBAL WARMING LEGISLATION IN THE SENATE

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement on the Lieberman-Warner bill that was passed earlier today by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works:

"Global warming is a crisis. Every month, the evidence mounts that decisive action is urgently needed. At long last, global warming legislation is moving in the Senate.

"But we cannot be limited in our approach by the armies of lobbyists from big oil companies and other special interests. The critical question is simple: are we going to do everything climate science says is needed to save our planet? The Lieberman-Warner bill says no. Worst of all, it gives away pollution permits to industry for free – a massive corporate windfall – instead of doing what is right and selling them so that we can use these resources to invest in clean energy research and help regular families go green.

"Ending global warming won't be easy, but it is time to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war. If we take the necessary steps, we can emerge from the crisis of global warming with an economy built on clean, renewable energy and more than 1 million new jobs."

John Edwards stands with Friends of the Earth and Moveon.org in opposing this corporate giveway. We need real action on global warming. With stands like this for the Earth, John Edwards is showing that he really will be our First Green President.

UPDATE I: From the comments in this diary, Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of the Earth and FoE Action:

John Edwards is showing real leadership on the environment here. The Lieberman-Warner bill simply does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the rates that scientists say are needed, and it includes massive giveaways to corporate polluters.

Friends of the Earth Action will be urging other presidential candidates to follow Senator Edwards' lead and call for much stronger legislation.

Dr. Brent Blackwelder,
President, Friends of the Earth Action (www.foeaction.org)

P.S. Friends of the Earth has information about the bill online. A one-page factsheet is available here, and a longer analysis of the corporate giveaways can be found here.

by Brent Blackwelder on Thu Nov 01, 2007 at 11:15:16 AM PDT

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2007/11/1/133515/089/13#c13

Edwards Evening News - Beyond blurring the Differences

2007-10-31T22:01:00.001-04:00

Welcome to today's Edwards Evening News! Today I kind of borrowed the title from another article, but after the clarity of the differences on numerous issues in the debate last night, it seemed pretty appropriate. When you living inside history, its hard to know what a turning point is, but this just might be it. Along with some debate round-up, a few other things for you:

1. John Edwards offers a clear choice - debate wrap-up

2. Edwards starts an advertising push in Iowa.

3. GLBT leaders are making the case for Edwards.

4. Trick or treat? A Halloween pitch.

5. Edwards picks up New Hampshire SEIU.

Enjoy!

1. John Edwards offers a clear choice - debate wrap-up
Well, if you watched the debate last night you already know, and if you didn't watch it, despite the press's bad track record on covering Edwards, some things are just too obvious to ignore. Read through the reviews. Here's one I particularly liked below:

MJ Rosenberg's at Edwards Won:

"But, of the three heavyweights, I was most impressed by Edwards. He combined toughness and vision. Somehow I can imagine that Edwards' agenda for America would have a name like "New Deal" or "Great Society" in other words a rubric that suggests that his program for America would be larger than just his persona. I like that. I'm not so sure about the others.

I think Edwards will win Iowa and then we'll have a real race, one with an almost level playing field. It is not over. That is the main thing I learned last night.

Not over by a long shot."

"Larger than just his persona" - exactly right I think. Here's what the author might be refering to:

"But the question is, are you willing to look your children in the eye tonight and say, "I'm going to turn this mess over to you? Because if you turn your back on the incompetence and the corruption that exists in Washington today, that's exactly what you're saying. You're saying, "I'm going to let my children and my grandchildren take care of that. I'm not willing to do that."

And Edwards very clearly and without rancor pointed that anyone who thinks that all the candidates are the "same" really really really has not been paying attention. This is a primary and an election about choices, a battle for the soul of the democratic party and we can't afford to hang out on the sidelines:

About Iraq and lessons learned - a clear choice

Edwards had a bit more to say on this after the debate:

"This is a real difference between Senator Edwards and Senator Clinton. Senator Clinton says she wants to end the war, but she also says she will keep combat missions in Iraq. Keeping combat missions in Iraq means she will extend the war. John Edwards will end the war.

"John Edwards' plan for Iraq is very simple: No combat troops. No combat missions. No combat, period. And not by 2013, by 2009."

About Iran - a clear choice

and of course when Leiberman defends Hillary and wonders why people mistrust him, that makes the choice pretty stark.

About change - a clear choice

The campaign also released a fun statement that seems to sum things up about right.

For more see the in-depth wrap-up.

2. Edwards starts an advertising push in Iowa.
Politico has the scoop on the new 12 page mailer that Iowans just received:

The glossy, 12-page mailing is a fairly major investment for a campaign up against a cap in state spending, and it arrived yesterday, a day before what's expected to be his first major ad buy in the state.

Combined, it's a "new media push in Iowa that will knock everyone's socks off," as a California Edwards backer and fundraiser, lawyer Melissa Brown, wrote in an e-mail announcing a West Coast swing next month.

They have a link to each page so check it out, and as the bold indicates, watch out for more advertising.

3. GLBT leaders are making the case for Edwards.
Prominent LGBT leaders supporting Edwards are making the case for why the LGBT community should support John Edwards. Here's the intro from the memo:

The 2008 Presidential elections offer our country and our community a chance to make history, by fundamentally restructuring American politics from the White House to the statehouse. That is why we are supporting Senator John Edwards for President and hope that you will consider joining us.

Check out his website for more details on his LGBT platform and endorsements here, here, and here.

4. Trick or treat? A Halloween pitch.
This pretty much speaks for itself. If you think below is a November nightmare, click on the picture and help a 50 state strategy happen:

5. Edwards picks up New Hampshire SEIU.
Despite some Huckabee shenanigans, Edwards officially received the New Hampshire SEIU endorsement today:

"We are thrilled to have the support of the the hard-working families of the New Hampshire State Employees' Association (SEIU local 1984). John Edwards' commitment to guaranteeing universal health care, the work he has done standing shoulder-to-shoulder with organized labor and his strength as the candidate who can win the general election next year and bring a pro-union, pro-working family agenda to the White House have earned him this critical support in New Hampshire. John Edwards is proud to have the strong endorsement of the SEA and looks forward to working with the men and women of SEIU in New Hampshire to build One America where every single American has health care coverage and where everyone who works hard has the chance to get ahead."

Kind of nice that two neighboring states (along with 10 others) have also endorsed and are ready to help out isn't it?

And thats the news! Oh, and since you've been good and come this far - here's a Halloween treat for you audiophiles: Edwards on Hartman Radio show today

Edwards Evening News: the Stand Up with John Edwards Edition

2007-10-29T22:52:00.000-04:00

Hi. TomP here with EENR No. 201. I only have two stories tonight. First, the St. Anselm address by John Edwards, a major speech. Second, Edwards on "mercenaries" in Iraq.

"This corruption did not begin yesterday, and it did not even begin with George Bush," Edwards said in speech excerpts provided by his campaign. "It has been building for decades, until it now threatens literally the life of our democracy."

''Let us blaze a new path together,'' said Edwards.

The Advocate

First, John Edwards made a major speech today that sets the direction for the rest of the campaign, of his life.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - John Edwards on Monday cast Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and her ties to lobbyists as part of a corrupt Washington system that voters should reject in the presidential election.

snip

He cast the 2008 election as the culmination of an epic struggle between Washington greed and the power of the people. "This is the moral test of our generation," Edwards said.

"Down one path, we trade corporate Republicans for corporate Democrats; our cronies for their cronies; one political dynasty for another dynasty, and all we are left with is a Democratic version of the Republican corruption machine," he said.

San Francisco Examiner

It's time to tell the truth. And the truth is the system in Washington is corrupt. It is rigged by the powerful special interests to benefit they very few at the expense of the many. And as a result, the American people have lost faith in our broken system in Washington, and believe it no longer works for ordinary Americans. They're right.

snip

Let us blaze a new path together, grounded in the values from which America was forged, still reaching toward the greatness of our ideals. We can do it. We can cast aside the bankrupt ways of Washington and replace them with the timeless values of the American people. We can liberate our government from the shackles of corporate money that bind it to corporate will, and restore the voices of our people to its halls.

This is the cause of my life. This is the cause of our time. Join me. Together, we cannot fail.

Please read the entire speech here in Tracy Joan's diary. It articulates what I most believed in.

John Edwards: The Moral Test of our Generation (major speech, full text)

Second, John Edwards is not afraid to tell the truth about the mercenaries, the Hessians, America employs in Iraq.

Later, at a town-hall meeting in Exeter, N.H., Edwards blamed the Washington system for allowing the government to hire private security guards like those who work for Blackwater USA. Blackwater guards were involved in the killings of 17 Iraqi civilians in September in Baghdad.

"Right now, we've got men and women serving in uniform in Iraq while we've got a bunch of paid mercenaries roaming around the country lawless, the best I can tell, working for Blackwater and people like that," Edwards said.

The U.S. government has rejected the use of the term "mercenaries" in a United Nations report to describe Blackwater guards, saying it is demeaning to those who risk their lives defending U.S. interests. Edwards told reporters after his appearance that he didn't know the government objected to the term.

"And I don't care," he said, adding that he "absolutely" believes it is a fair term.

San Francisco Examiner

John Edwards has the courage to tell the truth to power. Will YOU tell truth to power? Will you fight for change? Will you stand up with him? Will you stand up? Will you?

Tell your friends. Spread the word about real change.

Give $$$ to his campaign. Anything. $10 will be matched and become $20.

Act Blue: Bloggers for John Edwards

Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing matches your personal contribution total up to $250.

Join up and travel to the early states to canvass and help out!

Sign up to travel on behalf of the campaign today

Or Donate to Friends of the Earth Action:

Friends of the Earth Action (FoE Action), one of the longest-standing, national environmental organizations in the country, today launched a new radio ad in New Hampshire called, "Humanity," featuring John Edwards describing his plan to fight global warming. The ad, which is part of an independent, grassroots campaign on Edwards' behalf in the Granite State, comes on the heels of the group's endorsement of him for president on October 14th.

"This ad is the first part of our campaign to mobilize our members and supporters, like-minded environmentalists and voters in New Hampshire for the election of John Edwards as President," said Brent Blackwelder, president of FoE Action. "As our ad states, 'John Edwards has the courage to lead on global warming.' That is why we enthusiastically endorsed him and now plan to spend the next three months helping him win the Democratic nomination for president."

FoE Action

It will not be easy -- sacrifice will be required of us -- but it was never easy for our ancestors, and their sacrifices were far greater than any that will fall on our shoulders.

Yet, the responsibility is ours.

We, you and I, are the guardians of what America is and what it will be.

The choice is ours.

John Edwards: The Moral Test of our Generation (major speech, full text)

Will YOU stand up and fight for real change?

Edwards Evening News Roundup: 200th Edition!

2007-10-28T21:52:00.000-04:00

This is the 200th edition of the Edwards Evening News Roundup, or what you might call the Roundup of Roundups Edition!

But first before beer and cake comes the News:

Edwards Campaign Strikes Back at Truthiness Troll Stephen Colbert

Iowa Caucus Date Set for January 3

Edwards Proposal to Stop Misleading Drug Marketing

Beer, Cake, and the Roundup of Roundups

Edwards Campaign Strikes Back at Truthiness Troll Stephen Colbert

Today, the Edwards campaign struck back at their Demublican rival in the South Carolina primary, Stephen Colbert. (Or is that Dumublican?)

"RHETORIC VS REALITY: STEPHEN COLBERT - PLAYING LOOSE WITH THE FACTS.

"CLAIM: Edwards abandoned South Carolina when he was one year old.

"FACT: Edwards was born in South Carolina, learned to walk in South Carolina, learned to talk to in South Carolina, and will kick Stephen Colbert's New York City butt in South Carolina.

"Stephen Colbert claims to represent a new kind of politics, but today we see he's participating in the slash and burn politics that has no place in American discourse. The truthiness is, as the candidate of Doritos, Colbert's hands are stained by corporate corruption and nacho cheese. John Edwards has never taken a dime from salty food lobbyists and America deserves a President who isn't in the pocket of the snack food special interests."

Take that, you sniveling little truthiness troll!

Hmmm. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Now we are going to get the Colbert-atics attacking EENR.

Iowa Caucus Date Set for January 3

The Iowa caucus date will likely be January 3rd. This year's haggling and maneuvering over caucus and primary dates may look like something choreographed by Comedy Central, but I don't think Stephen Colbert had much to do with it.

Edwards Proposal to Stop Misleading Drug Marketing

In New Hampshire today, Edwards proposed a plan to stop misleading marketing by drug companies.

"The excessive costs of prescription drugs are straining family budgets and contributing to runaway health care costs," said Edwards. "Since the government relaxed direct-to-consumer advertising rules in 1997, drug ads have nearly quadrupled to over $4 billion a year.

"With such aggressive and often misleading drug company marketing, it's too easy for advertising – instead of doctors or proven results – to influence families' health decisions. But the FDA has been an ineffective watchdog, reviewing only a small fraction of ads. It's time to stand up to the drug companies and their lobbyists who have rigged the system. It's time to stand strong for families, patients, and doctors."

Although this proposal is new to his campaign today, Edwards has opposed advertising of prescription drugs to consumers since he was in the Senate. Check out this alert from the American Advertising Federation from back in 2003:

PLEASE Call Your U.S. Senators IMMEDIATELY to Oppose Senator Edwards (D. N.C.) and Senator Harkin's (D. IA.) Amendment That Would Eliminate Broadcast Advertising of Prescription Drugs.

Senators John Edwards (D-NC) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) today introduced an amendment to the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003 that effectively would eliminate broadcast advertising of prescription drugs. The amendment is expected to be voted on in the United States Senate within hours or days.

It is critical that you call or, at the minimum, e-mail your U.S. Senators immediately and ask them to vote against this anti-advertising amendment.

Beer, Cake, and the Roundup of Roundups

Beer!

Cake!

More Beer!

All of these virtual calories are brought to you because tonight is the 200th EENR! That's right! Are great team of diarists has put out 200 Edwards Evening News roundups as of tonight. Here's a sampling of some of them, and a tribute to all of our contributors.

Good News for Elizabeth Edwards and Edwards Evening Roundup April 4, 2007

On this momentous day in history, Edwards Evening News Roundup (EENR) was born! Tom P. wrote the very first EENR diary.

This diary brings some good news about Elizabeth Edwards' treatment that was in papers today. In addition, I have a link to an interesting interview with Elizabeth in Newsweek and a little quote.

And I have a couple bits of campaign news. First, I have news of an endorsement today of John Edwards from a Southern California political leader. Second, I have a link to John Edwards' petition and latest message on working to end the Iraq War.

This is sort of an Edwards news roundup for the evening. If you're interested, come on around after the fold, kick back, and relax.

Edwards - Special Memorial Day Weekend Edition May 27, 2007

SallyinSF supported our troops the most effective way - by speaking out against this bloody war!

John Edwards believes Memorial Day should be about more than the very worthy and noble cause of honoring those who have died in war. He believes we should also Support the Troops. End the War. When the right wing smear machine says it's unpatriotic on Memorial Day to honor our troops that are still serving by demanding an end to the war, let's YELL VERY LOUDLY that's it's unpatriotic, not to mention immoral, to sacrifice more of our brave soldiers for a war based on lies and for a war that cannot be won. Let's YELL VERY LOUDLY that it's unpatriotic and immoral to deny them all the necessary equipment, resources, and medical attention they require.

Edwards Evening Roundup: Pirates Edition June 4, 2007

Chaoslillith hoisted the mainsail and we set off on this grand adventure:

http://www.podtech.net/...

This is an interview from 1/2007. This was done a few days after Edwards had declared. It was done by an independent blogger on a plane flight with Edwards. How often do you hear polticians say they want to serve and that is their primary motivation? Not power, not changing the world but to serve the public. I think this shows more of how Edwards is very prepared to run the country because he knows exactly what he wants to do. The video camera conked out and there is an audio file as well.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: July 4th Edition July 4, 2007

As Clarkent's diary on this day stated boldly,

It's worth noting that Senator Edwards realizes that movements are not about one person, but instead are about the American people standing up for one another. In Monday's ACORN Presidential Forum, Senator Edwards recognized this in the assembled activists. He praised them for their dogged pursuit of equality on behalf of the voiceless, from helping to rebuild poor neighborhoods in New Orleans to going door to door to help families in low-income neighborhoods around the country.

Edwards Evening News-Helping Others Edition July 11, 2007

Our anchor for this night, benny05, reported on John Edwards's victory in the MoveOn town hall on global warming:

First story: Today, John Edwards was all over the place both virtually and physically. The Moveon.org results, as reported by Okmichican13 earlier on the DK, show that Moveon viewers saw that Edwards illustrated strong movements for tackling Global Warming.

Edwards Evening News Roundup / Saturday Night Edition July 21, 2007

One of my first EENR diaries was the first one I know of to include a music video, on the theory that Saturday night diaries should be fun! Of course, EENR is fun every night!

It's Saturday night here at Daily Kos, so kick back, grab yourself a beer, and let's have ourselves a party here at the Edwards Evening News.

...snip...

But first, since it is Saturday night, let's start off with a little rock 'n roll!

EENR-Happy Anniversary John and Elizabeth Edition!! July 30, 2007

For this special edition of EENR, ladylib wrote about John and Elizabeth's 30th wedding anniversary.

Wow! 30 years! I just celebrated my 31st not to long ago so I know a little of what 30 years of marriage can bring to a couple...lots of joy, lots of heartache but most of all a lot of love. I don't know John and Elizabeth personally but from what I can see from the outside looking in, they are two people totally and completely in love with each other. Congratulations John and Elizabeth on your day and may God bless you and keep you in his care. It is all our wishes that you two have many many more wonderful years together.

Edwards Evening News - "They are eating our Lunch" Aug. 8, 2007

In this diary, okamichan13 brought worker's issues and health care to the forefront with a clip from the AFL-CIO debate.

1. What's wrong with America and what will you do to change it?

That was the question retired electrician Steve Skvar asked John Edwards during the most riveting moment of the debate:

Hard not to choke up watching that, no matter how many times you see it. As Edwards said to him,"You're a perfect example of exactly what's wrong with America both on pension protection and on health care". To learn more about Steve Skvara, check out the Chicago Tribune article, they've been following his heartbreaking story for a while.

EENR: Rolling Stone Calls Edwards "The Real Liberal" Aug. 10, 2007

Sarahlane noted an important article in Rolling Stone.

Today's Rolling Stone article about John Edwards is boldly titled, The Real Liberal: John Edwards is Third in the Polls, But Don't Count Him. I'm glad to see Rolling Stone come out with a good piece on Edwards. The author Dickinson even quotes our very own Kos saying:

"Edwards' proposals go the furthest -- they're like the ideal," says Moulitsas of Daily Kos. "Everybody else is playing it so safe it's dreadful."

I think there's a reason Edwards isn't playing it safe. He has no reason at all to do so. He isn't in the Senate anymore, and my guess is he has the luxury of not having to represent a state's constituency. He's run for President before, and now with the experience of a previous run, he's telling it like it is. I also think his campaign isn't consultant laden like it may have been back in 2004. I think he's trusting his own voice, and not the babbling of another "brilliant" consultant. In trusting his own voice, he's speaking out for the majority of us. His proposals if enacted, by far, will directly help more Americans above and below the poverty line. Don't believe me? Read his proposal on creating a working society on his website. Read his proposals on reining in on mortgage industry, credit card company, and predatory lending abuses. Read his proposals on second chance schools for high school drop outs, his College for Everyone plan, or his UHC proposal. Even if he is successful at enacting just a few of his policies, there's no doubt in my mind Americans will catch a break that they actually notice.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: SNF the 70's Aug. 18, 2007

We were thrilled when our friend Predictor, who so often posts his beautiful photos in the comments on EENR, wrote his first EENR diary. It set quite a precedent, too! Predictor's Saturday Night Fever diary started the every night YouTube dance party craze on EENR!

Welcome to the Saturday Night Fever Edition of the Edwards Evening News Roundup.
So, Boogie Down and get in touch with your 1970’s Inner Child and tell us about your Experiences in the 1970’s, a fantastic Decade of Change, Upheaval and eventually Progress.

...snip...

...snip...

1976:
Predictor comes out of the Closet and begins Decades of GLBT Political Activism.
Jimmy Carter-D is Elected President.
1977:
Saturday Night Fever is released.
John and Elizabeth Graduated from UNC Law School in May 1977.

John and Elizabeth get married on July 30, 1977.

Edwards Evening News Round-up: Transformational Leadership Sept. 6, 2007

On this date, edgery reported on the transformational nature of John Edwards's leadership, as well as the endorsement by the Transport Workers Union.

But first, let's get into the difference between transactional and transformational. Acording to James MacGregor Burns, author of the 1978 book Leadership, as summarized by Rauchway, "Transactional leaders feel out the opinions of their constituencies and offer them compensation for their needs." On the other hand,

Transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.

In my opinion, John Edwards is striving for transformational change in this country by not just identifying problems and offering solutions, but by seeking to redefine the conversation both with and among the American people.

Edwards Evening News: Harkin Steak Fry Edition Sept. 16, 2007

Pioneer111 reported on an event we all wished we could have attended - the Harkin Steak Fry in Iowa.

Today, John and Elizabeth Edwards joined thousands of Iowans from every corner of the state in Indianola, Iowa for one of the biggest events of the entire presidential campaign -- the 30th Annual Harkin Steak Fry. Over 140 press credentials were issued and well over 12,000 tickets were sold.

Edwards Evening News Roundup - Wednesday Edition Sept. 19, 2007

We welcomed mdgarcia into the ranks of EENR diarists with his poignant comment on racism:

Earlier today John Edwards issued a statement on the "Jena 6". Here's a link:
http://johnedwards.com/...

Here's the quote that struck me:

"When a 'white tree' stands outside a public school, marking a place where white students sit but black students are not welcome, there is something so wrong that the right words are hard to find.

My commentary is this. The sad fact is racism is still alive and well in this country. Parts of this country are still living in the 1950's. I'm Hispanic, and I grew up in North Carolina, and have also lived in Louisiana and Georgia. I now live once again in North Carolina, and I can attest that I'm not surprised at the level of racism that still exists in this country in general, and in the South in particular, as I've encountered it myself. John Edwards has been fighting all his life to end racism in all its forms. He's been fighting for me.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: The Man with the Plans Sept. 25, 2007

Cosbo highlighted the Edwards education plan:

Edwards is also getting great reviews on his Education Plan policies. As someone with kids in school, it's great to see some of his proposals. His college initiatives will definitely be helpful to me a few years from now. I could use his ideas no No Child Left Behind and all the stupid overtesting, today, though.

Edwards Evening News: How about Candidates go into "Truth Mode" Edition Oct. 14, 2007

Jamess reported on the various "modes" of the candidates, and the one mode used by John Edwards.

Some Candidates put Politics and Compromise above the concerns of the People they say they want to represent -- and some Candidates put the People first!

Some Candidates take the Voters for granted, and have already started their "General Election" rhetoric -- and some Candidates actually believe in meeting with the People, and earning Each Vote!

Since this is another edition of the Edwards Evening News Roundup, I don't suppose you'll need 3 guesses to figure out who is who in those scenarios!

Edwards Evening News: 10 State Army Oct. 15, 2007

Jsamuel reported on the growing support of the Edwards campaign by labor unions. This says it all, really:

Edwards Evening News RoundUp: Where Even Elizabeth Gets Her Edwards News! Oct. 22, 2007

NCDem Amy has contributed many great videos and diaries, but perhaps the nicest video was this:

But first, a special video message from Elizabeth herself to the Edwards Evening News Team---all of the Edwards supporters who write the news diaries, contribute stories and comment in support of this series.

Let's give a big round of applause to all our great EENR diarists! There have been so many good diaries (and good diarists) that it was really hard to choose highlights, but I wanted to make sure we recognized everyone. That includes YOU for reading and commenting!

Shout out to our artists!

Last but certainly not least, I want to give a shout out to our artists who decorate up the place and make it look pretty. RedJet and Predictor (and his partner, joustschr), I'm talking about YOU! Thank you!

RedJet

Dephinium by Predictor

Edwards Evening News Roundup: Save the Planet Edition

2007-10-27T22:34:00.000-04:00

Welcome to your Saturday night Edwards Evening News edition, where we're working to save the planet! I am delighted about tonight's news, which includes:

Dr. Helen Caldicott says vote for JRE!

Edwards Opposes Peru Free Trade Agreement

Edwards visits 99th Iowa County

Media Shocker: the Washington Post Has a Decent Story on Edwards!

Dr. Helen Caldicott says vote for JRE!

For over 35 years, Nobel Prize nominee Dr. Helen Caldicott has been a leader in the struggle to rid the world of nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, and to educate others about the dangers of radiation.

While living in the United States from 1977 to 1986, she co-founded the Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 23,000 doctors committed to educating their colleagues about the dangers of nuclear power, nuclear weapons and nuclear war. On trips abroad she helped start similar medical organizations in many other countries. The international umbrella group (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. She also founded the Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND) in the US in 1980.

This woman is a hero! I think I probably heard about her first at least 25 years ago, and she's been working on this issue all that time. She is really inspiring.

Dr Caldicott has received many prizes and awards for her work, most recently the Lannan Foundation's 2003 Prize for Cultural Freedom, 19 honorary doctoral degrees, and was personally nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Linus Pauling - himself a Nobel Laureate. The Smithsonian Institute has named Dr Caldicott as one of the most influential women of the 20th Century. She has written for numerous publications and has authored seven books, Nuclear Madness, Missile Envy, If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth (1992, W.W. Norton) and A Desperate Passion: An Autobiography (1996, W.W. Norton; published as A Passionate Life in Australia by Random House), The New Nuclear Danger: George Bush’s Military Industrial Complex (2001, The New Press in the US, UK and UK; Scribe Publishing in Australia and New Zealand; Lemniscaat Publishers in The Netherlands; and Hugendubel Verlag in Germany), and Nuclear Power is Not the Answer (2006, The New Press in the US, UK and UK; Melbourne University Press in Australia). Dr. Caldicott’s most recent book is War In Heaven (March 2007).

She also has been the subject of several films, including Eight Minutes to Midnight, nominated for an Academy Award in 1981, If You Love This Planet, which won the Academy Award for best documentary in 1982, and Helen’s War: portrait of a dissident, recipient of the Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Direction (Documentary) 2004, and the Sydney Film Festival Dendy Award for Best Documentary in 2004.

Dr Caldicott currently divides her time between Australia and the US where she lectures widely. She is also the Founder and President of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute (NPRI),headquartered in Washington DC. NPRI’s mission is to facilitate a far-reaching, effective, ongoing public education campaign in the mainstream media about the often-underestimated dangers of nuclear weapons and power programs and policies.

Today, annefrank told me about a wonderful letter to the editor in the Concord Monitor in support of JRE. The writer, who had flirted with several candidates, had finally decided on Edwards because of his environmental policies, but what really caught my eye was this:

I'm moved by his Friends of the Earth endorsement. We must tackle man-made global climate change.

I'm moved by Dr. Helen Caldicott of the group Beyond Nuclear, who told a recent gathering that Edwards is the right candidate. "Clinton and Obama are ignorant on radiation-release issues," she told us.

I'm not sure if this can be called an official endorsement, but Dr. Caldicott speaking out in favor of John Edwards is huge, in my opinion. Did I mention that she's brilliant?

I wanted to confirm that this was true, so I did a Google search and found this article. Dr. Caldicott spoke about problems with nuclear weapons and nuclear power and the need for a nuke free world in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday night. And...

Political action is the way to avert a radioactive disaster, Caldicott said. She is pushing for the removal of subsidies to nuclear power plants. She urged the audience to support presidential candidate John Edwards, who opposes nuclear weapons and nuclear power.

So there you have it. Another brilliant woman for JRE!

I was hoping to find a video of the event, so that we could hear her speaking about John Edwards directly, but I didn't find one. What I have instead, is a delightful interview with her that I did find on YouTube. I don't think she mentions Edwards in this, although I might have missed a brief reference, because I was doing other things while listening to it, but she does speak her mind about another presidential candidate. In the interview, she has also asked what she would do if she were president of the United States, and her response is fascinating. Here's a woman I would gladly support as president of the United States! Lucky for John Edwards, she's Australian. The interview is almost an hour long.

Of course, she's not the only person impressed with JRE's rejection of nuclear power. That was a factor in the endorsement by Friends of the Earth Action.

Here's a recent video of John Edwards speaking about energy and global warming in New Hampshire:

I think it's time to save the planet!

Edwards Opposes Peru Free Trade Agreement

Today in Iowa, John Edwards spoke out against the controversial Peru Free Trade Agreement, which at least one other presidential candidate supports.

Newton, Iowa – Today, as part of his seven-day "Stand Strong" campaign, Senator John Edwards will announce his opposition to the expansion of the NAFTA model with the Peru trade deal now before Congress.

Edwards will make this announcement in Newton, Iowa - the former headquarters of the Maytag Corporation and the location of a Maytag washer and dryer plant. The Maytag plant, which opened in 1893, officially closed its doors last Thursday. Maytag was acquired by Whirlpool in March of 2006 for $2.6 billion. Several weeks later, Whirlpool announced it would close the Newton factory and former headquarters, eliminating 1,800 jobs. Whirlpool is moving production to non-union factories in Ohio where workers earn significantly less than their union counterparts in Newton.

"I grew up in Carolina mill towns and so I've seen firsthand the devastating impact trade can have on workers and communities," said Edwards. "Presidents from both parties have entered into trade agreements like NAFTA and the WTO promising that they would create new jobs. Instead, in recent years we've lost millions of manufacturing jobs, seen wages stagnate, and run up larger and larger trade deficits.

"For too long, Washington has been looking at every trade deal and asking one, and only one, question - is it good for corporate profits? And they haven't looked at all at the harm it will do to workers, their wages, or to the U.S. economy. Like the failed free trade agreements before it, the Peru Agreement puts the interests of the big multinational corporations first, ahead of the interests of American workers and communities."

NCDem Amy had a great diary on this earlier, in case you missed it.

Here's Edwards speaking on trade in New Hampshire recently:

Edwards visits 99th Iowa County

As of today, John Edwards has visited all of the 99 counties in Iowa, and marked his visit to the 99th county with a community meeting in Coulter, Iowa.

“Democrats will never win in so-called ‘red areas’ if we don’t go to them,” said Edwards. “I believe Iowans from all walks of life deserve a voice in Washington, no matter where they live. I will continue to reach out to Iowans from the largest cities to the smallest towns, and as the nominee, I will never concede the ‘red states’ or the rural vote to Republicans. Our party should stand up and fight for regular, hard-working families everywhere.”

To mark this milestone, Iowans from every county are participating in the “99 County Day of Action.” Iowans from all 99 counties are taking action to help Edwards win the Iowa caucuses and build One America – from a phonebank in Mills County to a winter clothing drive in Cedar County to a letter writing party in Dubuque County. The Edwards campaign has built grassroots organizations in all 99 counties with County Chairs and Rural County Chairs in every county. The campaign is on track to be the first campaign to announce Steering Committees in all 99 counties. The campaign will also commemorate the milestone by handing out a special edition of its newspaper, The Edwards Extra.

Media Shocker: the Washington Post Has a Decent Story on Edwards!

This goes into the "will wonders never cease" category. The Washington Post actually has a decent article on John Edwards today! Aside from the media's obligatory nod to the Clinton "inevitability" theme, there's barely a negative in this article. What on earth are they thinking? If they keep this up, we might even begin to think of them as responsible journalists.

Pomerantz, who first caucused for Edwards in 2004, hasn't felt this way about a candidate since she volunteered for Kennedy's campaign when she was a teenager. Edwards has a combination of honesty and charisma, she says. She senses that when he talks about poverty, he means it, and that despite his success, he hasn't forgotten his roots as the son of a millworker. She likes the attention to detail he shows in his policies. She feels for his wife, Elizabeth, who is struggling with cancer, and to whom she gave a necklace with a Hebrew word that means "life."

She likes the fact that when his daughter Cate showed up once to speak at an event, "she came in flip-flops. . . . Her feet hurt. They're real people."

Edwards Evening News - Edwards is Ready to Lead

2007-10-24T23:28:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Edwards Evening News! Kick back, grab your favorite beverage/ snack, and enjoy! Here are the main features for this evening:

1. TomP's interview with Friend's of the Earth Action President Blackwelder - regarding their recent endorsement of Edwards and discussion on his energy plan.

2. A Personal Encounter - great account of a real discussion with John Edwards on energy and the environment.

3. Edwards Unveils Hunting And Fishing Bill Of Rights - a progressive plan to preserve America's natural resources for those who use and appreciate them.

4. California wildfires - what can you do to help?

5. Edwards lays it out - Clinton's Failure To Offer Straight Answers On Iraq And Iran

6. Extra, Extra!

Come along over the flap!

1. TomP's interview with Friends of the Earth (FOE) Action President Blackwelder - regarding their recent endorsement of Edwards and discussion on his energy plan.

Here's the interview frontpaged (thanks Mike!) at BlueHampshire. . This is part I; part II should be up tomorrow. Thanks to Tom for the great questions and thanks to FOE taking the time to explain their endorsement in depth. Before you go read it in full, here's a bit for you about how we don't have to choose between a clean environment and good jobs:

Q: Polluters often attempt to present a false choice between environmental degradation and jobs. In fact, clean, green technologies can mean more jobs for Americans, and good paying jobs. Edwards proposes creating at least 1 million "green collar jobs" by investing in clean energy and energy efficient technologies. Can you explain the relationship of economic growth, including good paying jobs, and using clean, green technologies?

A: Edwards really gets it: green does not have to mean fewer jobs. If our nation makes serious and smart investments in clean energy technologies, such as wind, solar and geothermal, we can create good-paying jobs, expand markets for the renewable energy industry and secure our country's energy future.

Renewables are secure and viable alternatives to dirty, fossil fuels and costly and dangerous nuclear power. They can be scaled up relatively quickly, which means jobs and economic growth for states and local communities in the U.S., particularly in rural areas that have been hardest hit by economic downturns but have the space for these technologies to be constructed and brought online.

I also really liked how they are going to put their endorsement into action on the ground in New Hampshire and other states. If you would like to lend them a hand:

Please visit the FoE Action website to find out how you can get involved in our campaign to elect John Edwards as president: www.foeaction.org.

Check out the rest of the interview and be on the lookout for Part II.

2. A Personal Encounter - great account of a real discussion with John Edwards on energy and the environment.

The FOE interview leads us right into a very interesting article on TerraPass about John and Elizabeth Edwards meeting with a group of environmental and business leaders in San Francisco last Saturday.

Its a fascinating article, showing how much Edwards has really begun to master environmental issues and is very open to learning and finding the best solutions. Here's some of the article - but read the whole thing if you can:

Edwards displayed an impressive knowledge about global warming. Not at the Al Gore level, but comfortably fluent in cap and trade, atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, and the likely impacts of melting polar ice caps and sea level rises. He briefly shared his New Energy Economy pla and highlighted opportunities to spur “green collar” job growth in the United States.

Then he asked us questions on the potential for plug-in hybrids, the current limits of battery technology, how to give companies credit for voluntary greenhouse gas reductions, and whether recent evidence of climate impacts made the goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050 not ambitious enough. Our answers led to a real back-and-forth that I don’t think happens very often in modern political campaigns. Elizabeth Edwards revealed her own command of carbon-speak, as well.

Wow - a presidential candidate actually asking them questions! A "real back-and-forth" - a real discussion.

And while noting that all the candidates have now released environmental plans, the author felt that Edwards had something a bit more:

But beyond the policy specifics, Edwards really seems to understand the complexity of climate change and the massive economic and energy transformation required to deal with the problem. He showed humility in wanting to learn from experts. And he left me with the sense he might be the guy who could lead the U.S. and the family of nations to a more secure, low-carbon world.

In other words - Edwards sees the big picture, Edwards gets it. And if you haven't yet, check out Nulwee's wonderful diary that seems to agree.

3. Edwards Unveils Hunting And Fishing Bill Of Rights - a progressive plan to preserve America's natural resources for those who use and appreciate them.

John Edwards was in Nebraska and Iowa today, starting his 4 day, 17 stop Iowa tour, and put forth a Hunting And Fishing Bill Of Rights to protect America's wilderness.

"Growing up in small, rural towns, I learned early that America has been blessed with a wealth of natural resources. Just as it is our right to enjoy America's forests, mountains, fields and streams, it is also our responsibility to protect them for generations to come." -- John Edwards

If you missed RDemocrat's excellent coverage, check it out. Here is the press release and here is the detailed plan..

The plan has 5 key elements (check the links above for more details):

1. Improve Access to Public and Recreational Lands
2. Protect the Tradition of Responsible Gun Ownership
3. Preserve Access to Clean, Healthy Water for Fishing
4. Secure our Natural Heritage for Future Generations
5. Expect Citizens to Share Responsibility for Stewardship

4. California wildfires - what can you do to help?

Title of this section says it really. Want to help? Here's a good place to start. There was an excellent diary by LaEscapee today on how OneCorps is mobilizing to help out in this crisis, just as OneCorps has helped with action and attention to issues like poverty and climate change.

5. Edwards lays it out - Clinton's Failure To Offer Straight Answers On Iraq And Iran

And switching gears, Edwards continued to criticize Clinton's lack of leadership and evasive answers on Iraq and Iran:

The staggering estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that the war in Iraq will cost $1.9 trillion is a stark reminder of why it is so critical that every presidential candidate offer the American people a real plan for ending the war.

"For over a year, Senator Edwards has proposed a very specific plan for withdrawal, including the immediate withdrawal of 40-50,000 troops to jump-start the political solution needed to end the violence, a diplomatic offensive involving all local, national, and regional parties, and a complete withdrawal of all combat troops within 9 or 10 months. Unfortunately, other than political rhetoric and doubletalk, we've heard nothing from Senator Clinton about her specific plans to end this war.

"Even more disturbing, while Senator Clinton still refuses to lay out a detailed plan for ending the war in Iraq, she seems more than willing to help President Bush take America closer to war with Iran. After nearly seven years of George Bush, and a terrible and costly war, the American people deserve straight answers on Iraq and Iran from every presidential candidate -- the real question is when is Senator Clinton going to start providing them?"

That last question is the one more and more voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and other states are going to be asking, especially as Bush and Cheney continue to "lead" us deeper into Iraq and into a reckless confrontation with Iran. It seems to me that voters there have very clear choices:

6. Extra, Extra! -

Check out Edwards statement of disappointement with the Senate's confirmation today of yet another BushThink judge.

Check out what Iowa women think about John Edwards and health care.

Check out Ambinder's cryptic comments on the New Hampshire SEIU endorsement. Hmmm....

And thats the news - hope you enjoyed it! And now that you're done reading, help Edwards and his True Blue Majority.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: Staying on Track Edition

2007-10-24T00:38:00.000-04:00

Stories tonight...

1. Edwards Promotes Women's Rights in NH

2. With Trippi's Rise, Some See a New John Edwards

3. Edwards Receives Endorsement From The North Carolina Association Of Educators

4. Stepping it Up: Second Line Parade with John Edwards

5. Blog Roundup
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1. Edwards Promotes Women's Rights in NH

Edwards campaigns on women rights & issues at a NH High School....

During a brief appearance at Merrimack High School, several members of a women's studies class asked the former North Carolina senator to identify and propose solutions to the most prominent issues surrounding women's rights.

Edwards said the issues he has focused on, such as ending poverty and creating universal health care coverage, are women's issues because they affect more women than men.

"I want to be the president who is the most aggressive about enforcing our laws against discrimination against women," he said. "It's about time we actually treat women equally in the United States of America as a moral matter and matter of equality under the law."

Edwards cited pay equity as another major issue and criticized the U.S. Supreme Court for its decision to limit the time workers have to sue their employers for pay discrimination.

In May, the court threw out a Goodyear employee's complaint that she earned thousands of dollars less than her male counterparts, ruling that she filed it too late.

"How is it the woman is supposed to know? They've put the responsibility on her to figure out what the people around her are being paid. This is an example of a distorted view of the law," Edwards said. "When women are being discriminated against, they need to have an effective right to enforce the laws that prevent that discrimination."

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2. With Trippi's Rise, Some See a New John Edwards

Very interesting article on the Edwards campaign and Trippi's increasing roll....just a little look inside the campaign.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton may have a widening lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but John Edwards is not about to give her a free ride.

"Instead of moving from primary mode to general election mode, why don't we have tell-the-truth mode, all the time, and not say something different one time than we say another time?" Edwards asked pointedly last week in New Hampshire.

From the day he announced his candidacy in New Orleans last December, Edwards has presented himself as an outsider, someone much different from the senator who was John F. Kerry's running mate in 2004. But in recent weeks he has launched a markedly more aggressive attack on what he says is Clinton's poll-tested commitment to the status quo, and the new tone to his campaign has coincided with the growing influence of the strategist behind Howard Dean's assault on the Democratic establishment four years ago.

Joe was reluctant to join campaign

Still, Trippi turned down the offer to join the campaign. "I told them there was no way I could do it again," Trippi recounted recently. "That I really liked them and really believed they were going to take on a broken system -- but I was not going to do it."

snip

On March 22 all of that changed. In a televised news conference, Elizabeth Edwards announced that her breast cancer had returned but that her husband's campaign would continue. "I sat there in my house with my wife and my neuropathy firing away," Trippi recalled, "and just said, 'You know, I am not done either,' and I picked up the phone and offered to join the campaign."

He's working closely with Elizabeth.

Others say Elizabeth Edwards sees this race as more a cause than a campaign, a belief that makes her and Trippi -- an unapologetic believer in the power of liberal ideals and the overthrow of "transactional politics" -- ideological soulmates.

It's that message -- a fiery, some say angry, populism -- that has drawn attention to John Edwards of late.

There's more...check out the article.

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3. Edwards Receives Endorsement From The North Carolina Association Of Educators

More Union Endorsement for Edwards...this time in his home state.

Union picks Edwards as the candidate with the strength and vision to compete in battleground states and bring real change to Washington

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Today, the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) announced its endorsement of John Edwards for president. The NCAE, which represents 70,000 teachers, education support professionals and retirees, has endorsed Edwards every time he has run for public office. They supported Edwards' Senate run in 1998 and, after endorsing him in the 2004 presidential primary, NCAE members traveled to early states to organize other teachers to vote or Edwards.

"We need a leader with the strength and vision to compete in battleground states like North Carolina," said Eddie Davis, president of NCAE. "John Edwards is the candidate who shares our values, understands our issues and offers real and bold solutions. Edwards' comprehensive education plans borrow from some of the best reform practices we have here in North Carolina- involving expert educators in school reforms and supporting Smart Start, which coordinates education, health care and family support services for children before they enter school. He also understands that teachers, not tests, are the single most important factor in successful schools and has introduced plans to radically overhaul No Child Left Behind, increase incentives for teachers in high-poverty schools, and improve training and mentoring programs for teachers. The greatest challenges to our schools are addressing the needs of children and families who live in poverty. John's focus on the underserved is meaningful to our members."

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4. Stepping it Up: Second Line Parade with John Edwards

Edwards is Stepping it Up Again....

We are really excited about the great event being planned down in New Orleans for Nov 3rd by several motivated Tulane students. In the words of organizer Lauren Sher:

“The city of New Orleans, of all places, can attest to the affects of global warming. Katrina was a signal to the world that w e can no longer stand on the sidelines. It’s time to take a stand and demand leaders STEP IT UP and get serious about our future.”

The event kicks off with a sweet rally that flows into a second line parade down the city streets to the Super Dome where they will join with football fans to take a group picture with a clear message calling for national action on climate change. Among the attendees include City council members, representatives from the Gulf Coast Restoration Network and the Alliance of Affordable Energy and hundreds of New Orleans citizens and Tulane students.

Oh and Senator John Edwards will be there as well!

How did it work out that these New Orleans organizers were able to get Edwards at their event? One word: persistence, and maybe some luck. All of our leaders are well aware of Step It Up on Nov 3rd thanks to your thousands of invitations, yet we all need to follow up with them on the phone, more than once, to get that confirmation of attendance. Edwards himself, like many others, has been willing to attend a Step It Up event for quite some time, yet it’s their scheduler that we need to nail down on the logistics. So don’t get discouraged if you haven’t gotten that commitment, courting a candidate to your event can be just like courting a date, it can take several tries with different angles, but at least no flowers or chocolates are necessary.

Big UPs to all the young folks trying to do SOMETHING!

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5. Blog Roundup

There were Edwards diaries today, check them out, if you missed them.
Edwards Backer Mel Watt Pushes Obama as V.P. by TomP
Why Hillary Is a Drag on the Ticket A.K.A. Edwards Most Electable by Tarheel
Edwards receives NC Teachers Association Endorsement by Chaoslillith
What Edwards is About by David Mizner
Fellow Teachers Endorse John Edwards by Larry Kissell

And here's a little diary to keep things...um....interesting.
Dodd Calls Hillary A Liar on Lieberman/Kyl Iran Vote by Tarheel

Edwards Evening News RoundUp: Where Even Elizabeth Gets Her Edwards News!

2007-10-23T00:30:00.000-04:00

Originally posted on DailyKos by NCDem Amy

October 22, 2007

Welcome to the Edwards Evening News Round Up where even Elizabeth Edwards gets her news about John's campaign!

Tonight's features are:

I. Future First Lady Elizabeth Edwards: Saving Graces Book Signing & Upcoming Women's Conference

II. Expanding the Map: A True Blue Majority!

III. John Edwards: War Funding & Military Spending

But first, a special video message from Elizabeth herself to the Edwards Evening News Team---all of the Edwards supporters who write the news diaries, contribute stories and comment in support of this series.

I. Future First Lady Elizabeth Edwards: Saving Graces Book Signing & Upcoming Women's Conference

Saving Graces Book Signing

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend another one of Elizabeth's "Saving Graces" book signings. The book signing was held at a locally owned bookstore, Quail Ridge Books, which is situated adjacent to a Whole Foods Store. Quail Ridge Books is an intimate bookshop where the smell of the books lining the shelves and the personal attention from the owner Nancy and the salespeople, takes you back to the sense of community of small businesses that is often left behind in the big box chain book stores. (I hope if Elizabeth reads this, she doesn't count the number words in my sentence; watch the book signing video clip for more on that).

Elizabeth began her presentation with some friendly hellos to attendees, many of whom she knows personally, some remarks that drew much laughter and a request to support the "Kids for Books" program that has provided over 50,000 books to economically disadvantaged children since Elizabeth supported the bookstore owner, Nancy Olsen in establishing the program.

Elizabeth went on to read some excerpts from her book, injecting commentary along the way. At times, her words evoked intensity and even fear, emotions often felt when discussing the serious concepts that Elizabeth is not afraid to broach, while at other moments, Elizabeth's words filled the bookstore with laughter.

Elizabeth Edwards possesses a depth of intellect, emotional insight and sensitivity that is truly inspiring.

Following is a short clip where Elizabeth discusses "Books for Kids" and reads excerpts from her book:

Women's Conference

Tomorrow, Elizabeth will participate in a Women's Conference along with a distinguished panel of speakers in California. The forum will be live webcast beginning at 8 am PDT.

"The conference's capacity to transform, to empower and inspire women to take charge of their lives and get involved in their communities, to connect with their friends, neighbors, and family members, and to find and use their voice, individually and collectively, is truly remarkable. The 2007 conference will be no different, especially in light of the extraordinary, world-renowned speakers who will join us this year to share their stories, experiences and insights."

The Women's Conference has grown into the largest one-day conference for women in the nation and become an iconic destination for important and lively discussions. This year will feature two greatly-anticipated breakout sessions including "Race, Religion and Gender – The New Face of the White House," and a separate dynamic conversation between the 2008 presidential candidates' spouses

II. Expanding the Map: A True Blue Majority!

The Edwards for President Campaign launched, "Expanding the Map" last week. Expanding the Map is an intiative to invigorate Democratic races in all fifty states by having the most progressive and most electable Democratic Presidential candidate at the top of the ticket: John Edwards. A number of key Democratic leaders from all regions of the country have endorsed John Edwards for President and spoken to the electability issue, with regard to how having Edwards at the top of the ticket will not only ensure that Democrats will win the White House but will but also expand majorities in Congress and help state and local Democrats down the ballot.

Today, the Edwards for President Campaign held a Conference call with a few of these key leaders, including:

NJ Senate President and former NJ Governor Richard J. Codey
U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva (AZ)
U.S. Representative and former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Mel Watt (NC)
U.S. Representative David Price (NC)
VA Democratic Party Chair C. Richard Cranwell

During the conference call, all of these Democratic leaders were clear on the fact that Edwards is the only Democratic candidate who holds the nationwide appeal that is necessary to compete and win in states in every region and invigorate down ticket races.

U.S. Representative David Price (NC) stated, "In critical states, where control of congress hangs in balance, must have someone at top of the tikcket that gives us lift. John Edwards gives them the best prospects."

A number of participants expressed concerns of the negative effects Hillary would have on Democratic races due to her high unfavorable ratings.

Virginia Democratic Party Chair, C. Richar Cranwell said, "Down ticket races are influenced a lot by unfavorables. Clinton’s unfavorables are consistently in 40 percetile; it concerns me what this does down ticket. John Edwards does not have the high negatives that would energize the base on the other side. He will give us the chance to build our majorities in all states."

Mel Watt, U.S. Representative (NC) said it all, "All Americans want bold leadership and real change, John Edwards can win voters in all of these states. We will retain our margin Edwards on top of ticket. With other candidates on the ballot, tremendous drop off down ticket."

Elizabeth spoke a bit about the electability issue today during her appearance on The Situation Room:

III. John Edwards: War Funding & Military Spending

War Funding

Today, Bush requested an additional $189.3 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the widespread opposition to ending the war in Iraq. Disregarding the will of the people and skepticism from Congress, Bush charges on in his mission of an endless war.

Senator Edwards, who has led the way on demading that Congress not back down to Bush and demand timetables for withdrawal, issued the following statement in response to Bush's request today:

EDWARDS: LATEST WAR FUNDING REQUEST CONTINUES FAILED IRAQ STRATEGY, CONGRESS MUST DEMAND TIMELINE FOR WITHDRAWAL

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – In response to President Bush’s request for an additional $46 billion for war funding, Senator John Edwards released the following statement:

“Today President Bush will ask for another $46 billion from Congress to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This request comes on top of his original request for $140 billion and confirms that his administration is pressing on with the only Iraq strategy it has ever had – more time, more troops and more war.

“Enough is enough. The American people voted for change last November and now, almost a year later we still have the status quo. Once and for all Congress must stand up to President Bush and pass a funding bill with a timetable for withdrawal. If the president vetoes that bill, Congress must send it back, again and again, as many times as it takes for the president to finally get the message that he can’t defy the American people. Every member of Congress who believes this war must end has the moral responsibility to use every tool available to them, including a filibuster, to send the president one simple message: No timeline, no funding. No excuses.”

Edwards has proposed a clear plan to end the war in Iraq as well as a number of policies to clean up the wasteful military spending.

In this clip, Edwards speaks to this issue to the Iowans for Sensible Priorities:

Edwards Evening News - Government by the People

2007-10-21T00:22:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another edtion of the Edwards Evening News! Check out the latest and possibly some missed earlier. Enjoy!

1. Government by the People - strong support for Edwards ideas empowering people.

2. On the ground in Iowa - a bit on what's happening in Iowa

3. Edwards at the Truman dinner in California - a recap on Edwards at the Truman dinner after receiving the California SEIU endorsement.

4. Breaking: Edwards wins San Mateo straw poll!

Come along over the flap!

1. Government by the People - strong support for Edwards ideas empowering people.

Probably by now, many of us here are aware of Edwards plans on government reform. As noted on the website, its been received exceptionally well:

"With his One Democracy Initiative, Edwards has demonstrated that he will take on the dominance of corporate lobbyists to be the leader of something we lack today in Washington: a powerful 'lobby for the public good.' His vision for government reform, like many other issues, is charting a way to reclaim the soul and values of our party and of the country."

Scott Harshbarger, former president of Common Cause, October 16, 2007

Since the plan has been released, one aspect in particular - that of calling for a Citizen Congress - has received a lot of positive attention. Check out this wonderful article by Archon Fung, a professor on public policy, praising Edwards' initiatives:

The idea that government should talk directly to citizens about political issues, and that citizens should talk to each other, has the potential to reinvigorate American democracy. Citizen participation through influential assemblies such as Citizen Congresses would address three critical failings of the political system

Looking at the three reasons given by the author, I was particularly struck by the second, which echoes so much of what Edwards has been saying everywhere he goes for so long now:

Second, the political system produces many laws and policies that favor a few special interests at the expense of the majority of Americans: manufacturers over consumers; those in the education business over students and parents; medical providers and insurers over patients and their families; and politicians over voters.

.

In other words: end the game. Its rigged and most can't even afford to play.

Political leaders in Canada, Britain, Brazil, and many other countries have already recognized the potential of public participation and instituted important new ways for citizens to influence government. Rather than being the world leader in democracy, America is lagging behind in its democratic imagination and ingenuity. Edwards's proposal marks an important, if modest, step to catch up. Perhaps it will empower ordinary Americans in the political process and, eventually, make America an example of democracy that is truly worth following.

But the title of EENR tonight actually comes from a different article by John Gastil in the Seattle Times. He notes, as the previous article did, that Americans are continuing to lose faith in their government and that Edwards has a serious proposal to remedy that:

Fewer than one in four Americans expect Washington to "do what is right" most of the time, according to a July 2007 CBS poll. A Pew Research Center survey in March found that only one in three Americans believe the federal government "cares about what people like me think." Those are grim statistics for a nation once heralded as the global icon of democracy.

The presidential candidates have yet to tap successfully into this wellspring of alienation, but this past Saturday in Keene, N.H., Democratic candidate John Edwards launched the One Democracy Initiative to do just that.

The article also notes that Edwards' ideas stem from from an AmericaSpeaks policy paper and have been put into practice successfully at the local level. Looking over their site, they seem like a great progressive organization. Major kudos to Edwards and his policy people for picking up on the best and brightest ideas for empowering everyday citizens to play a greater role in our democracy.

2. On the ground in Iowa - a bit on what's happening in Iowa.

Lots going on - things are really picking up and his support on the ground is growing, while questions about at least one other candidate seem to be growing. Today Edwards responded to Clinton taking the unusual step of sending out a letter to Iowans defending her recent vote inching us toward war with Iran:

"This morning we see that Senator Clinton is defending her vote to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. She was entitled to her vote just like she's entitled to defend it. The problem is her explanation to Iowa voters is different than her explanation to the New York Times. Her backers told the New York Times that her vote was about shifting from primary election mode to general election mode. Now she's telling Iowans something different. Apparently she has an Iowa mode and a Washington mode too.

"We have already seen the devastating consequences of triangulation and manipulation in Iraq. Particularly on the critical challenge on Iran, where the administration appears to be readying the guns of war, Democrats deserve a nominee who only has one mode - and that's ‘telling the truth’ mode."

Seems like a pretty fair crticism, especially given her avoidance of questions at events and inability to admit mistakes:

At this point in the campaign, Iowans may be willing to support a candidate who has not answered all of their questions fully and completely. The Caucuses are still months away, after all, and not everyone has had a chance to see every candidate yet. In another month, however, rank and file caucus goers will start to finalize their choices, and they are not likely to choose a candidate whom they have never heard answer questions from their friends and neighbors. And even if they do, they are less likely to brave the cold January weather to caucus for them.

I stand with this author and am confident that Iowans know who will stand the tallest for them in the White House:

My hope and I don’t think it is an unreasonable one, is that when it comes time for the Iowa caucuses, caucus-goers look into their hearts, find the only one there politically is John Edwards, and give him a resounding victory.

Edwards says it best:

3. Edwards at the Truman dinner in California - a recap on Edwards at the Truman dinner after receiving the California SEIU endorsement.

While the endorsement of the California SEIU received the bulk of the news, John Edwards also spoke at the 13th Annual Truman Awards dinner later that evening to a sellout crowd of over 1100 people in Anaheim, where they expeced to raise nearly $250,000 for the Orange County Democratic party. In a county that usually goes Republican, this is a pretty big deal and shows how Edwards can strenghten and grow the Democratic Party. Here are some excepts from his speech and the video is here:

“At the end of the day, what’s at stake in this election is a very simple thing: whether we’re going to live in a moral, fair and just America, where everyone has a chance. Whether American is going to lead in a moral, fair and just world.

“To paraphrase Ghandi, you have to be the change that you believe in. The idea that you can vote in the election and the next president – including me – is going to solve all your problems is a fantasy. The truth is that the power in America is not inside the beltway in Washington, D. C. The power in America is in communities just like this.

and speaking of California, Elizabeth Edwards will be in Long Beach on Tuesday for the California Women's Conference.

4. Breaking: Edwards wins San Mateo straw poll!
Just saw this, so go over and read the diary:
John Edwards Wins San Mateo Straw Poll by Hapa Nagila. Here are the official results:

JOHN EDWARDS 221 29.0%
DENNIS KUCINICH 180 23.6%
BARACK OBAMA 171 22.5%
HILLARY CLINTON 128 16.8%
AL GORE (Write-In) 23 3.0%
BILL RICHARDSON 21 2.8%
JOSEPH BIDEN 8 1.0%
CHRISTOPHER DODD 4 0.5%
MICHAEL GRAVEL 4 0.5%
Other Write-ins 1 0.1%

And if you are in or around New Hampshire, they could use your help. And they campaign could also use some help making the Blue Majority happen - do what you can. Thats the news! Hope you enjoyed it!

Edwards Evening News Roundup: Thursday Edition

2007-07-19T23:42:00.000-04:00

by pioneer111 [Subscribe]
Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 10:05:59 PM EDT
Hi everyone, this is pioneer substituting for your regular Thursday night anchor, edgery. It has been another beautiful summer day on the west coast with clouds, sunshine, mountains, and coastlines to entice us away from the keyboards. However there is change hovering over the political landscape across the country. John Edwards is helping to shape the change in the political dialog. Today we will touch on these stories:
The conclusion of the One America Tour
Interview on Youtube on a variety of topics
Edwards issues challenge to Bush on poverty
Congratulations, Columbus, Kentucky!
The Most Repugnant Argument...Ever
pioneer111's diary :: ::
1.
From Monday, July 16th, 2007 to Wednesday, July 18th, 2007, John Edwards took a break from his normal campaign schedule to travel to 8 states to shine a bright spotlight on the issue of poverty in America. You can go to his website page and check out various postings about the tour at your leisure. For those of you who missed it here is a link to NCDem Amy's Vlog about day 3 in VA and KY on the tour. It is wonderful! Here is a video of some excerpts from the Prestonburg speech.

2. Interview on Youtube on a variety of topics.
Before Edwards started out on the tour he was interviewed on youtube about his views on poverty and some thoughts on the Youtube debate. Delightful interview using the new media.

3. Edwards issues challenge to Bush on poverty
John Edwards following his One America poverty tour wrote quite the challenging letter to President Bush asking him to address this issue. You can read the full letter here, but these are a couple of the key paragraphs:
Mr. President, that is what true leaders do, they lead with big, bold ideas that actually solve problems. They do not wait to be told about problems that stare them in the face, they never follow, and they should never have to wait for a convenient time to address the incredible challenges that face so many hard-working families in this nation.
As you approach your final days in office, you have a chance to finally stand up and lead on this important issue. However, unless you choose to lead and start helping solve poverty in America, the next 550 days of your presidency will all but ensure that the 37 million Americans who wake up in poverty today will only grow. If you choose to do nothing on poverty, the next 550 days of your presidency will only ensure that the more than 5 million Americans who have fallen into poverty during your presidency will only grow.
4. Congratulations, Columbus, Kentucky! Congratulationshave been posted at JRE's blog where Amy Rubin writes
At 3pm EDT on Wednesday, July 18th, this town of only 229 people won the "Demand and Be Heard" contest, beating out larger cities like Los Angeles, Dallas, and Seattle with a total of 1,814 votes.
Columbus native Shawn Dixon spoke out for his hometown, leading the online movement to success by seeking support on different political Web sites and blogs, and on social networks like Facebook and Myspace.
This commitment to visit Columbus comes on the heels of the "Road to One America" tour during which John Edwards visited towns like Marks, Mississippi and West Helena, Arkansas. With his visit to this small town in the heart of rural America, John Edwards will continue to draw attention to those places too often ignored by the media and politicians in Washington.
During his visit to Columbus, John will address the questions that "demanders" submitted during the competition and he will speak with residents about the issues that matter most to them.
5. The Most Repugnant Argument...Ever
Jeffrey Feldman of Frameshop really deconstructs the arguments of phoniness being used by the media against John and Elizabeth Edwards for their commitment to public service and their passion to eradicate poverty. Here is part of his perceptive analysis
Second exercise: imagine your child just died in a car accident--was taken from you by a horrific turn of events that sometimes happens. You wrestle with your own guilt for years, struggle to move on--to keep a cherished place for your lost child in your heart and in your mind without descending into self-absorbed grief.
Now, same as before, imagine someone walks up to you and says, "Whatever you say and do from this day forward will always be an attempt to exploit your child's death for money and personal gain."
Hard to imagine any human being (e.g. Anne Coulter doesn't count) would be so repugnant as to say or write arguments about another person along those lines, right?
Meet John Dickerson, the latest author of the most repugnant argument ever: that the Edwards family, who have suffered great personal tragedy with the loss of their son and contracted chronic illness, must by default always be exploiting those tragedies for personal gain.
Feldman's concluding paragraph says it all
Whether or not you support John Edward's campaign for president is irrelevant, here. Simply put, when someone gets cancer or loses a child, that does not put them on a list of society's moral degenerates to be suspected of lies and deceit at every turn. To suggest or even insinuate otherwise--whether in the context of a political election or in a smoky tent at a roadside circus--is a thought not worthy of his century, let alone this country.
This for me is one of my favorite pictures of John. I think it shows his caring as he listens to seniors.

Edwards Evening News - The Road to One America

2007-07-18T23:39:00.000-04:00

by okamichan13 [Subscribe] [Edit Diary]
Wed Jul 18, 2007 at 11:20:12 PM EDT
Welcome to today's Edwards Evening News Roundup and Day 3 of John Edwards tour to highlight the stark issue of poverty that should be making the news every night but never seems to be a high enough priority for newscasters - or newsmakers. One of the main reasons Edwards is asking for your help to become the next president is to change all that.

Come check out today's news over the flap
okamichan13's diary :: ::
The Road to One America Today John Edwards continued on his tour to focus on some of the hardest hit poverty stricken areas in America by visiting Wise, Virginia, Whitesburg, Kentucky, and Prestonburg, Kentucky, and ending tonight in Roanoke, Virginia. Fellow Kossack to be inspired had an excellent first hand diary today on the tour's stop in Cleveland. For a good summary of today's trip - check out the AP's Edwards concludes poverty tour in RFK's footsteps and NBC's Edward's Poverty Tour Ends. From NBC:
On the third and last day of his "Road to One America Tour," Edwards made stops in Wise, VA, Whitesburg, KY, and Prestonburg, KY -- the last two stops identical to the end of Bobby Kennedy's poverty tour 40 years ago. Throughout the three days, Edwards visited both rural towns and urban cities and held many more small group gatherings -- as opposed to large rallies.
Wise, Virginia John Edwards started off today talking with Virginians at the Remote Area Medical (RAM) annual health care clinic, where:
Over the course of three short days, the RAM volunteers will provide health care services to over 8,000 people from Wise and the surrounding areas. In many cases, it is the only health care they receive all year.
Poverty and lack of affordable quality health care go hand in hand. One example from Wise is coal miner James Lowe:
He was especially moved by a coal miner in Wise, whose cleft palate kept him from talking for five decades until a dentist last year volunteered to perform a $3,000 orthodontic procedure for free.
Edwards shared the story of 51-year-old James Lowe at his other stops, saying Lowe and other low-income workers "deserve better."
"In the richest nation on the planet ... to live 50 years of his life that way," Edwards said, "I reject it. We can do better than this."
The AP article goes on:
Throughout the Appalachian leg of his journey, many told Edwards that, despite their problems, they didn't want his poverty tour to reinforce negative stereotypes of the region.
"These challenges don't define the people of this area," Edwards responded in Wise. "Their strength and defiance and courage define them. We're here to help."
Whitesburg and Prestonburg, Kentucky The tour continued on to Whitesburg and Prestonburg with Edwards finishing at the Floyd County Courthouse in Prestonburg where Robert F. Kennedy ended his tour focusing on the same issues nearly 40 years ago. He pointed out that while some are comparing him to RFK, he came to Kentucky not to mimic RFK but to complete what was started:
Though he concluded his journey in the footsteps of Kennedy, Edwards said he wasn't trying to mimic his "political hero."
"I don't deserve to be compared to Bobby Kennedy," Edwards told the crowd that spilled across the courthouse lawn. He added, "I want America to remember what he did decades ago. I want you to join us to end the work Bobby Kennedy started."
Reactions were positive and Kentucky seemed overjoyed that someone was at last paying them some attention. For example see KWMT's extensive coverage. They have some great video clips to check out. Here's some reactions:
"It was a really impressive speech. He hit everything I wanted to hear," said Todd Mayo, 37, of Auxere, who attended Edwards' Prestonsburg visit. "I know he's got really plans to fix things."
Laura Miller, 56, of Wise, Va., appreciated Edwards visiting her hometown earlier in the day. She said even though Edwards is wealthy, he understands the struggles of the poor.
"He's a self-made man," Miller said.
and others:
A 79-year old man, Barkley Sturgill, who was a county prosecutor when Kennedy visited Prestonburg, compared the former leader to the presidential hopeful. "The thing that impressed me about Bobby Kennedy was his fundamental sincerity. He believed in every word he said, talking about an America with civil rights, with jobs, essentially what John Edwards said today," Sturgill said. "[Edwards] spoke with the same sincerity. John Edwards believed what he said today and that's what these people know. They're not fooled by any means about these large gestures about what they are gonna do. They mean what they say about education and poverty."
No video up yet from Edwards tour today, but you can certainly catch what he is trying to get across from his trip to Memphis; its also a good recap of the last couple of days:
Is Edwards succeeding in getting the message through past a media that never has found much to say about poverty? Well it certainly seems like it:
In this region largely ignored by the other presidential candidates, who have been focusing on the early primary and caucus states, he appeared to have succeeded in delivering a resonant message.
"He reminds me so much of John Kennedy," said Debbie Blevins, 54, a former bus driver from a coal-mining family. "I agree 100 percent with him, and I do think he can become president."
Ms. Blevins’s friend Violet Slone, 56, said she hoped Mr. Edwards won the nomination because she would not vote for Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton in the general election.
"And I won’t vote Republican," said Ms. Slone, a retired office worker. "So if Edwards isn’t in the race, that will be a day I just won’t vote."
And even the Washington Post is taking a stab at focusing on the issues with some excellent video interviews with John Edwards. Can't get the embed to work right, but you can see the series of videos here.
Other news John Edwards released statements today on continuing to be an obstacle to better health care, on Republicans continuing to ignore the will to the American people to end the war, and on a new ad going up in New Hampshire:
Also this just in:
Apropos to the tour today, Columbus, Kentucky has won the Demand and Be Heard Competition! Its a pretty amazing story - check it out

Edwards Evening News Roundup: Poverty Tour Day 2

2007-07-17T23:35:00.000-04:00

by cosbo [Subscribe]
Tue Jul 17, 2007 at 09:34:22 PM EDT
Hi All. Join us for another Edition of the Edwards Evening News Roundup. Come in, relax, take off your shoes and enjoy. There are so many stories about John Edwards tonight that I don't know where to begin or even if I can do his roundup justice. But I'll try...
Tonight we have the following stories for you.
1. John Edwards On the Road to One America Tour - The Man with the Plans
2. Edwards and America's Poortest City
3. Edwards Gains Support From Prominent Women Leaders
4. Small Minnesota Town Solidly behind Edwards
cosbo's diary :: ::
1. John Edwards On the Road to One America Tour - The Man with the Plans
On the eve of his 3 days, 11 states poverty tour John Edwards unveiled a Three-Point Plan To Rebuild New Orleans. His plans focused strongly on what would be necessary to bring New Orleans back, structurally economically and morally.
"We are not the country of the Superdome in New Orleans after Katrina," said Edwards. "We can do better. We have a moral responsibility to get New Orleans back on its feet."
On the first day of his tour John Edwards unveiled yet another plan. This time key component in fighting poverty...making work pay. John points out continuously and consistently that a majority of people living in poverty does in fact work full time. They get up and go to work everyday and still does not have enough money to take care of their families. Edwards New Initiatives To Reward Work focus on creating opportunities for families to lift themselves out of poverty. John Edwards is completely committed to making the playing field even for all.
"Past anti-poverty efforts have failed to create enough opportunities for people to work their way out of poverty and into the middle class," Edwards said. "We will never end poverty until we create more opportunities for people to earn enough to support themselves and their families. We need to put our economy back in line with our values by making it possible to work hard and build a better life."
On the second day of his tour, Edwards unveiled, yes you guessed it...another plan. This time focusing creating Economically Diverse Schools. John recognizes that race and money plays an enormous role in who gets the better education in this country and believe that it is time to focus on changing that.
"We still have two public school systems in America, and millions of children are separated from opportunity by their race or their class," said Edwards. "We need to do everything we can to improve their education, and that includes economically diverse schools. More low-income students should have the opportunity to go to schools where they are likely to have experienced teachers, parents who are more involved and classmates with high aspirations."
2. Edwards and America's Poortest City Out of Ohio is a story of supporters gathering for Senator Edwards arrival. He had people from old to young waiting patiently for his arrival.
Edwards was an hour late to todays event, leaving a few dozen members of the press and local residents to wait to mill around for a while. During this time, a kid on a bike rolled up next to me on the sidewalk and asked "where's John?" This kid couldn't of been more than 9 years old. I told him Edwards was running late, and asked him if he was a fan. "That's the reason I came over here," he said. "I can't wait 'till he's president. If I could vote, I would vote for him." This astute young man also observed that Mayor Jackson was nowhere to be seen. (Jackson never did appear).
3. Edwards Gains Support From Prominent Women Leaders Today John Edwards gained the support of more women leaders for his campaign.
The following women endorsed Edwards for president: Belinda Biafore, Vice Chair, West Virginia Democratic Party (WV) Cindy Burney, Assistant Prosecutor, City of Bay St. Louis (MS) Maureen Byrne, Community Activist (ME) Laura Edwards, Co-Founder, Lillian's List (NC) Lisbeth "Libba" Evans, Former Chair, NC Democratic Party; former Co-Chair, Women's Campaign Fund (NC) Adelaide Gomer, Park Foundation Trustee (NY) Susan Good, Co-Chair, California Democratic Party Rules Committee and Member of the California Democratic Party Executive Board (CA) Carolyn Honeycutt, Former President North Carolina Democratic Women (NC) Kate Jacobson, Community Activist (MS) Natalie Jayroe, New Orleans Community Activist (LA) Pam Johnson, Board Member of the MS Women's Coalition (MS) Kate Knox, Founder of EWomen and EMERGE Board Member, Attorney (ME) Nancy Larson, DNC Member (MN) Debbe Leftwich, State Senator; Co-Chair, Oklahoma Women's Legislative Caucus (OK) Christi McCoy, Community Activist (MS) Wendy R. Mullins, Community Activist (MS) Mary Jo Neville, DNC Member (MD) Muriel Offerman, DNC Member (NC) Mary Pallant, Chair, Ventura County Commission for Women (CA) Elisa Parker, Vice Chair, Tennessee Democratic Party (TN) Carol Peterson, DNC Member (NC) Nancy Quarles, Former State Representative (MI) Melanie Taylor, Community Activist (NC) Doris Vaccarella, Former Chair, MS Federation of Democratic Women (MS) Additionally, the supporters below joined Women for Edwards. Stella Adams, NC Fair Housing Center Executive Director (NC) Linda Bolon, State Representative (OH) Jennifer Brady, State Representative (OH) Kathleen Carney, 8th Congressional District Chair (MI) Liz Carpenter, Austin (TX) Kimberly Chiapetto, Floyd County Democratic Chair (VA) Pam Cooke, Board Member, National Stonewall Democrats June Deadrick, Community Activist (TX) Melissa Diaz, Former DNC Hispanic Media Director Marie Donigan, State Representative (MI) Trina Ellis Erwin, Michigan Women's Caucus Vice Chair (MI) Hope Evans, Chair, Northwestern University Students for Edwards Chair (IL) Joan Flynn, Macomb County Commissioner (MI) Sherry Freeman, Delta Township Trustee (MI) Shirley Frye, Community Activist (NC) Lois Hill, Mount Clemens City Commissioner (MI) Diana Keller, Wyandotte Democratic Club President (MI) Christine Koch, Clinton Township Democrats (MI) Kathleen Law, State Representative (MI) Elizabeth Lenhard, Vice President, Warren Woods Board of Education (MI) Maria Mannarino, Lathrup Village City Councilor (MI) Colleen McGlynn, Chief of Staff to Senate Majority Leader Fred Barry (MA) Laura Miller, Former Mayor of Dallas (TX) Paula Pierson, State Representative (TX) Lana Pollack, Former State Senator, Environmental Leader (MI) Melissa Price, Vice President, Young Democrats of North Carolina (NC) Sarah Roberts, Macomb County Commissioner (MI) Diane Saxe, DNC Member (MA) Valencia Seay, State Senator (GA) Ann Sheinwald, Rockport (MA) Karen Dulaney Smith, Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees (id purposes only) (TX) Trisha Stein, Former Executive Director, One Michigan (MI) Melanie Tate, President, Kentucky College Democrats (KY) Kathy Tocco, Macomb County Commissioner (MI) Theresa Trujeque, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Clinton Interior Department (NM) Sylvia Trujillo, Community Leader (DC) Mayra Uribe, Community Leader (FL) Meredith Vivian, Vice President, University of California, Santa Cruz (CA)
4. Small Minnesota Town Solidly behind Edwards Out of Minnesota is an interesting and inspiring story of an ex-Marine and Former Sheriff who after some political discussions and research has decided to support John Edwards with both words and action. Video link... It's a great story. Check it out.
One day, after discussing politics, Haugerud and his family came to a conclusion, "We just can't stand it anymore and we felt we had to do something because this is an emergency."
And the best way to take action was to go straight to the top says Haugerud.
He and his family began researching presidential candidates and their views on the war, and found one person they thought stood out from the rest, Democrat John Edwards.
"He was part of the vote that went along with the war, but later he realized he made a mistake and he has basically apologized for that and is doing everything he can to correct it," said Haugerud.
I'm sure I'm missing a lot. I mean who can keep up with John Edwards? Enjoy.

EENR: Edwards on the Road to One America (Day 1)

2007-07-16T22:12:00.000-04:00

Today, John Edwards began his trip, walking the walk on the Road to One America Tour.

***

Part 1 - The Road to One America

Unfortunately, many of us cannot follow along in reality, but the John Edwards campaign has allowed us to follow along with this interactive road map! To get up to the minute updates on day 1 of the tour, including blog, summary, and pictures, go to the campaign's webpage dedicated to day 1. Other information including pictures, blogs, and even phone text messages which can be signed up for by texting TOUR to 30644 or by signing up for them at this webpage.

On "Road To One America" Tour, Edwards Unveils New Initiatives To Reward Work

Canton, Mississippi – On the first day of Senator John Edwards' three-day "Road to One America" tour, Edwards unveiled new initiatives to respect and reward low-wage workers. The initiatives include protecting workers from routine abuses of minimum wage, overtime, and safety laws through a new taskforce and guaranteeing sick leave so workers who are sick or need to take their child to the emergency room will not lose their job. Today's new initiatives build on Edwards' past efforts to create opportunities for rewarding work, including a higher minimum wage, tax cuts for low-income families, stronger unions, and stepping-stone jobs for willing workers unable to find jobs on their own.

"Past anti-poverty efforts have failed to create enough opportunities for people to work their way out of poverty and into the middle class," Edwards said. "We will never end poverty until we create more opportunities for people to earn enough to support themselves and their families. We need to put our economy back in line with our values by making it possible to work hard and build a better life."

...

For more details on Edwards' plan to reward work, please click here for the fact sheet.

The Road to One America: Building One America Starts in New Orleans

Tracy Russo
7/15/2007 at 6:07 PM EST

...

In New Orleans, Senator Edwards will unveil his three-point plan to rebuild the city. The plan seeks to address the question of recovery with a focus on rebuilding infrastructure, creating jobs and keeping the city safe from future storms and rising crime.

Rebuild: The rebuilding of infrastructure in New Orleans is stalled. The city needs new hospitals, clinics, schools and roads. John Edwards will call for building a new Veterans' hospital downtown, call on the VA to stop delaying site selection and choose downtown New Orleans, and then fast-track the design process so construction can begin. He will also propose building a 21st century infrastructure, integrating new housing, and preserving livable housing.

Create: Edwards believes we need to create good jobs in New Orleans. He will propose hiring 50,000 Gulf Coast residents to fill stepping stone jobs dedicated to rebuilding infrastructure that will help local and returning residents gain skills and experience. He will also protect workers from contractor exploitation.

Protect: Finally, Edwards believes we need to protect the city and the region from weather and crime. As president, Edwards will do whatever is necessary to ensure that Katrina never happens again, including building stronger levees and restoring coastal wetlands. Following Katrina, New Orleans has experienced an epidemic in violence. Edwards will strengthen public safety to end the epidemic of crime and violence.

...

For more details on John Edwards' plan to rebuild New Orleans, check out this fact sheet.

Part 2 - AND THEY'RE OFF!

The Road to One America: The Lower 9th Ward

Tracy Russo
7/16/2007 at 9:36 AM EST

Yesterday John unveiled his plan to rebuild New Orleans. He took a walking tour with community leaders in the Lower 9th Ward and visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology.

Check out this video from the road:

This morning, John will continue the Road to One America tour with additional stops in New Orleans, a visit to Arkansas, and two stops in Mississippi.

...

Also see The Road to One America: Walking in the Lower 9th Ward.

Edwards: 'Make Work Pay' to End Poverty from ABC

...

On "GMA," Edwards was asked to share one solution to eliminating poverty.

"If I had to pick just one, it would be to make work pay," Edwards said.

Three ways to do that, Edwards said, are to raise the national minimum wage, increase the earned income tax credit and allow workers to organize unions and collectively bargain for better wages.

But can a wealthy candidate live among the privileged and really care about poverty?

Edwards, the son of a textile worker who was the first in his family to go to college, got rich as a successful trial lawyer. Though he has garnered attention recently for large payouts from a hedge fund after he left office, he suggested that his rise to great wealth from more humble beginnings gave him a unique perspective.

"If you look at the arc of my life, I came from very little to having a lot. I'm very proud of that," Edwards said.

...

Video from the GMA Town Hall:

The Road to One America: Kingsley House & Cafe Reconcile

Tracy Russo
7/16/2007 at 12:34 PM EST

Following this morning's GMA Town Hall, John made his way to Kingsley House.

Kingsley House was founded in 1896. Since that time it has been a safe haven for the children and families of New Orleans.

Since 2005, Kingsley House has stepped up as a saving grace to thousands of families who were victim to the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. After sustaining $3.5 million in damage to their buildings and grounds from the hurricane, Kingsley House rebuilt and became even more focused on their mission of "educating children, strengthening families, building community." Kingsley House now serves as an essential resettlement and recovery center for thousands in Southeastern Louisiana.

...

Following their visit to Kingsley House, John and Elizabeth stopped at Café Reconcile where they met with dozens of young people who are part of their training program for at-risk youth.

From the Café Reconcile describes their mission:

In 1996, under the leadership of the late Rev. Harry Tompson, S.J., a group of concerned people of faith gathered together to began a course of prayer, study, research, observation and dialogue regarding the witnessed challenges facing out-of-school youth in New Orleans. The newspapers, police reports, television news, research and personal experiences all pointed to a multitude of young lives spiraling into destructive and violent behaviors.

...

The Road to One America: Canton, Mississippi

Tracy Russo
7/16/2007 at 6:03 PM EST

Canton is one of the many Delta towns in Mississippi dominated by the poultry processing industry, one of the most dangerous and poorly rewarded industrial jobs in America. Poultry plant workers face many challenges including low-wages, a lack of health care and employers that have increasingly violate legal protections, such as minimum wage and hour laws, and misclassify employees as independent contractors in order to strip them of basic protections. These conditions fail to reward hard work and make it unnecessarily difficult for hardworking Americans to prosper. It's a problem that isn't limited to the poultry industry or the Mississippi Delta. Across America people work full time and still live in poverty.

In Canton, Mississippi, John and Elizabeth met with workers from the Peco Poutry Plant and listened to their stories.

From the road, John Davis writes in:

One woman spoke of the back-breaking work they do at the plant and what it was like to work in those conditions while pregnant. Other workers spoke about having their time on the clock shaved or not getting paid for overtime. It's not right and it's why we have to address these problems.

...

The Road to One America: Marks, Mississippi

Ben Brandzel
7/16/2007 at 7:27 PM EST

This afternoon John and the One America tour moved on to Marks, Mississippi. You don't have to tell anyone in Marks that poverty is still a problem in America--1 out of every 3 people here live below the poverty line. In fact, the people of Marks have a great deal to tell the rest of the country about their struggle for economic fairness, and they have been fighting to be heard for decades.

Martin Luther King came to this town in 1968 to launch his Poor People's March. Though Dr. King was assassinated before the march could reach Washington, over 7,000 people continued all the way to the capital.
And now a new generation is ready to sound the call to justice from these same streets in Marks, Mississippi--ready to continue the great journey towards justice that Martin Luther King began.

...

Today John also spoke with Sam McCray, another long time local activist who participated in the Poor People's March in 1968. He met with Sonya Murphy, who led 40 members of ACORN from Jackson on a 3 hour drive to join the One America tour. He was introduced at a small gathering by Steve Simmons, who spoke powerfully about his struggles as a low-wage hospital worker without health insurance.

...

They are still sending updates to http://www.johnedwards.com and you again can see updates at the blog, at the interactive road map, or at to the campaign's webpage dedicated to day 1. More information and pictures will be available for the Marks, Mississippi, West Helena, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee later.

Part 3 - The Media on Edwards and Poverty

Edwards starts 8-state poverty tour in N.O. from USA Today

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards blamed President Bush and the federal government for this city's slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina as he launched an eight-state campaign tour focused on fighting poverty.

"He made the people of New Orleans a very specific promise that has not been met," Edwards said, referring to Bush's promise soon after the August 2005 storm that the city would be rebuilt.

...

People living on the streets are only part of the poverty problem in America, Edwards said. "A huge portion of the people who live in poverty in this country work every day, work all the time," he said.

Solving that problem involves "making work pay" by raising the minimum wage, perhaps linking periodic minimum wage hikes to inflation, and making it easier for workers to unionize and gain better pay through collective bargaining, he said.

...

Also see Edwards' poverty tour: New Orleans by MSNBC, Democrat Edwards starts poverty tour by the Boston Globe, and Edwards Begins Tour To Highlight Poverty by the Guardian.

Part 4 - Have a Great Evening! Stay Tuned for Tomorrow is Day 2!
See more pictures here.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: The New Gilded Age Edition

2007-07-15T05:36:00.000-04:00

Sun Jul 15, 2007 at 09:10:04 PM CDT

On a day when the headline of the New York Times was The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Gilded Age, EENR is going to focus on the Road to One America tour that John Edwards will kick off in the morning. On this special edition of EENR, we'll be talking about the Two Americas, poverty, and the Road to One America. Come on by and visit with us as we bring you up to date on the Road to One America.

TomP's diary :: ::

You all know John Edwards has been fighting to create One America for a long time. Here is John Edwards accepting the vice-presidential nomination from the Democratic National Convention in July 2004:

I stand here tonight ready to work with you and John to make America stronger. And we have much work to do, because the truth is, we still live in a country where there are two different Americas ... one, for all of those people who have lived the American dream and don't have to worry, and another for most Americans, everybody else who struggle to make ends meet every single day. It doesn't have to be that way.

We can build one America where we no longer have two health care systems: one for families who get the best health care money can by, and then one for everybody else rationed out by insurance companies, drug companies, HMOs.

snip

John Kerry and I believe that we shouldn't have two different economies in America: one for people who are set for life, they know their kids and their grand-kids are going to be just fine; and then one for most Americans, people who live paycheck to paycheck.

Text: Sen. John Edwards Speech to DNC

It has only gotten worse since that time. Even the New York Times calls this New Gilded Age:

The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Gilded Age
By LOUIS UCHITELLE
Published: July 15, 2007

snip

Those earlier barons disappeared by the 1920s and, constrained by the Depression and by the greater government oversight and high income tax rates that followed, no one really took their place. Then, starting in the late 1970s, as the constraints receded, new tycoons gradually emerged, and now their concentrated wealth has made the early years of the 21st century truly another Gilded Age.

Only twice before over the last century has 5 percent of the national income gone to families in the upper one-one-hundredth of a percent of the income distribution -- currently, the almost 15,000 families with incomes of $9.5 million or more a year, according to an analysis of tax returns by the economists Emmanuel Saez at the University of California, Berkeley and Thomas Piketty at the Paris School of Economics.

Such concentration at the very top occurred in 1915 and 1916, as the Gilded Age was ending, and again briefly in the late 1920s, before the stock market crash. Now it is back, and Mr. Weill is prominent among the new titans. His net worth exceeds $1 billion, not counting the $500 million he says he has already given away, in the open-handed style of Andrew Carnegie and the other great philanthropists of the earlier age.

The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Gilded Age

And John Edwards still is fighting for us:

Today, the top 300,000 Americans now make more than the bottom 150 million put together.

Productivity is up but median income is down. People are making more, while they're making less. Men in their 30s today earn less in real dollars than the men did 30 years ago. More and more women have gone to work, and now married couples with children are working an average of 10 hours a week more than their parents did. Working families with breadwinners in their 40s are almost three times more likely to fall in to poverty than they were a generation ago.

What does all this mean in real terms? It means that our system rewards wealth, not work.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: the Building One America Edition

John Edwards is in New Orleans tonight. Tomorrow, he will begin his tour through eight states and 12 towns and cities, in order to bring attention to the 37 million Americans living in poverty and issues of fundamental economic unfairness in this nation.

Tracy Russo on the johnedwards.com blog tells us about tonight:

Tonight, Senator Edwards will join community leaders of New Orleans for a walking tour of the Lower 9th Ward which is still facing an uphill battle as it attempts to recover and rebuild from the heartbreaking devastation Hurricane Katrina and the utterly shameful lack of response from President Bush - who stood in Jackson Square 22 months ago and promised to rebuild New Orleans.

She also cross posted it on Daily Kos: The Road to One America: Building One America Starts in New Orleans

In New Orleans, Senator Edwards will unveil his three-point plan to rebuild the city. The plan seeks to address the question of recovery with a focus on rebuilding infrastructure, creating jobs and keeping the city safe from future storms and rising crime.

John Edwards began his Road to One America tour in New Orleans because the challenge of building One America starts right there.

Please take a look at Tracy Russo's (Tracy Joan on Dkos) diary on Dkos or the jreblog.

More Details Here

We will be following the Tour and will have the latest news every night. We will bring you the stories and links to Tracy Russo and others on the jreblog. We will give you a flavor and you can go over there for the full story.

Here's Tracy Russo of the Edwards campaign earlier tonight on Daily Kos:

We'll have updates from the Road to One America tour all week long on JohnEdwards.com, I hope you come over and check it out!

Edwards Takes The "Road To One America" Tour Online

The campaign will be posting blog entries and sending emails featuring stories from the road, so readers who can't join Edwards on the tour can still be a part of it. The campaign will also be highlighting the voices of people who attend stops on the tour – encouraging bloggers to attend stops and posting stories and multimedia content on the John Edwards website created by people from each stop on the tour.

The campaign will continue its groundbreaking use of text messaging to reach out to Americans. Each day, people will get audio updates from the tour, excerpts from Senator Edwards' remarks and the voices and stories of people he meets along the way. Additionally, the campaign will post the multimedia content on numerous social networks, like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook in order to reach a larger community of Americans interested in fighting poverty.

There's more! Tomorrow morning on Good Morning America on ABC:

Be part of the "GMA Town Hall" with Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Monday, July 16. Diane Sawyer will host the town hall event, which will focus on poverty and the financial struggles many Americans face. The town hall will be broadcast live on "Good Morning America" from New Orleans, LA.

Edwards will also answer questions from viewers at home during the live event. To submit a question (either text or video) to Edwards about poverty in the United States,

Submit Questions To Good Morning America Here

So where is he going tomorrow? Here are the towns for Monday:

New Orleans
Canton, MS
Marks, MS
West Helena, AK
Memphis

A busy day!

A Full Schedule Here

I want to leave you with the words of John Edwards:

"Everyday, one in eight Americans wakes up in poverty. That's not okay."

And that is the Edwards Evening News Roundup for tonight, July 15, 2007.

Edwards Evening News Roundup / Be the Media Edition

2007-07-14T05:26:00.000-04:00

Sat Jul 14, 2007 at 06:19:54 PM CDT

The Road to One America Tour starts next week. John Edwards will shine a light on poverty next week by taking three days off from his regular campaign schedule (and three days off from the important task of fundraising) to tour poverty-stricken areas in the United States and examine possible solutions.

You can help. Click here to find out ways to participate in this important event. If you live near to one of the event stops, consider documenting it as a citizen journalist. The Edwards campaign is encouraging bloggers to attend, and some of our Edwards Evening News reporters will be there. Flip with me for more on this and other news.

be inspired's diary :: ::

Edwards will be meeting with people struggling with poverty and will be using online tools to help share their stories with the nation. The campaign will be posting blog entries and sending emails featuring stories from the road, so readers who can't join Edwards on the tour can still be a part of it. The campaign will also be highlighting the voices of people who attend stops on the tour – encouraging bloggers to attend stops and posting stories and multimedia content on the John Edwards website created by people from each stop on the tour.

Be the media you've been waiting for! Join the Road to One America Tour!

Here's a recent example of excellent citizen journalism from OneCarolinaGirl to inspire you. This is from the opening of the new Edwards campaign office in South Carolina.

It's time for citizens to BE the media. Good work, OneCarolinaGirl!

We interrupt this EENR for some snark from the fake news department.

From the Daily Prophet:

Harry Potter Lies
You Know Who Has Not Returned

Harry Potter, the boy who has the hypocrisy to claim that You Know Who has returned, in spite of the fact that his critics say Potter himself recently got a $400 haircut, was caught red-handed training other students to become members of Dumbledore's Army. Potter claims they must be ready to fight when He Who Must Not Be Named returns. An anonymous source from the Ministry of Magic was quoted as saying "who's You Know Who?"

Sound familiar?

I guess you could say I enjoyed the snark about the media in the new Harry Potter film, which I saw today. If only the wizarding world had Media Matters.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program of Edwards News.

Media Matters' Jamison Foser once again came to the rescue of common sense yesterday with a column examining the fact that the ridiculous smear stories that come up in the media, at least the ones that are kept around for months, are always directed at progressives. Using the examples of Al Gore supposedly saying he invented the Internet, John Edwards's haircut, and John Kerry's allege elitism, Foser paints a picture of what the media might be like if the same treatment were given to Republicans.

These examples all have a few things in common:

All are, to some degree, inaccurate, unfair, or of minimal significance.
All were (and still are) endlessly repeated by media at every available opportunity, often as though the anecdotes are deeply illustrative of some personal or political failing.
All of the targets in question were progressives.

That last one is important. Conservative candidates just haven't seen the media endlessly repeat their (real or perceived; significant or not) missteps the way they have been repeated about progressives.

For example, Edwards' haircuts (and the size of his house, and his wealth in general) are constantly invoked in news reports about his economic policies. And always as a negative -- his wealth is portrayed as inconsistent with his policies (hypocritical, even) or undermining his message. When have you seen an article about Edwards that casually notes that the fact that he supports policies that are inconsistent with his narrow personal financial interests gives him greater credibility to talk about poverty? Or that it gives him a decided advantage over wealthy conservatives like John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson who favor tax policies that would line their own pockets at the expense of those less fortunate? You probably have never seen such an article, though those assertions would be at least as valid as the portrayal of hypocrisy.

If the leading Republican candidates were held to the same standard, every news report that mentions Romney or McCain or Thompson or Giuliani wanting to make the Bush tax cuts permanent would include a sentence like this: "Romney's support of tax policies that overwhelmingly benefit the superrich -- like Mitt Romney -- may remind middle class Americans that he is not one of them."

In the new Harry Potter film, the media eventually comes to its senses. We can only hope that life follows art. It would be nice if the "official" media would come to its senses in time for Edwards's Road to One America tour next week. There have been some recent signs of that, especially in local papers in places Edwards is scheduled to visit. Let's take a look at some of them.

The Clarion Ledger, in Mississippi, has a nice article today about Edwards's upcoming visit on the Road to One America Tour.

Sen. Robert Jackson, a Democrat from Marks, said Edwards will learn about the area's self-help programs such as First Delta Federal Credit Union. The program helps first-time home buyers obtain credit.

Affordable housing projects, educational services and youth leadership development also will be discussed, Jackson said.

"We're appreciative that a presidential candidate would come to a rural town in Mississippi to see what we're doing and if it can be replicated in other parts of the country," Jackson said. "That speaks volumes about the leadership that he would provide in the years to come."

The Vindicator, in Youngstown, Ohio, also writes about Edwards's upcoming visit.

YOUNGSTOWN — When presidential hopeful John Edwards visits here Tuesday, he'll first talk with women at the Beatitude House working to turn around their lives and then meet with local business leaders working to turn around the region's economy.

Edwards' visit is part of a 12-city "Road to One America" tour that begins Monday in New Orleans. The goal of the trip is to raise awareness of poverty with one option being to strengthen cities through economic improvements.

"We are so excited and really thrilled" that he's coming here with a commitment to fight poverty, said Teresa Boyce, Beatitude House's development director.

Edwards will talk with families that live at the house on Lora Avenue, she said.

"He'll learn about their obstacles and how this program helps them," Boyce said.

Beatitude House provides housing, education, counseling and support services to homeless women, primarily those with children, to help them obtain economic stability.

Edwards talked about the upcoming tour at the recent NAACP presidential forum.

In other news, Edwards won the straw poll of the Progressive Caucus at the meeting of the California Democratic Party Executive Board.

At the end of the meeting an informal, show-of-hands straw poll was taken on presidential preferences of those in attendance. John Edwards was the clear choice of the getting 47 votes. Next was Al Gore, who is not a declared candidate with 27, followed by Dennis Kucinich (17), Barack Obama and Bill Richardson with 12 each, Hillary Clinton (2), and Joe Biden (1). Six were undecided, and neither Chris Dodd nor Mike Gravel received any votes.

As the meeting came to a close an announcement was made that Elizabeth Edwards will be addressing the General Session tomorrow morning.

And in Iowa, Edwards continued to speak out strongly against the Iraq war.

"I think the president is in complete denial about what’s happening in Iraq, and he’s made mistake after mistake, and he’s got to be forced to change course," he said. "I think the Congress has the power to do it, and they should use their power."

In related news, yesterday, the SEIU specified that to win its endorsement, candidates must participate in their "Walk a Day in My Shoes" program and have a health care plan by August 1st. Edwards, of course, has done both.

And that's the Edwards Evening News for Saturday, July 14, 2007.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: Green Collar Jobs Edition

2007-07-13T05:11:00.000-04:00

Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 06:47:53 PM CDT

Hey all, I'm back again with another installment of Edwards Evening News Roundup. It's Friday night, while you guys are sipping on your micro-brews in the sun, I'm here to give you the skinny on what Edwards has been up to. This edition will be focused on the release of Edwards new plan to create 150,000 Green Collar Jobs. I have a sneaking suspicion that the term green collar will eventually become a household term, especially if John Edwards becomes the next President.

More below the fold.....

sarahlane's diary :: ::

Right as I type this, my mother is putting the finishing touches on building her own green home. I get updates all the time, and have an understanding on how much it costs to build green. It's not cheap, but that's because the industry is just getting going. My mother's house is set up for solar powered electricity, and she's ready to buy her solar panels. The problem is that they cost quite a bit. She's shopping around for the best deal, which is a bit tiresome. She was hoping to spend up to $15,000 for solar panels that would supply 2 kilowatts of power per hour. People like my mother do get a good tax rebate on solar panels, but they're still expensive. The only way for costs to go down, is for the industry to expand. We've seen it time and time again, with DVD players, to the first CD players, after they are mass produced for awhile the prices go down. That's what will happen for the green industry as long as it expands.

What does this have to do with John Edwards? Well, today he released his plans to create 150,000 green collar jobs here at home. Talk about hitting a home run in my book, this is what our country needs. We need to invest in green energy here at home while creating a new labor force. Call it multi-tasking, or killing two birds with one stone, this is exactly how every Democrat in this country should address energy. Here's what Edwards had to say about the issue:

"We can turn the crisis of climate change into an opportunity for a new energy economy, right here in America – and Iowa in particular," Edwards said. "Now is the time to make sure that the economy of tomorrow is an all-aboard economy where nobody is left behind."

Edwards is proposing to:

Provide Green Collar Jobs Training Grants that will help train and certify up to 150,000 workers a year for jobs in the new energy economy - meeting the needs of industry and Americans seeking better jobs and opportunity, as well as our environment.

Create 50,000 stepping-stone jobs in the new energy economy. As part of his plan to end poverty in America, Edwards called for the creation of government-subsidized stepping stone jobs that give people with barriers to employment a chance to learn new skills and work their way up. Edwards would dedicate 50,000 of these jobs to companies involved in the new energy economy.

Use grant funding to encourage partnerships between states, businesses, labor unions, community groups and educators to train these workers – so that workers actually get the skills and training that businesses need.

Provide grant funding to community colleges to partner with companies involved in the new energy economy to develop job training programs specifically tailored to meet needs of this growing industry.

I love that Edwards wants to provide Green Collar training grants for 150,000 American workers each year. My mother didn't have a hard time finding a green designer, but finding a contractor experienced with green building was difficult. She ended up hiring a contractor that didn't have the experience but wanted to learn. We need to train Americans in this growing industry, as of right now, there's not enough green engineers and contractors to meet the needs of our country.

I also like how he's bridging his Stepping Stones Jobs Program with green collar jobs. This would create 50,000 new jobs for people who can't find employment elsewhere. It would also give them a leg up in being employed at an early stage in a growing industry. This could end up seriously changing the lives of thousands of Americans, and I'm all for it!

Another part of his plan that I like is his idea to grant funding to community colleges to partner with green companies. That way, kids at school can get an early start in learning about green building so they're already prepared to go to work at a green company when they graduate. Right now, kids can take all kinds of classes at school, but when I was there, we didn't have any classes on any sort of green industry. It's not just college kids he's addressing, he's also focusing on high school students. Take a look:

Ensure that high school students are prepared for jobs in the new energy economy. Edwards would create Green Career Academies -- small learning communities within high schools that use a college preparatory curriculum with a career theme and engage employers, unions, and local colleges to participate.

I've been wishing our high schools would focus more on particular areas of employment, and creating college prep courses in green energy is a great way to do that. If you'd like to read more about Edwards plans to invest in green collar jobs go here:

http://johnedwards.com/...

Moving on, many of you have heard of Edwards, "Road to One America Tour", where starting next week Edwards will be traveling from New Orleans up to Kentucky to shine a spotlight on poverty in rural America. Edwards will be ending his tour in Prestonsburg KY, the place RFK concluded his tour of impoverished regions in the U.S. The campaign is going to use all the new media tools at their disposal to keep us updated on the tour. John Edwards One Corps will be launching National Poverty Action Week starting Monday, July 16th through Sunday, July 22nd. One Corps members will be getting together all across America to unite against poverty in America. This is the time to get in touch with and start organizing with your fellow One Corps members to do something in your community to fight poverty next week. Go here for more information about National Poverty Action Week:

http://johnedwards.com/...

John Edwards is holding community meetings all over the state of Iowa this week. If you haven't had a chance to see him yet and you live in Iowa, what are you waiting for? Go! Elizabeth Edwards will be opening a new campaign office in Reno NV this Sunday. For more information about upcoming events go here:

http://johnedwards.com/...

If you'd like to contribute to the Edwards Campaign go here:

https://secure.actblue.com/...

If you'd like to contribute to the Edwards Campaign and make me look good all at the same time go to my Edwards fund raising page here:

http://actblue.com/...

Thanks to my fellow Kossacks, have a great weekend!

Edwards Evening News Round-up: The Road to One America

2007-07-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 10:08:49 PM CDT

Well, you'd have to have been hiding under your bed (as Mr. Delusional aka Dubya would like us all to be) not to know that there was a Presidential news conference today where our Fearless Leader opened his mouth and inserted foot. John Edwards gave a swift and concise response which we'll talk about later.

There was other news today, though, and in keeping with our habit here at EENR, we'll fill you in on a few of the other stories out there today.

edgery's diary :: ::

UP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE:

Quietly, Edwards Works New Hampshire
11 Jul 2007 10:17 am

BEDFORD -- This is a quaint, upper-middle class suburb of New Hampshire, and because it lies catty-corner to vote rich Manchester, presidential candidates generally don’t campaign there too much. So it was a little impressive that Elizabeth Edwards was able to pack about 200 Bedfordians into a very small single-family home yesterday.

That's our Elizabeth for you. She's attending events all over New Hampshire this week, making sure that John's message and vision are well-known in this important early state. The campaign in NH is now headed by Beth Leonard, a veteran of retail politics. She now oversees 10 offices and 40 full-time staffers in the Granite State. Edwards is well positioned to move from Iowa to New Hampshire this time.

The Bedford house party was packed so tightly yesterday that Leonard and Edwards's staff couldn't get in. "To get a crowd this big especially after July 4th for a candidate's wife, that's pretty good," Leonard said.

----------

OVER IN MEMPHIS:

A high-profile visitor next week will bring further proof that several economic trend lines are threatening to choke off lush opportunities that otherwise might blossom for some Memphians.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who's in the running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, will take a break from his main campaign beginning Sunday for a 12-city road trip. His "Road to One America Tour" attempts to focus more attention on Americans living in poverty.

That's the lede in reporter Andy Meek's article on the devastating effects of bankruptcy for a growing number of Tennesseans.

As the word continues to spread about Senator Edwards' upcoming Road to One America Tour, the news stories are starting to show up that look at the real issues confronting far too many Americans.

"These people are not just statistics - they are human beings with families, hopes and aspirations," Bonior said. "Statistics, as John Edwards has written, do not struggle. ... They do not go to bed hungry, wake up cold or give up on hope."

----------

DOWN IN CHAPEL HILL:

The behind-the-scenes folks at the John Edwards '08 headquarters have started rolling out some of the upgrades to the campaign website. First up, and much appreciated by your EENR crew!, are links on the issues page to further information and positions supporting John Edwards' Plan to Build One America. From what I hear, this is just the beginning so head on over, check it out, let us know what you think, dig into an issue you want to know more about. We're all about the issues here, so enjoy.

----------

BACK IN WASHINGTON (as promised above):

The Decider-in-Chief, or as he likes to call himself The Commander Guy, or as I've decided to now call him Mr. Delusional, held a press conference today, and boy was it a dousy. Here are the words from the current leader of the free world (brace yourself):

"Those of us who believe the battle in Iraq can and must be won, see the satisfactory performance on several of the security benchmarks as a cause for optimism."

All the major Democratic candidates (save one) came out with statements critical of the President after the presser. Let's just say I find the sharp, concise language of the statement by John Edwards especially appropriate:

"The president's remarks today defending his Iraq policy without regard to actual facts border on the delusional. The president claimed that the same people attacking U.S. troops today are the ones who perpetrated 9/11. It must be nice to live in a world where your actions have no consequences. There was no group called Al Qaeda in Iraq before the president's disastrous mismanagement of the war gave them a foothold, a fact the president flagrantly ignores. After being discredited again and again, the president is still trying to link Iraq and 9/11 - a rationale for the war that virtually everyone except Dick Cheney has now recognized was false.

"The president needs to stop pretending and start taking responsibility for the results of his failed strategy: There are more terrorists. Al Qaeda is resurgent and restored to full strength. And that's according to the Bush Administration.

"We need a real strategy against terrorism, like the one I have offered. We need to take Al Qaeda in Iraq as seriously as we take terrorism anywhere. As president, I will apply the full extent of our security apparatus to protect our vital interests, to take measures to root out terrorist cells, and to strike swiftly and strongly against those who would do us harm. I will also launch a sweeping effort to eliminate the conditions that generate instability, radicalism, and violence toward the U.S. and our allies."

There is a wonderful diary still up by our own Tom P about the President's magical world and John Edwards' strong response here. I urge you to head over. I think Tom P has done an excellent job capturing this moment, and the conversation that has ensued is actually quite up-lifting as we seem all united on this at least: our President is really quite cuckoo.

----------

OVER AT TPM:

The journalistic titans who run The New York Times don't give a damn what I think. But I'm going to tell them this anyway: You guys are badly botching your coverage of John Edwards, in a way that raises the question of whether the paper has ceased even pretending to try to cover his campaign fairly.

Filed perhaps under the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more" category, Greg Sergant comes right out and says what many of us have been thinking lately.

My personal editorial: The Old Grey Lady, she just ain't what she used to be. There was a time when The New York Times was a revered newspaper, the unofficial "paper of record" for this country. She slow decline into puff pieces and overt biased 'reporting' has been painful for some of us (okay, me) who grew up scouring the pages of this once-great journal, making sure I read the article that my father would ask about that night at dinner. That I grew up in southern Georgia and west Texas never stopped me from reaching first for the NYT as my primary source of news.

The absolute dereliction of duty by this and so many other standard sources of news during the build-up to and "execution" of the Iraq misadventure left me questioning why I continued to pay for my Sunday home delivery. And a once reputable but now obviously biased Leslie Wayne has proven the straw that broke this camel's back -- I am ending my subscription and valued access behind the loathsome Times Select wall.

If and when it appears that the editors of The New York Times restore the integrity of the newsroom to the paper, I'll be back. Nicholas Kristoff's continuing efforts on behalf of Darfur and Africa alone will be enough for me to fork over that $23+ every month. But I can not and will not subsidize or even tacitly support both the trashing of this once great newspaper or the sneering sloppy hachet jobs of the likes of Ms. Wayne.

----------

AND FINALLY, OUT IN IOWA:

"I grew up in a rural community, and I saw what happened to people just like my dad when the mill closed down," Edwards said. "For too long, the needs of rural Americans and their communities have been neglected in Washington – and the result has been a steady exodus of jobs and opportunity. As president, I’ll make it a major priority to bring those jobs back through investments in renewable energy and main street small businesses."

With those words, John Edwards called for a major new federal effort to reinvest in rural America and highlighted his plan to guarantee health care to all Americans at a town hall meeting in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

He talked about his Rural Recovery Plan, explaining the elements of economic fairness through the Rural Economic Advancement Challenge (REACH) Fund, creating a new energy economy, strengthening rural schools, addressing the scourge of meth that has struck so deeply into rural America, and improving health care in rural America.

Edwards also highlighted his plan to guarantee quality, affordable health care for every American – the only specific plan offered by any candidate in either party for truly universal health coverage.

John will be in Iowa for the next couple of days, then taking a quick break before heading out for the Road to One America Tour.

As John Edwards prepares for this historic Tour, I ask you to consider this:

One in 8 Americans lives in poverty — 37 million today, that's 5 million more than when George W. Bush took office. Our response to this problem says everything about the character of America.

To lead the world in addressing the great challenges of our century, America must first restore our moral standing in the world. That means leading by example, and showing the world that hard challenges don't frighten us, but call us to action. There is no better opportunity to make this clear and help build One America than by setting a national goal of ending poverty in America within 30 years—and working together to meet it.

That's why we need you. You can stand with us by making a small but meaningful contribution of just $8 to support the only campaign dedicated to ending poverty in America in 30 years.

Sign the petition today indicating your support for setting a national goal of ending poverty in America within 30 years.

Stand with John Edwards by making a small but meaningful contribution of just $8 to support the only campaign dedicated to ending poverty in America in 30 years.

Edwards Evening News-Helping Others Edition

2007-07-11T10:22:00.000-04:00

Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 10:06:51 PM CDT

Good Evening. I am Benny, the Guest Anchor and our regular Wed night anchor is off, due to an earlier day assignment. Here's the news.

benny05's diary :: ::

First story: Today, John Edwards was all over the place both virtually and physically. The Moveon.org results, as reported by Okmichican13 earlier on the DK, show that Moveon viewers saw that Edwards illustrated strong movements for tackling Global Warming. Here's part of what the diarist reported this morning.

We should not be building another coal-fired plant
We should be willing to conserve and be patriotic something than war.

Next, Sheet Metals Association in Las Vegas

Taylor Marsh who has a great radio show and a progressive blog, went to see John Edwards on the stump. She saw something for the first time that many Edwards supporters have reported:

But it was when audience members asked questions that something different happened between the candidate and the people that I haven't seen so far from any other candidate. The equanimity and empathy between the candidate and the people was palpable. One woman stood and told the story of her mother who was in danger of getting cancer, but couldn't get the preventative care required to stop her situation from getting worse. When Edwards responded, you could see the woman's mother sitting next to her wiping tears from her eyes. Edwards' voice modulated and the answer he gave took on a much different tone, quieter, more personal. Then he began speaking about Elizabeth Edwards, saying she addresses the issue much better, but that they don't have to worry about what the woman's mother is going through, because they have the best health care available. Prevention must be a part of universal health care, said Edwards. It's the moral thing to do, but also the most cost effective. It really was one of those moments when the candidate did more than just give a sound bite, but actually revealed his humanity.

Whether it was the personal health crisis or talking about the minimum wage, Edwards' ability to hear and respond to the audience, to engage and reach out to them was remarkable. It was also more than a politician looking for votes. Edwards seems to have the ability to touch people. It's the empathy quotient, which was in full view today. I hadn't covered Edwards on the stump before, though I'd covered his appearance at the health care forum, but today's town hall was personal between the people and Mr. Edwards.

Read more of TM(as Taylor Marsh) is known to her readers.

Different Story

Hedge Fund Management

This is what Edwards had to say, being a brief geo-political advisor to a Wall Street firm, about the investments that we need from all folks of the investment and non-investment sectors, especially hedge fund executives.

"You want to know what I mean by Two Americas? A tax code that lets hedge fund and private equity managers making hundreds of millions a year pay taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries is wrong. Building One America means getting rid of loopholes like the one that lets these investment advisers treat most of their compensation as capital gains. Carried interest is compensation for work, and it should be taxed like other pay.

"I applaud Representatives Rangel and Levin for introducing legislation to end this abuse. These leaders are not just talking about economic fairness - they're trying to do something about it. And I congratulate Senators Baucus and Grassley for introducing a bill to close another loophole that lets publicly-traded hedge funds and private equity funds avoid corporate taxes."

I respect John Edwards doing what he could to talk with hedge fund executives and with our world leaders in general. He's in the Buffet camp.

Next story..Women in our Political Process

Elizabeth Edwards, a DK, DU, and MyDD blogger, as well as other places, had a good liner about why she thinks JRE is a good one to vote for POTUS:
"We need to make certain that our schools our meeting our children's needs," Edwards said. "Teachers do not go into teaching for the big bucks. They go in because they want to make a difference in young people's lives and we need to be assisting them rather than punishing them for making that effort."

Edwards reminded voters of her husband's campaign to eliminate poverty. And added this:

If all the candidates, Edwards said her husband was the most electable, which is why, she added, conservative pundits such as Ann Coulter have been so strident in attacking him. Edwards also accused other Democratic campaigns of spreading negative views of Edwards, although she declined to name any one specific.

The only other Democratic candidate she specifically referred to was Hillary Clinton. Edwards said some people have asked her why she would urge women voters to not support Clinton.
"As it turns out, on the issues most important to women, John is the best candidate," she said. "I'm for the promotion of all women. I'm not just for the promotion of one of us."

Our Fifth and last big story tonight: Lady Bird Johnson Is Dead
Our next greatest first lady after Eleanor Roosevelt has passed on at the age of 94. Here's what John Edwards campaign expressed in their condolences:

"Elizabeth and I join the nation in mourning the loss of Lady Bird Johnson. Mrs. Johnson helped lead the country through a difficult time and brought grace and dignity to the White House and everywhere she went. Our prayers and deepest sympathies go out to her family during this difficult time."

I agree, but this Kossack is a native Texan. I recall that my parents were somewhat disgruntled with Johnson the President in his civil rights views; they told me what he believed but more imporant, they were unhappy about the war. But they were for him, even they quibbled with him.
However, I know that my mom appreciated Lady Bird's ideas and later all Texans, loved the wildflowers program in which they beautified the roads. And they make us appreciate Al Gore in having plants everywhere to absorb CO2.
Good thing. We will miss LBJ--the wildflower First Lady.

And that's news tonight.

Edwards Evening News Roundup-Road to One America Edition

2007-07-10T10:21:00.000-04:00

Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 08:07:18 PM CDT

"Everyday, one in eight Americans wakes up in poverty. That's not okay. Today, we have Two Americas in our country - one America that has everything it needs and another that is struggling to get by. Our next president needs not only to understand the struggles facing the 37 million Americans living in poverty, but also have a plan to lift them up out of poverty. That is what this tour and my campaign are about - giving them a voice so that we can build One America, where every person has the opportunity to work hard and get ahead."-John Edwards

Good evening everyone! Tonight's EENR will be focused on JRE's up and coming Road to One America Tour. To get us started, here is the eulogy given at the funeral of Robert F Kennedy by Teddy Kennedy. I'm in no way trying to say John is RFK...although they do share a lot of the same ideas and RFK's focus always seemed to be on helping those less fortunate just as JRE. John Edwards is a strong man in his own right and has brought fresh new ideas to the table for this election but one cannot help but see the similarites of their message and their dreams to make the world a better place for us all.

ladylib's diary :: ::

If you listen to the last few seconds of this video, we are reminded what we can do to help those around us if we just try...open our hearts and our minds to what is possible.

As RFK said "Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "Why not?"

John will start the tour in New Orleans on Sunday with a pre-tour walk through the ninth ward. I will be in NO on Sunday and hoping that I will get to be a part of this...keep your fingers crossed for me.

The "Road to One America" tour will begin in New Orleans, Louisiana and travel more than 1,800 miles before ending on Wednesday, July 18th, in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, where Senator Robert F. Kennedy concluded his 1968 200-mile tour of impoverished regions in Southeastern Kentucky. The tour also includes a stop in Marks, Mississippi, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched his 1968 Poor People's March to Washington, D.C.

Along the way, John will meet with residents devastated and displaced by Hurricane Katrina and with people who have experienced persistent poverty in the Deep South, the Mississippi Delta and rural Appalachia. He will also visit communities in the Rust Belt region that have suffered from the loss of American manufacturing jobs and cities that are struggling to cope with both urban poverty and the rising problem of poverty. With this tour, we will focus attention not just on problems, but also on solutions and all of the good work that is being done across the nation to help lift people out of poverty.

The new faces of poverty in America come from a wide variety of racial, ethnic and regional backgrounds - from urban, suburban and rural areas. They range in age from the very young to the very old. Some are suffering from disabilities, which prevent them from finding work, and many are hardworking men and women with full-time jobs who are still struggling to make ends meet. All too often they don't have access to the affordable health care, housing and education they need. And their numbers are growing. We'll meet with these Americans, tell their stories to the rest of the nation, and show the diversity of the problem of poverty in America.

We all have a stake in doing something about our fellow Americans living in poverty and believes that working together we can help end poverty.
re-Tour Event - Sunday, July 15th

* Walking tour of Lower 9th Ward with John Edwards

Day 1: Monday, July 16th: Rewarding Work & Ending Poverty in America

* New Orleans, LA

* Canton, MS

* Marks, MS

* Marianna, AR

* Memphis, TN

Day 2: Tuesday, July 17th: Strengthening Neighborhoods & Cities Rising

* Cleveland, OH

* Youngstown, OH

* Pittsburgh, PA

Day 3: Wednesday, July 18th: Restoring Hope to Rural America

* Wise, VA

* Norton, VA

* Whitesburg, KY

* Prestonsburg, KY

http://blog.johnedwards.com/...

As usual Edwards is out in front of the pack...again. This time on protecting our food supply..

Steps Would Protect American Consumers While Helping Farmers and Ranchers

Des Moines, Iowa – Senator John Edwards today announced a new initiative he would pursue as President to ensure the safety of food for American consumers and to help farmers and ranchers in Iowa and across the nation. Edwards will discuss the initiative on a conference call with Iowa reporters today and will be joined by Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), who is supporting his campaign for President.

"It's time to stop the delays and stop giving in to big agribusiness and food importers," Edwards said. "We need to give Americans the information they need to choose the best, and safest, food for their families."

"Senator Edwards grew up in rural America and understands the challenges we face, and that's reflected in his proposals to strengthen agriculture," Herseth Sandlin said. "We need the kind of presidential leadership he's offering, whether it's protecting our food supply, helping our agricultural producers, or revitalizing rural America."

The Edwards plan would:

* Require Country-of-Origin labeling so that consumers have the option of choosing safe, American-raised meat and poultry and American-grown produce.
* Strengthen the FDA and consolidate responsibility for food inspections among the 15 agencies responsible for regulating our food supply.
* Allow the FDA and USDA to order mandatory recalls of unsafe foods much as the Consumer Products Safety Commission can do with other products.
* Strengthen inspections of imported food -- less than 1 percent of which is inspected today, down from 8 percent in 1992.
* Requiring safety systems abroad. Edwards will require countries exporting food to the U.S. have safety systems certified by the FDA as equivalent to our own, a level of protection that is now given only to meat, poultry and egg products.

Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin is South Dakota's at-large Member of Congress and a member of the House Agriculture Committee. She co-chairs the House Rural Working Group, which is dedicated to raising the profile of issues important to rural America. She is a national leader and advocate for the increased production of homegrown, renewable biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel.

Click here for a fact sheet on Senator Edwards' initiative.

http://johnedwards.com/...

John on the war in Iraq

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – As the Senate resumes debate on the war in Iraq and President Bush prepares to speak about the war, Senator John Edwards released the following statement.

"It is more important than ever for people all across the country to let Congress know that we expect them to act decisively to end the war in Iraq. Congress should no longer facilitate the President's stubborn allegiance to his failed strategy. It's not enough to talk a good game any more. It is time to act. The one way to support our troops and bring them home is for Congress to exercise its constitutionally mandated funding power, force an immediate drawdown of 40,000 to 50,000 troops and require withdrawal of all troops within about a year."
How You Can Take Action

http://johnedwards.com/...

JRE's statement on unfilled posts in the Department of Homeland Security

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement about today's Congressional report that the Bush Administration has not filled about 25 percent of the top positions in the Department of Homeland Security.

"Today's Congressional report that the Bush Administration has failed to fill about 25 percent of the top posts at the Department of Homeland Security is very troubling. This report is a stark reminder that we must hold the president accountable for homeland security at every turn. No task is more critical than recruiting and hiring the best people to help keep Americans safe from attack. The president should immediately expedite the staffing of these posts with skilled professionals -- rather than the political cronies he has usually relied on at the expense of competent governance. If he fails to act, Congress should take strong measures to hold the Administration accountable."

http://johnedwards.com/...

We want to make sure to send our thoughts and prayers to the Elizabeth Edwards' mother...

Mrs. Edwards' Mother Suffers a Fall

Tuesday July 10, 2007 6:31 PM

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, missed a campaign stop in South Carolina on Tuesday to be with her mother, who was injured in a fall at her North Carolina home.

The wife of the former North Carolina senator was to open the campaign's headquarters here in this early voting state, but campaign manager David Bonior showed up in her place.

``Her mother fell yesterday in the bathroom and hit her head and she went to the hospital. So she's doing fine, but she wanted to be with her this morning,'' Bonior told a crowd of about 90 people gathered outside the headquarters.

Elizabeth Edwards' mother, Mary Anania, 83, lives in Chapel Hill, N.C. with her husband, Vincent.

Elizabeth Edwards will resume campaign activities Tuesday afternoon in New Hampshire, spokeswoman Teresa Wells said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/...

Ok, that's it for the EENR tonight. We have lots of upcoming events for the campaign that will be focusing one of JRE's most important issues...poverty. Let's hope the media gives him a fair shake in reporting the events. I know, I know...that's to much to hope for :-).

Have a good night everyone!

Edwards Evening News Roundup: Campaign Highlights Edition!

2007-07-09T10:19:00.000-04:00

Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 08:33:30 PM CDT

Welcome to the Edwards Evening News Roundup! I'm NCDem Amy, your anchor for tonight, reporting from Edwards' homestate of North Carolina.

Tonight's edition features highlights of the Edwards For President Campaign since it was launched on December 28, 2006.

NCDem Amy's diary :: ::

Six months have passed since John Edwards' announcement for his run for the Presidency. With six months to go until the first caucus in Iowa, we are half way there until the voting begins! Following is a general overview of the notable events that have paved Edwards' Road to the Whitehouse.

ANNOUNCEMENT TOUR KICKS OFF IN NEW ORLEANS

John Edwards made his announcement in New Orleans, from the lower Ninth Ward in the backyard of a Katrina victim, who had been taken by a private contractor. The previous day, John Edwards and OneCorps members participated in a community service project, at the home of this Katrina victim [Vlog: Live from New Orleans with John Edwards].

John Edwards' kick off was anything but typical. He didn't hold the usual large high profile rally, with all of the glitz and glamour, but spoke to reporters and bloggers from the Katrina victim's backyard about the importance of all Americans taking action now, calling on all of us to "be patriotic for something other than war." Local students, who had participated in OneCorps service project the day before,proudly stood with John Edwards as he made his announcement.

New Orleans

Not only was the substance and the setting of Edwards' announcement non-traditional, but it embraced the "new media." Rocketboom was on location and bloggers were embedded in the campaign for the Announcement Tour.

This set the tone for the campaign as it continued to maintain the focus on the issues that are weighing heavily on our country: The War in Iraq, Lack of Universal HealthCare, 36 Million Americans in Poverty, a Weakening Middle Class, and Global Warming. And, bloggers, the new media, have been fully brought into the fold the Edwards campaign, being given the same press access as the Mainstream Media. This precedent set by the Edwards campaign is a milestone in how the netroots are involved in Presidential campaigns and the democratic process in general.

Iowa

Following the announcement in New Orleans, it was off to Iowa where the Town Hall was livestreamed via webcast. Enthusiastic supporters greeted John Edwards with standing ovations as he returned for the first time, as an offical candidate for President.

Edwards' support in Iowa is unparalleled. In fact, he has not only retained but built up his deep support in Iowa from his near win there in 2004. It's been said, that Edwards has personally met 85,000 of the 90,000 Iowa caucus goers. His campaign has offices in all 99 counties in Iowa. Edwards continues to poll number one in Iowa in the large majority of polls. As we all know, Iowa will play a critical role in determining the Democratic candidate---the last 6 out of 7 candidates who won Iowa, won the nomination. John Edwards will be the lucky 7.

New Hampshire

After the Iowa Townhall, it was off to New Hampshire where an overflow rally was held in the parking lot, due to the large crowd. Edwards held a Meet & Greet with Bloggers, as he often does while on the campaign trail. Since that time, Edwards has been to New Hampshire a number of times for TownHalls and House Parties as has Elizabeth Edwards, who in fact, is there this week for several house parties. The Edwards campaign is taking New Hampshire very seriously. Recently, they expanded their field staff.

Nevada

Following New Hampshire, Edwards traveled to Nevada where there was also an overflow crowd. Edwards has strong support from the Unions;his work for the Unions exceeds any of the presidential candidates'. Moreover, Edwards doesn't just talk about strengthening unions in union halls, he talks about it everywhere.

North Carolina

The tour wrapped up in Edwards' homestate of North Carolina where thousands came out to welcome John Edwards home. Edwards has been endorsed by all North Carolinian Democratic US Congressman and a number of North Carolinian Civil Rights Leaders and Community Activists.

Following the Announcement Tour, Edwards has been campaigning around the country speaking out against the occupation of Iraq, calling to bring the troops home and unveling his detailed plans to restore our moral dignity around the globe and at home.

IRAQ

Restoring America's Moral Leadership in the World

America's leadership role in the world has grown out of our compassion and moral strength, as well as our unparalleled economic and military strength. We can be proud of our long history of using our strength to fight for the freedom of others, but our standing in the world has been badly tarnished. America can once again be looked up to and respected around the world. The first step is by immediately withdrawing 40,000-50,000 troops from Iraq, with the complete withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq within 12-18 months -- allowing the Iraqis to assume greater responsibility for rebuilding their own country.

Edwards had been calling to bring the troops home, for over a year before his announcement and again addressed the issue of Iraq in his first major speech following his announcement, "Realizing the Dream," delivered at Riverside Church, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Edwards spoke out passionately against the escalation of the war in Iraq and the shameful poverty both here in the US and across the globe.

Edwards called on the people to "break our silence," "accept our own responsibility" and to lead a "revolution of values" emphasizing that this the heart and soul of realizing the dream, as there does come a time, "when silence, is betrayal."

We have to be the change that we want to see in the world.

Edwards has continued to show "agressive leadership on ending the war in Iraq" by demanding Congress stand their ground on the capitulation bill and keeping the pressue on, to end the war.

"We need to stand our ground against this president. You cannot negotiate with him. Congress should send him the same bill back to him again and again until he realizes he has no choice but to start bringing our troops home. The funding power is the only way Congress can force Bush to end the war.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

In early January, in his speech to the DNC, Edwards' demanded that the "Democratic party finally quit talking about access to healthcare, when we know what that means: not universal healthcare. He further noted that "we cannot allow America's HealthCare policy to be set by big insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies."

Soon thereafter, Edwards unveiled his plan for Universal Health Care. The only truly universal healthcare plan of any top tier candidate.

Edwards' plan for Universal Health Care has been touted as a "smart, serious proposal. It addresses both the problem of the uninsured and the waste and inefficiency of our fragmented insurance system. And every candidate should be pressed to come up with something comparable" (Paul Krugman).

The plan will "transform America's health care system and provide universal health care for every man, woman and child in America."

Under the Edwards Plan:

Families without insurance will get coverage at an affordable price.
Families with insurance will pay less and get more security and choices.
Businesses and other employers will find it cheaper and easier to insure their workers.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & STOPPING GLOBAL WARMING

Edwards has propsed a plan focused on Achieving Energy Independence & Stopping Global Warming Through A New Energy Economy. He is the only candidate running a carbon neutral camnpaign and has called on Congress to committ to 80% emissions cut by 2050.

At a house party in New Hampshire, Edwards talked about how we need to invest in clean energy sources, mandate more fuel efficient vehicles, and put in place a national cap on carbon dioxide emissions. This is about the future of the planet.

Just last week, Edwards encouraged people to sign the Live Earth pledge and participate in the MoveOn house parties.

Today, blogger Coturnix of A Blog Around the Clock, posted and "Exclusive: Interview with Senator John Edwards on Science-Related Topics"where Edwards addresesed the issue of climate change and other issues. Be sure to check it out!

ENDING POVERTY & STRENGTHENING THE MIDDLE CLASS

Without question, John Edwards is also showing more courage and leadership on the issue of ending poverty, than any other candidate. Edwards believes poverty is the "great moral issue of our time. " Few candidates ever mention the issue of poverty, if at all but John Edwards has been working to inject the issue of poverty into our national dialogue for the last several years. He spoke about the two Americas in 2004 and later founded the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.

This past fall, John Edwards introduced a transformational plan to End Poverty in 30 Years. This plan aims to end poverty in the US in thirty years through creating "A Working Society," "Rewarding work" by creating 1 million stepping stone jobs, strengthening unions, raising the minimum wage to $9.50, and a myriad of other means that will lift up those in poverty and strengthen the middle class.

Edwards has included a Rural Recovery plan to specifically address the poorest regions in our nation.

Edwards has also addressed the outsourcing problem and has stated we need to have "smart trade." At a Working Families rally, Edwards talks about how he will protect our American Manufacturing jobs:

Road to One America Tour

Today, John Edwards announced his upcoming Road to One America Tour where he will make a three-day swing through New Orleans, Memphis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and eight other cities and eight states, beginning July 16.

For more on the Road to One America Tour, see TomP's recommended diary, John Edwards: The Road to One America

If you'd like to learn more about John Edwards' bold, progressive plans, visit the Edwards for President website and be sure to stop in here, the Edwards Evening News Roundup for nightly updates on Edwards' Road to the Whitehouse.

And...if you haven't already, join OneCorps!

Stand with others who have been inspired by John Edwards' progressive plans and call to action by signing up for OneCorps, the grassroots service organization of the Edwards for President Campaign. OneCorps held it's first National Action Day in January. Since that time, OneCorps chapters have participated in Step It Up "End Global Warming" Rallies, Moveon Rallies calling to end the war in Iraq, and a number of local community projects across the nation.

Please join us in our fight for all Americans and show your support by donating today! Help us reach our goal of $7000 by the end of the 7th month (July) for our lucky 7 candidate, John Edwards, by donating $7 today through: ActBlue-Bloggers for John Edwards! Thank you!

That wraps up the Edwards Evening News for July 9, 2007

Edwards Evenings News Roundup: 3 Month Anniversary Edition

2007-07-08T10:16:00.000-04:00

Sun Jul 08, 2007 at 08:46:17 PM CDT

Hi all. We have a number of stories for you tonight. First, we have a story about what counts in electing our next President. Hint: it ain't just money. Second, I have links to the Moveon forum on global warming and video of John Edwards' answers to the Moveon questions. Please watch the video questions and answers and be sure to vote. Third, I have some snippets from John Edwards's podcast yesterday on climate change, including some talk on Coal to Liquid. Fourth, I have some Jim Hightower for you. Fifth, I have a video from John Edwards' talk before the Steelworkers last week. Sixth, I have a surprise bonus story.

And we end with a story on our three month anniversay. It was July 4, but, in keeping with EENR tradition, we missed it. Whoops. We'll end with a link and snippet from the first EENR on April 4, 2007. EENR nostalgia. Remember when?

This and more, after the fold.

TomP's diary :: ::

1. It takes more than money.

I have a story from New Hampshire. Bottom line: In a democracy, the people have the power, if they use it.

Edwards Says Votes Count, Not Money

"Money will not decide who the nominee's going to be," Edwards said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Everyone will remember Governor Dean who outraised everyone else by more than 2-to-1 and wasn't able to win the nomination."

snip

"I like very much where I am," Edwards said, taking a break from his three-day vacation with his wife and two youngest children. "Among the three of us, I'm the underdog. I'm fighting. I like that place. It's always worked very well for me. That's the story of my life."

Edwards said he's on pace to run the $40 million campaign through the early states.

"We have at least three presidential candidates on the Democratic side who have plenty money to run a serious campaign in the early states, where the nomination will be decided," Edwards said. "We will have plenty of money. We'll have more money than we had last time, a good bit more."

Edwards Says Votes Count, Not Money

2. The Moveon Forum.
Here's a link to the question and answers by John Edwards:
Town Hall Climate

Be sure to watch it and vote.

3. Climate Change and Coal.

There is a real difference among the candidates on Coal to Liquid. CTL will increase global warming. John Edwards rejects CTL. No if, ands, or buts. It's a "terrible idea." Another candidate sponsored a bill for taxpayer subsidies for CTL.

"So as president, I will stop big coal from building a single new power plant in America that doesn't have the technology to capture their carbon emissions.

"The government reports that the coal industry and their financial backers on Wall Street are planning to build around 150 new coal-fired power plants to meet rising energy demand in the next few decades. That would add more than 800 million metric tons of CO2 to our environment a year. That's 40 percent more than we're emitting now. That's when we know we need to go in exactly the opposite direction. And an estimated 30,000 Americans die every year from diseases linked to pollution from coal-fired plants.

"This is not something they are talking about in Washington. In the energy bill debate two weeks ago, some people actually tried to wrap increased pollution in the flag, saying that investing in more traditional coal-fired plants - or even worse, new fuels made out of liquid coal, which is a terrible idea - is the patriotic thing to do for America because coal is abundant here at home.

Text of Podcast

Podcast

And a note about EENR's own Okamachan13, who wrote diaires on Daily Kos and MyDD on Live Earth - Are you ready to take the pledge? John Edwards is. Well, the diary on MyDD was noticed and quoted with approval by West Virginia Blue

John Edwards calls Liquid Coal "terrible idea" and embraces Al Gore's Live Earth

by: Clem Guttata
Sat Jul 07, 2007 at 12:14:22 PM EDT

In this diary by a John Edwards' supporter, "Live Earth - Are you ready to take the pledge?" it notes--among many other things--that in today's podcast (text) John Edwards spoke out strongly against Liquid Coal

Cool, Okamachan13!

4. As promised, Jim Hightower, from Friday:

POLITICAL GENUINENESS
Friday, July 6, 2007
Posted by Jim Hightower

snip

Well, yes, snipe the pundits, but Edwards lives in a big house – he’s not poor, not a working stiff... he’s rich. Apparently, you can’t really care about America’s downtrodden unless you’ve personally sworn a vow of poverty. This is what passes for deep political analysis these days.

Never mind that Edwards learned about poverty the hard way, having grown up in it. And never mind that he rose out of personal deprivation not by kissing corporate butt, but by battling some of the country’s biggest corporations on behalf of the poor and the middle class.

Edwards is no less sincere than other politicians of privilege who have indeed fought for the less fortunate. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Robert F. Kennedy, for example, are proof that it’s possible for real political leaders to rise above their patrician upbringing and serve the greater good. But, today, they would be branded phonies, too.

http://www.jimhightower.com/...

Gotta love the way Jim Hightower talks truth.

5. Video from John Edwards before the Steelworkers
John Edwards on Trade Agreements:

6. A bonus story, from Mureen Dowd in the NY Times.

It actually is a relatively okay story. Here's a snippet. You have to subscribe to read the story at nytimes.com:

Phantom at the Opera
By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON

Here are five things you might not know about John Edwards:

¶He never saw a single episode of "The Sopranos."

¶He doesn't like the opera, but his favorite musical is "Phantom of the Opera."

¶His first date with Elizabeth was dancing at the Holiday Inn in Durham or Chapel Hill -- he can't remember which -- sometime after which she made an ironclad rule that politicians should never dance.

¶He became a lawyer because as a kid he loved watching "Perry Mason," "The Defenders" and "The Fugitive." (Richard Kimble really needed a lawyer.)

¶His top sex symbol is a fellow North Carolinian, Andie MacDowell.

A little more:

Movies? " 'Shawshank Redemption,' " he says. "I loved 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' 'Schindler's List.' And on a much lighter note, 'Old School.'"

7. Our anniversary was July 4. Of course, we missed it.

It is just the way we are. Just as there is no exact time every night for EENR, just evenings, we don't keep track well.

Here's something from our first EENR, April 4, 2007.

Good News for Elizabeth Edwards and Edwards Evening Roundup
by TomP [Subscribe] [Edit Diary]
Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 06:17:15 PM PDT

This diary brings some good news about Elizabeth Edwards' treatment that was in papers today. In addition, I have a link to an interesting interview with Elizabeth in Newsweek and a little quote.

And I have a couple bits of campaign news. First, I have news of an endorsement today of John Edwards from a Southern California political leader. Second, I have a link to John Edwards' petition and latest message on working to end the Iraq War.

This is sort of an Edwards news roundup for the evening. If you're interested, come on around after the fold, kick back, and relax.

snip

Lots of news about Elizabeth and John Edwards. That's the news roundup for tonght.

Good News for Elizabeth Edwards and Edwards Evening Roundup

I want to thank all those who are and have been part of EENR for over three months, including the readers. Every night, rain or shine, we have had an EENR. Yay!! Yay for our readers!!

And that's the Edwards News for tonight, July 8, 2007.

Edwards Evening News Roundup / Party for the Planet Edition

2007-07-07T10:15:00.000-04:00

Sat Jul 07, 2007 at 05:05:14 PM CDT

Good evening to all who are fortunate enough to live on Planet Earth. Tonight's Edwards Evening News Roundup finds the planet still inhabitable, which is a good thing, though it was very hot today in Washington, DC in front of the National Museum of the American Indian for Mother Earth and the kick off of LiveEarth in the United States.

Tonight we focus on MoveOn's party for the planet events nationwide, John Edwards's recent comments about coal, his continuing outspoken efforts to bring our troops home, some kind words about Elizabeth Edwards's determination to fight for our country, and an election integrity issue on which John Edwards was yet again first a couple of weeks ago, but which has gotten very little notice.

be inspired's diary :: ::

Before we get started with tonight's Edwards news, congratulations are in order for today's man of the hour, Al Gore. Kudos for putting the LiveEarth events together, along with your partner, Kevin Wall. I saw Al Gore this morning and the kick off of LiveEarth events in the United States, in front of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. Gore was looking well, from what I could see of him.

MoveOn members will be hosting Party for the Planet events nationwide tonight. Members will have a chance to hear from all 8 Democratic candidates as they answer questions about global warming policy. Tonight will be the lead up to a MoveOn virtual town hall on global warming, as well as a chance to get together and watch some of LiveEarth. From an e-mail from MoveOn:

Tonight's the night! You'll join 2 billion people around the planet to call for an end to our climate crisis. And you'll have a special chance tonight to hear how '08 presidential candidates hope to lead us into a new energy future.

• Here's what to expect from the night: Live Earth will be on NBC at 8 p.m. In some areas, the broadcast will have started earlier—so you won't necessarily see the beginning of the program. But remember—this is a multi-hour, global extravaganza. It's like watching a parade or festival—the party goes on all night. So tuning in at 8 p.m. local time will give you plenty to see, no matter where you are.
• Don't forget to vote for the candidate with the best climate plan. Tomorrow we'll send all MoveOn members a link to the full Town Hall footage and other resources, and they'll have a chance to vote on which candidate has the best plan to address the climate crisis. Our vote sends a strong message to the candidates about what's important to us on the climate crisis, so be sure to weigh in. Your voice matters.

John Edwards has a bold, detailed plan for stopping global warming and building a green economy. For those who missed it, this was showcased in last night's EENR, as well as okamichan13's excellent diary earlier today.

Edwards was the first presidential candidate to commit to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by the year 2050 (see video). He has asked supporters to sign the LiveEarth pledge, set up his own website where people can pledge to reduce their carbon, and encouraged participation in tonight's MoveOn events. His was also the first presidential campaign to go carbon neutral.

Yesterday, Edwards released a podcast about his energy policy. This supplements his energy plan, which he released in March. Tonight, I want to focus on his statements about coal in the podcast. (Emphasis mine.)

"That's why I want to talk to you today about just one of the ways I will take up the fight against climate change as president. Coal is the dominant source of electricity in America and it will be for decades to come, but we need to find a way to use it without heating the planet.

"So as president, I will stop big coal from building a single new power plant in America that doesn't have the technology to capture their carbon emissions.

"The government reports that the coal industry and their financial backers on Wall Street are planning to build around 150 new coal-fired power plants to meet rising energy demand in the next few decades. That would add more than 800 million metric tons of CO2 to our environment a year. That's 40 percent more than we're emitting now. That's when we know we need to go in exactly the opposite direction. And an estimated 30,000 Americans die every year from diseases linked to pollution from coal-fired plants.

"This is not something they are talking about in Washington. In the energy bill debate two weeks ago, some people actually tried to wrap increased pollution in the flag, saying that investing in more traditional coal-fired plants—or even worse, new fuels made out of liquid coal, which is a terrible idea—is the patriotic thing to do for America because coal is abundant here at home.

"Here's what I say to this: it's not moral leadership if we reduce imports of oil but increase our exports of carbon pollution. We're already 4 percent of the world's population emitting 25% of its greenhouse gases.

"That's not the America we want to be. As president, I will take back our democracy from these powerful interests so that regular people can change this country.

You might be surprised by who in Washington supports liquid coal.

In other news, today, Edwards released a statement urging the Senate to push for troop withdrawal from Iraq.

"Today's New York Times report that Democrats in the Senate will begin a new push to change President Bush's disastrous Iraq policy is encouraging news. I was disappointed when Congress backed down to the president's veto of the supplemental appropriations bill and believed then - as I do now - that they should stand firm and strong with the American people and against this president.

"For months, I have been calling for Congress to use its constitutional funding power to stop the president's ‘surge,’ implement a timetable for withdrawal, and bring this conflict to an end. Under my plan, Congress should use its funding authority immediately to withdraw 40,000 to 50,000 troops, and should require withdrawal of all troops within about a year. They should take these steps quickly.

"I urge all Americans to ask their Congressional representatives to take action to end this war and bring our troops home to the heroes' welcome they deserve."

Elizabeth Edwards is truly inspiring, traveling around the country and working with her husband and us to bring change to America. Here's a nice opinion piece about her from the San Jose Mercury News.

Those who attended a recent fundraiser for the Edwards campaign where Elizabeth made a solo appearance were struck by her vitality despite the breast cancer that has metastasized to her bones. Even though she dispensed with the issue of her health right at the beginning of her speech, many of those who attended went to be inspired by her determination to keep on fighting.

Amanda Hawes, whose law firm represents people who have been exposed to toxic chemicals, invited some cancer patients to the private event. She said they wanted to talk to Elizabeth Edwards about issues you rarely hear discussed right after a campaign speech. "One woman I brought wanted to ask her how she manages her chemo treatments while traveling," Hawes told me.

It may be that Edwards will do more for raising awareness about where we are with breast cancer treatments and research than all the pink-ribbon campaigns of the past 20 years. Barbara Brenner, a survivor of breast cancer and head of the advocacy group Breast Cancer Action in San Francisco, said that Edwards has become the new face of the disease.

"The first thing I would say to her if I met her is 'Thank you for sharing your life in such a public way,'" Brenner said. "I'm hoping that people out there watching her on the campaign trail will start asking questions about why there aren't better treatments by now and why we can't even tell women at the time of diagnosis what kind of breast cancer they have and the best ways to treat it - or not treat it."

In the meantime, Edwards' commitment to her husband's campaign has been her most powerful response to those who were outraged three months ago when he didn't drop out of the race to be at her side. "She's not just going home and closing the drapes," said Michelle Kraus, an entrepreneur who attended the fundraiser. "You can see that the spirit of the campaign is keeping her well. It's driving her."

Finally, the need for open source machines to count paper ballots as a measure to make elections more transparent and verifiable, is a technical aspect of the election integrity movement that is not well understood by many. My friend Alan Dechert, president of Open Voting Consortium, has been fighting a difficult battle for open voting for years. He's been making some progress. He was recently featured as a keynote speaker at the Red Hat conference, but that wasn't his only recent good news. On June 27th, he announced that John Edwards is the first presidential candidate to support "open source" for voting systems. Alan learned of this after being in touch with the Edward campaign about the issue, when he received a letter to this effect from Edwards campaign manager David Bonior.

Here's a video of Alan Dechert explaining some aspects of open voting. (What this video doesn't explain very well is that open voting is used in conjunction with voter-verifiable paper ballots, something Edwards has called for repeatedly.)

And that's tonight's Edwards Evening News!

Edwards Evening News Roundup/Live Earth Edition

2007-07-06T10:13:00.000-04:00

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 06:53:55 PM CDT

Hey all, I'm back again for another installment of Edwards Evening News Roundup! This is the place to be to find out what Edwards is up to. Right now I'm enjoying the sunshine and waiting patiently as the primary rolls on. Can you believe there's only 7 more months until the Iowa Caucus is under way? I know it sounds like it's a long ways away from now, but I'm telling you the days are passing by us quick. Now on to Edwards and Live Earth....

sarahlane's diary :: ::

This weekend Live Earth is taking place all over the world. There will be concerts from the UK to DC to Brazil to Antarctica. It's great to see Al Gore presenting for the concert at the Giants Stadium where he will be announcing musicians like Roger Waters to The Police. Personally, I would love to go to the Live Earth concert in the UK. Spinal Tap will be performing with special guest Ricky Gervais who no doubt will make it a hilarious experience. This is the weekend to participate in promoting awareness of climate change. And, even if you're not attending one of these concerts, the Edwards Campaign has an easy of adding your voice to the movement.

Do you want to take the pledge? The Edwards Campaign has set up a pledge sheet for people to sign their names to. The pledges will be sent to the SOS Campaign who are the activists behind the Live Earth Concerts. Here's the link if you'd like to read more about who is behind Live Earth:
http://www.liveearth.org/...

Here's what Edwards is asking us to pledge to:

To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;

To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"

To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;

To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;

To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;

To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,

To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

I just signed on to the pledge and you can too! Just go here to add your voice to this crucial movement:
http://johnedwards.com/...

Here's audio of John Edwards talking about Live Earth and what he'd do about climate change if he were President:
http://johnedwards.com/...

If you hadn't read what Edwards plans to do about fighting climate change here are a few things he'll do:

Cap and Reduce Global Warming Pollution: Edwards will set an economy-wide limit on the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. He will build on the precedent of the Clean Air Act of 1990 -- which limited pollution causing acid rain through a sulfur dioxide cap-and-trade system -- to reduce pollution in a cost-effective and flexible manner.

Use Science to Set the Caps: Edwards will cap greenhouse gases at levels that the latest climate science has determined to be necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. He will reduce greenhouse pollution by 20 percent by 2020, and reduce it by 80 percent by 2050.

Make Polluters Pay: Edwards will auction off a portion of the pollution permits to raise $10 billion a year for a New Energy Economy Fund to jump start clean, renewable, and efficient energy technologies and create 1 million jobs. Other permits will be sold or given away.

Create the New Energy Economy Fund: To jump start our investment in the future, Edwards will create the $13 billion-a-year New Energy Economy Fund. The fund will be financed by greenhouse gas polluters through the sale of emission permits and by ending taxpayer giveaways for big oil companies, including special tax subsidies and sweetheart terms in offshore drilling leases. The resources will double the Department of Energy's budget for efficiency and renewable energy, accelerate new energy technologies to market and help new businesses get started, encourage consumers to buy efficient products, and provide transition assistance to workers in carbon-intensive industries.

These are just a few things he plans to do, there is so much more in his plans to check out. Take a look and get educated on what Edwards proposes to do about climate change, passing new global climate change treaties and creating a green economy.
Go here:
http://johnedwards.com/...

Did you know that the Edwards Campaign is the first to go carbon neutral? That's right, they're not just talking the talk but walking the walk on conservation. The Edwards campaign conserves energy at HQ and their field offices, and purchases carbon offsets to balance the carbon emitted by the campaign travel, HQ and field offices. The Edwards Campaign also set up a website trying to encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint. Go here to check it out:

http://reduceyourcarbon.com/

Hey, did you miss the video of Edwards addressing the United Steel Workers Candidate's Forum? Here's the link to the video from the Edwards Campaign:
http://johnedwards.com/...

Or, just watch it right here:

What to know if there are any upcoming Edwards events near you? Starting early next week The Edwards Campaign is officially opening the South Carolina for Edwards headquarters in Columbia. Elizabeth will be there to celebrate! Elizabeth will also be traveling to multiple house parties from Bedford NH to Hopkinton NH to Keene NH. John Edwards will be holding a town hall meeting in Las Vegas. For more information about these events go here:
http://johnedwards.com/...

Would you like to contribute to the Edwards Campaign? I set up a fund raising page for Edwards at Act Blue. Click the link below and give whatever you can, every little bit helps!
http://actblue.com/...

Thanks to my fellow Kossacks for dropping by, have a great weekend and make sure you wear your sunscreen!

EENR: The Steelworkers Edition - July 5, 2007

2007-07-05T09:56:00.000-04:00

Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 07:53:37 PM CDT

In the golden days of my youth, the middle of summer (known to the adults as the 4th of July) was spent playing in the ocean or the pool, hanging out with friends, and being a kid. Back then, there were no playdates, no schedules except a later bedtime maybe, and definitely no homework. Homework, that didn't start up again until school started. And school didn't start until after Labor Day, ever! Labor Day also seemed to mark the time when politicians came out of the woodwork, though until I was around 13 or so I barely noticed them.

Fast forward to today -- some schools are in session year-round and some schools with a nice summer break even have summer homework. Kids have scheduled playdates, scheduled soccer games, scheduled pool time, scheduled everything throughout the year. And the middle of summer is now the new start of politics in high gear apparently. Or at least it is this year. But then, this year has been early from the start!

So, let's make that grand leap across the fold for today's news round-up. Ready? One, two, three... GO!

edgery's diary :: ::

Well, let's take a look at what's happening with the John Edwards campaign these days. (I promise to utter no Scooter rants tonight.)

Today at the United Steelworkers conference, John Edwards outlined his agenda to create One America where everyone's hard work is rewarded and families can build a better life.
Also at the Steelworkers meeting today, Sen. Edwards also praised the Blue Green Alliance as a source of new manufacturing jobs.
In an interview with Al Hunt today, Edwards indicated that he is studying a proposal now in Congress to bring taxes on fees earned by managers of investment and hedge funds in line with ordinary income.
Over at the Chief Organizer blog, Wade Rathke continues to make clear that John Edwards has a few friends at ACORN.
Though not official yet, the Edwards campaign is adding to their senior staff, freeing up Bonior to do what he does best -- work the labor vote, be a strategist, and travel with and for Edwards.

Edwards Calls For Minimum Wage Increase As Part Of Plan To Build One America:
We're going to keep repeating it until the media finally decide to cover something substantive about this year's candidates. Today was the third time this week John Edwards has provided details on his plan to build One America by strengthening the middle class and lifting others out of poverty. Today, he began his presentation to the steelworkers with this:

"Raising the minimum wage is one of the most important steps we can take to lift working families out of poverty and into the middle class," said Edwards. "No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty. If a job takes you away from your family every single day—or for many low-wage workers all through the night—it had better pay you enough to support them. As president, I will raise the minimum wage and put our economy back on the side of working families."

While some newspapers continue to ferret around for fluff (cough WaPo cough), JournalNow.com - online partner to the Winston-Salem Journal, covered the steelworkers' meeting by highlighting Edwards' remarks on the Blue-Green Alliance:

Millions of manufacturing jobs can result from collaboration between blue-collar industries and environmental projects, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a union political gathering Thursday.

"The Blue Green Alliance really can create 1 million, 2 million new manufacturing jobs to replace some of the jobs that have been lost," Edwards told about 600 political activists from the United Steelworkers of America union at a conference on reviving U.S. manufacturing.

Tax Fairness: Fees for Investment Managers Could Be Taxed At Same Rate As Ordinary Income
In an interview with Al Hunt today on Bloomberg News, John Edwards indicated he is studying a proposal now in Congress to tax the share of profits that managers receive for investment services at ordinary income-tax rates. Currently, that income is taxed at capital-gains rates as low as 15 percent. According to the story up on Bloomberg.com In the House, the proposal is sponsored by Ways & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel and Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to take up the issue when they return after the 4th of July break. John told Al Hunt in the interview that "he's still studying the issue, though he agrees in principle with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the chairman of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., who [has] said that the rich 'should not be taxed at a lower rate than the people who serve you at the deli.'"

ACORN's Founder and Chief Organizer Wade Rathke Reviews Edwards on his personal blog, ChiefOrganizer.com:

Talking to the members in the parking lot right after his speech, I asked a number of them what they thought of Edwards. Over and over, one after another, said in words or by moving their hand over their hearts, that Edwards really meant it about ending poverty. This was real for him, just like it is for us, and not a simple campaign theme or a way to curry favor for votes. It’s his mission too.

Rathke also raises the question of the money race, and says "it’s one that friends have to ask friends about every step of the way." None of us know the answer at this point. I believe Edwards is running a smart race with a sound budget, and I'll be with him to the end. Because the end to John Edwards isn't the primaries or the general election or the White House. It's when we can stand together and say, "We beat back poverty in this country and in countries around the world." That's his end, his dream, and it's one I share.

For those who might have missed it, I want to recommend an excellent diary by be inspired posted yesterday with great vids of Edwards' short speech and long Q&A session at the ACORN meeting in Philadelphia. be inspired has done a great job here, and her story plus the wonderful video give you a real feel for why many of us here are Edwards' supporters.

Edwards Expands Senior Staff, maybe
Marc Ambinder broke the news today that the Edwards campaign has added/may be adding two new faces to the senior staff, Paul Blank and Chris Kofinis of the WakeUpWalMart team. Ron Galloway had this to say about the (possible) additions:

Wal- Mart's entire defense campaign was essentially a reaction to these two, and when you can hold the attention of the world's largest corporation for two years, you have abilities any campaign would value.

Campaign bookmakers should spend the afternoon adjusting the odds, because they just changed.

What I like about this move is that it will allow Bonior to do what he does best -- work the labor vote, be a top-level strategist for the campaign, and travel with John Edwards to provide him with the sounding board needed as he continues to hone his message. It will also allow Bonior to take on more of a spokesperson role.

As I look at the Edwards campaign, I see some wonderful folks lined up with my candidate. Woo Hoo!!

(quick apologies for the abysmal lack of pictures in tonight's EENR. As some may know, I'm in the middle of moving from one apartment to another and apparently I've already packed my creativity. it's in a box somewhere, if only I can remember what I labeled it.......)

Sit back, relax, enjoy some time with friends, I've got to dash but I'll be checking back in.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: July 4th Edition

2007-07-04T05:15:00.000-04:00

Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 07:36:26 PM CDT

Welcome to another edition of the Edwards Evening News Roundup! Today is the 4th of July, and I'll be your guest host for the evening. We'll talking about John and Elizabeth's Independence Day announcement, continue with Senator Edwards' recent appearance at the ACORN Presidential Forum, and bring it home with a recent Silicon Valley fundraiser.

clarkent's diary :: ::

John Edwards' Independence Day announcement:

"Elizabeth and I want to wish everyone a happy Independence Day. Today, we celebrate our freedom—the freedom that has allowed our country to prosper and that allows each of us to make a difference in our country. The great movements in our country haven't started in the Oval Office—they've started with the American people, who have for stood up for centuries to protect our cherished values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

"Today, let us remember all of those who have given up so much to ensure that freedom continues to reign throughout our great country. The strength of America lies in the people of America and the great possibility of what we can do together."

It's worth noting that Senator Edwards realizes that movements are not about one person, but instead are about the American people standing up for one another. In Monday's ACORN Presidential Forum, Senator Edwards recognized this in the assembled activists. He praised them for their dogged pursuit of equality on behalf of the voiceless, from helping to rebuild poor neighborhoods in New Orleans to going door to door to help families in low-income neighborhoods around the country.

I want to say something to you, who are out there active, organizing, working. Sometimes people say to me, "ACORN, they get in your face, man!" And I say, "Good! I hope they keep getting in your face, I hope they keep speaking out, I hope they keep standing up with backbone and courage for people who need someone to speak for them."

Part One of the video:

Check out be inspired's excellent diary for more news about this event.

Going from the world of anti-poverty activism to Silicon Valley entrepeneurs, here's an item from Silicon Valley:

Steve Kirsch has been years ahead of other Silicon Valley kingmakers on the environment, and light years ahead on global warming. Prior to Edwards' arrival at his Los Altos home, Kirsch, the successful serial entrepreneur currently behind antispam software firm Abaca, gave the assembled two dozen or so a passionate "everything you need to know about global warming in 15 minutes" talk, replete with book recommendations. When Edwards spoke, more than half the questions targeted the environment. The depth of the candidate's answers clearly impressed the room, as attendees coughed up tens of thousands.

Tomorrow, Senator Edwards will be attending the United Steelworkers Candidates Forum in Cleveland, OH. Next week, he will be attending a series of house parties in New Hampshire.

That does it for another edition of Edwards Evening News Roundup. Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Edwards Evening News Roundup-7/03 Happy Birthday Elizabeth Edition!

2007-07-03T05:02:00.000-04:00

Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 09:23:34 PM CDT

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Elizabeth
Happy birthday to you....and many more :-)

From everyone here at Daily Kos, we would want to wish the happiest birthday ever! You are a national treasure Elizabeth and we all look forward to the day we will be able to call you our First Lady.

For more celebrating...follow me below the fold

ladylib's diary :: ::

This being Elizabeth's birthday..it could not have come at a better time to remind us to stop for just a moment and think... this being the day Elizabeth Edwards was born. A real American patriot...that has put country before self time after time. At a time in our nation's history when all we have to do is look towards Washington DC and the greed and corruption that resides within our government to realize what a true gift Elizabeth and John Edwards will be to the American people. All they want to do is serve their country by helping people who are not in a position to help themselves. Both John and Elizabeth could go on about their lives, living in comfort and focusing only on themselves but instead have chosen a different path. Time and time again both have spoken out against injustice when no one else would and for that we are so thankful.

John and Elizabeth Edwards (credits to crappyjazz for the video)

Elizabeth Edwards' energy is an inspiration

When Elizabeth Edwards stormed the Bay Area in a flurry of energetic appearances on behalf of the John Edwards campaign, perhaps the message she sent most loud and clear had nothing to do with her husband's presidential aspirations. The subtext was: "Yes, this is what a cancer patient looks like."

Those who attended a recent fundraiser for the Edwards campaign in Mountain View, where Elizabeth made a solo appearance, were struck by her vitality despite the breast cancer that has metastasized to her bones. Even though she dispensed with the issue of her health right at the beginning of her speech, many of those who attended went to be inspired by her determination to keep on fighting.

Patients invited

Amanda Hawes, whose San Jose law firm, Alexander Hawes, represents people who have been exposed to toxic chemicals, invited some cancer patients to the private event. She said they wanted to talk to Elizabeth Edwards about issues you rarely hear discussed right after a campaign speech. "One woman I brought wanted to ask her how she manages her chemo treatments while traveling," Hawes told me.

It may be that Edwards will do more for raising awareness about where we are with breast cancer treatments and research than all the pink-ribbon campaigns of the past 20 years. Barbara Brenner, a survivor of breast cancer and head of the advocacy group Breast Cancer Action in San Francisco, said that Edwards has become the new face of the disease.

http://www.mercurynews.com/...

Amazing Elizabeth Edwards

By PAM BERNS
The Sunday New York Times had an article on presidential candidate John Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth. I’m so impressed with her attitude, optimism and grace under circumstances that would overwhelm most of us. The inoperable cancer she has would alone disable many of us, less run a family, a political campaign and manage chemotherapy. The article said that she is actively engaged in all decisions, small and major, including the one to hire Joe Trippi, the man who was responsible for raising so much money for Howard Dean in the last presidential election. Last week Elizabeth Edwards called into the television show Hardball when she heard Ann Coulter’s hateful slurs against her family. Coulter was cruelly referring to the death of Edwards’ oldest son in a car crash at the age of 16. If Chris Matthews, the host of Hardball, continues to give Coulter an audience to spew hateful rhetoric, he will lose his core audience—people who turn his show on to watch intelligent discussions of important issues of the day, not to listen to verbal garbage.

http://chicagolife.net/...

And this from the Edwards web site on wishing Elizabeth a happy birthday

Today we're wishing Elizabeth Edwards a very happy birthday! She's one amazing lady, and we are so proud to work alongside her on this journey.

If you'd like to send along some birthday wishes you can e-mail them directly to Elizabeth, you can use this contact form, or you can leave them in the comments!

This as a very special birthday open thread...

http://blog.johnedwards.com/...

In wrapping up, I guess I better include a little campaign news just to keep it legal :-)

I know this was posted yesterday but I think it's worth revisiting again today...

"Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today."-John Edwards

Edwards Calls For Minimum Wage Increase As Part Of Plan To Build One America

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – As part of his agenda to build One America where every person has the chance to work hard and get ahead, Senator John Edwards today will call for a raise in the minimum wage. At appearances at the National Education Association's Annual Meeting and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now's Candidates Forum, Edwards will call for gradually increasing the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012 and ensuring that it continues to rise so minimum-wage workers will share in our nation's prosperity.

"Raising the minimum wage is one of the most important steps we can take to lift working families out of poverty and into the middle class," said Edwards. "No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty. If a job takes you away from your family every single day — or for many low-wage workers all through the night — it had better pay you enough to support them. As president, I will raise the minimum wage and put our economy back on the side of working families."

The national minimum wage now fails to keep working families out of poverty. In May, President Bush signed the first increase in the minimum wage in nearly a decade. The wage will increase from $5.15 to $5.85 on July 24 and to $7.25 in two years. While the upcoming increase will give a much-needed raise to millions of families, it is far from enough. The higher minimum wage came after nearly a decade of delay and still remains inadequate as a tool to fight poverty, reward work and reduce inequality. Even at $7.25 an hour, the real value of the minimum wage will be more than $1 below half the average wage, a historic benchmark. The $7.25 wage is only about 40 percent of the average wage.

Edwards believes we need to raise the minimum wage to strengthen the middle class and strengthen our economy. Raising the minimum wage gives millions of workers more buying power and allows them to support their families with less government aid and contribute to the economy. By raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012 and then indexing it so that it automatically rises each year along with average wages, Edwards believes we can lift up working families and build an America that rewards work instead of wealth.

Edwards has long fought to raise the minimum wage, traveling across the country during the past few years to help pass minimum wage ballot initiatives in six states in 2006. Edwards' call to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012 is just one part of his plan to build an America where every person has the same chances to succeed that he has had. He has also laid out detailed plans to guarantee universal health care, strengthen unions, and crack down on predatory lending.

Here are some highlights of upcoming events John and Elizabeth will be attending

July 5
1:00 p.m. ET
Crowne Plaza Cleveland City Centre Hotel
777 St. Clair Avenue, NE
Cleveland, OH 44114

July 10, 2007 - 9:30 a.m.
Elizabeth Edwards officially opens the South Carolina for Edwards headquarters in Columbia.
1634 Taylor Street
Columbia SC 29201
Call 803-251-0168 for more information

House Party with Elizabeth in NH
July 10, 2007 - 1:45 p.m.
Home of Beth Salzman
11 Pebble Beach Road
Bedford, NH
Call 603-606-3601 for more information

House Party with Elizabeth in NH
July 10, 2007 - 3:45 p.m.
Home of Representative Christine Hamm
14 South Road
Hopkinton, NH
Call 603-606-3601 for more information

Edwards Evening News - Libby, Minimum Wage, & more

2007-07-02T05:00:00.000-04:00

Mon Jul 02, 2007 at 09:03:09 PM CDT

Welcome to another edition of the Edwards Evening News Round-up. Today news on Edwards' reaction to Bush commuting Libby's sentence, Edwards appearance at ACORN today, his bold announcement on minimum wage, a bit on the NALEO forum over the weekend and other things.

Let your fingers do the walking and come with me over the fold.

okamichan13's diary :: ::

Edwards Statement On President Bush Commuting Libby's Sentence

Hot off the press, Edwards speaks out strongly about Bush's outrageous support for illegal actions committed by those in the Commander Guy's administration:

"Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today. "

Not everyone in America is quite as connected as Scooter. Here's a glimpse of the other America that Bush either ignores or doesn't even know exists:

If you’re African-American, you’re more likely to be charged with a crime. If you’re charged with a crime, you’re more likely to be convicted of the crime. If you’re convicted of the crime, you’re more likely to get a severe sentence. There is no question that our justice system is not color-blind.

And if you lie to the FBI and obstruct justice, and you are part of Bush's America, it simply doesn't matter. From the war to Katrina to the DOJ, this president has never taken responsiblity for his administrations' actions, so why start now?

Edwards Calls For Minimum Wage Increase As Part Of Plan To Build One America

At appearances at the National Education Association's (NEA) annual meeting and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now's (ACORN) Candidates Forum, Edwards called for, among other things, gradually increasing the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012 and ensuring that it continues to rise by indexing it to average wages. You can see the full plan here. More details on ACORN in tomorrow's EENR but we already know that Edwards and ACORN are on the same side:

In the last four years Edwards has been clearer and clearer that his campaign is mission-driven around poverty eradication, so with us he is preaching to the choir, since we have campaign so hard and for so long to really see the great society finally achieved on an equitable basis for all Americans.

Today Edwards noted that the minimum wage (finally) increase signed into law is still a povery wage:

Almost 80 percent of workers benefiting from a minimum wage increase are adult workers. Americans working full-time at the minimum wage today take home only about $10,700 a year before taxes, nearly 40 percent below the poverty line for a family of three. Even after this month's scheduled increase to $5.85, minimum-wage workers will earn about $12,200, still nearly 30 percent below the poverty line for these families. [Kennedy, 2007; EPI, 2007]

And raising the minimum wage to a living wage is one step we can take towards reducing poverty:

"Raising the minimum wage is one of the most important steps we can take to lift working families out of poverty and into the middle class," said Edwards. "No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty. If a job takes you away from your family every single day — or for many low-wage workers all through the night — it had better pay you enough to support them. As president, I will raise the minimum wage and put our economy back on the side of working families."

As the Blogger News Network notes correctly:

In the United States, we have an economy that is more non union and service sector based than ever before. Now more than ever workers need more help, not less. As far as the conservative argument that minimum wage increases lead to job losses, I say prove it. Never has a study been done that could directly link an increase in the minimum wage to a decrease in employment.

snip

Edwards is on the right track here. Despite all of the calls for economic Armageddon every time the minimum wage goes up a dollar or more, I think that something needs to be done to help the people who ring up your groceries, or your make your coffee in the morning survive in an economy where so few have so much, and so many have so little.

snip

Lastly, it is nice to hear one major Democratic candidate talk about an issue that matters to most Democrats.

And apparently the unions are also listening to what Edwards is saying.

National Education Association's (NEA) annual meeting
Along with his remarks on minimum wage and other issues at ACORN Edwards also spoke with conviction at the NEA. Here's a clip for you:

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) 24th Annual Conference
As many know Edwards recently spoke at the NALEO annual conference over the weekend. Among other things he criticized the recent Congressional rush to build an unpopular and impractical fence:

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards garnered rousing applause when he said he "would never be for building a wall all the way across our Southern border." Edwards said he would deploy more personnel and more technology along the border as enforcement measures, while offering illegal immigrants here "an absolute path to citizenship."

Here's a clip with a bit more:

NALEO video

Edwards Crushes Fred Thompson!
Check out ArkDem14's great diary on the latest findings from Rasmussen. Once again Edwards not only does the best vs the newly reinvented former longtime lobbyist and last hope of the Republican party in national head to heads, but according to SUSA he does better than him across the USA including much of the South.

Along with beating Fred Thompson, Edwards is also the only Democratic candidate that beats Giuliani in states like Iowa, Kentucky, and Missouri. Its a great diary and great news for democrats and just shows that John Edwards is the best candidate to put the Republicans on defence and take back the White House.

And if you want to support the democratic candidate with the best shot at reaching Pennsylvania Avenue - here is a good place to start: Bloggers for John Edwards.

And thats about it - hope you enjoyed it! If you've got more news, feel free to post it and check back tomorow for the latest news as we follow John Edwards message and policies of hope and change to Denver.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: Sunday Edition

2007-07-01T04:50:00.000-04:00

Sun Jul 01, 2007 at 09:57:43 PM CDT

Hi everyone! This is a celebratory EENR tonight. We have a few stories: (1) The Edwards campaign made its budgeted amount of $9 million. We have some details and a little talk about what it all means; (2) a front page story about Elizabeth Edwards in the New York Times today: (3) John Edwards today won the WisPolitics.com Convention Straw Poll (the Wisconsin Dem Convention); and (4) a story about Halliburton and War Profiteering.

Come around with me after the fold for tonight's EENR

TomP's diary :: ::

We made it yesterday!!

Edwards Campaign Raises More Than $9 Million During 2nd Quarter

The John Edwards for President campaign announced today that it raised more than $9 million during the second quarter fundraising period, double what it raised during the second quarter of the 2004 campaign and putting the campaign ahead of pace to raise the $40 million needed to implement the campaign’s plan.

Senator John Edwards’ campaign has been built on reaching out to all Americans – not just those who can give the maximum donation, so this quarter the campaign focused on its "Small Change for Big Change" program to expand its donor base and energize supporters. Small Change for Big Change raised low-dollar money through low-dollar fundraising events, and online, mail and telephone donations. Edwards’ campaign relies on grassroots support to get his message out to voters. Edwards has never taken a dime from PACs or Washington lobbyists, and this quarter more than half of the amount raised came from grassroots fundraising. Ninety-three percent of contributions were $100 and under this quarter compared to last quarter when 80 percent of contributions were $100 and under.

snip

More than $9 million raised total.
More than $4.7 million raised from grassroots fundraising.
More than 100,000 contributors from across the country this year.
About $3.5 million raised online.
93% of contributions were $100 and under.
More than 30% of contributions were from red states.

More details here

Now I'm sure you've all heard about the amounts the Clinton and Obama campaigns raised. Lots and lots of money. But you can not buy the presidency; you must earn it from voters. What you need is enough to get your message out.

Deputy Campaign Manager Jonathan Prince:

"The campaign wants to thank all of our supporters for their hard work – because of their efforts we will have the resources we need to be competitive and win the nomination."

And John Edwards has us. Each of us can spread the message by word of mouth or word of keyboard.

Jerome Armstrong on MyDd this afternoon made a very important point about the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries:

Mainly by showing from history that the polls haven't been predictive of whom is going to win the Democratic nomination in the past. But it would also be instructive to add, following Dean in '04, that neither has the one with the most money been who won either. You do have to reach a threshold to win the nomination, but more money doesn't do you any more good in Iowa. In 2003, Kerry needed just $5M the final three months of the campaign to win in Iowa.

MyDD

Celebrate!! We have what we need to compete. And we have the winning candidate and message of real change.

Elizabeth Edwards

First, Happy almost Birthday to Elizabeth Edwards!! Just two more days. July 3.

Today, the New York Times had a front page story on Elizabeth Edwards: Perspective on Her Side, Mrs. Edwards Enters Fray

Here are a few samples:

Three months after Elizabeth Edwards said that her cancer had returned in inoperable form, her role and influence in John Edwards's presidential campaign is undiminished. She has made a flurry of charged public appearances, become a regular presence advising Mr. Edwards on the campaign trail, and wields behind-the-scenes influence in many internal campaign decisions, aides said.

snip

When Mrs. Edwards called in to a television talk show this week to confront the conservative commentator Ann Coulter who had attacked Mr. Edwards this year, it was a decision that Mrs. Edwards said she made impulsively and on her own. The resulting dramatic four minutes of television created a surge of attention that at least momentarily electrified her husband's campaign, winning applause from the left and apparently spiking contributions in the critical final days of this second-quarter fund-raising period.

snip

Mrs. Edwards is involved in the high-level decisions that are driving the campaign, including the drafting of major speeches, discussion of debate strategy and reviewing television advertisements.

snip

Campaign advisers said Mrs. Edwards was the political strategist Mr. Edwards trusted the most, which added to her authority.

Happy almost Birthday Elizabeth Edwards!!

You can read the whole story at the link above.

Wisconsin Democrats at their State Convention choose John Edwards.

MILWAUKEE -- Democratic activists voting in the annual WisPolitics.com Convention Straw Poll this weekend favored John Edwards for president.

Of the 389 delegates, alternates and guests who voted, 153 backed Edwards, while Hillary Clinton came in second with 83 votes and Barack Obama was third with 74. In the February 2004 Wisconsin presidential primary, Edwards finished a strong second to Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the eventual Democratic nominee.

Last year, Russ Feingold won the poll.

More here at WiscPolitics.Com

Finally, here's a fun article on the Nationblog suggesting that John Edwards Should Do a Truman

John Nichols, the author, wants to see an investigation of war profiteering similar to the Truman Commission during WWII. He suggests the John Edwards should make it a big part of his presidential campaign:

But who will go down the trail Truman blazed?

Why not John Edwards?

snip

And Edwards has been on the right side of this issue for a long time.

[In campaigning for the 2004 Democratic presidential nod, Edwards delivered speeches on this issue]

"We need to end the sweetheart deals for Halliburton and stop the war profiteering in Iraq," declared Edwards, who made pointed references to Vice President Dick Cheney's former firm but also to a list of other defense contractors that have contributed heavily to George w. Bush's campaigns and that have profited heavily from his war.

"The American people know there is something wrong going on with war profiteering and Halliburton and the contracts in Iraq," said Edwards, who promised to examine every contract handed out by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his aides "with a magnifying glass" in a hunt to halt "the fleecing of the American people

Well. John Edwards has been continued since 2004 to speak out about Halliburton and war profiteering. Remember the moveon forum about the war in Iraq earlier this year?

Well let me say first I will end war profiteering in Iraq.

snip

We need to do everything in our power to get rid of fraud and abuse in Iraq. We need to hold powerful corporations like Halliburton accountable for no-bid contracts they've secured through cronyism.

The Edwards Plan on War Profiteering is Here

And that is the Edwards news for tonight, July 1, 2007.

Edwards Evening News Roundup - End of Q2 Edition

2007-06-30T04:48:00.000-04:00

Sat Jun 30, 2007 at 07:05:14 PM CDT

The Edwards Campaign for President is now completing its second quarter. It has been a very busy three months. This last week has been no exception. Tonight I am going to review the following highlights from the week:

Elizabeth Edwards vs Ann Coulter - a selection of diaries

Dailykos Straw Poll and after Debate polls

Investing in the John Edwards Campaign

Thank you for your Investment or Contribution to the Edwards Campaign!!!

pioneer111's diary :: ::

1. Elizabeth Edwards vs Ann Coulter - a selection of diaries

Many diaries have been posted on the topic. Here are several that give you different perspectives.
Ultimately we applaud Elizabeth and John for speaking out against this type of hate-mongering.

a. One of the most delightful diaries was from Melody Townsel who wrote about her conversation with her seven year old daughter Sadie about Ann Coulter Hey, Ann. Even my SEVEN-YEAR-OLD gets it.

Wisdom from seven year old Sadie

"It's not sad, Mommy, it's rude. They're really rude. She's not even paying attention to what the woman on the phone is saying and she's just yelling."

"No, Mommy. I think Ann Coulter needs to lose privileges."

"Maybe they shouldn't let her be on TV."

There's a thought. From my seven-year-old's lips to the network executives' ears.

b. From TomP Coulter claims Elizabeth "browbeat" her; Ann Coulter calls Elizabeth a "Harridan"

When I heard that Coulter used the term harridan, I thought, Ann, you are teaching people the word that describes you.

Elizabeth is a steel magnolia - a gracious Southern lady - with a spine.

Ann Coulter is the harridan - a hag, a shrew, a vicious woman.

This is classic Freudian projection.

c. nyceve's Rant on Chris Matthews - Chris Matthews, have you no shame?

And any MSNBC executives who happen to read this (very unlikely, I know) you should understand, that though Mr. Matthews may bring in a few bucks for the network, he does nothing--zero, to either educate the American people about the dire state of our nation, or to raise the level of political discourse. Nothing.

d. Admiration from mannabass - Holy !$#%#!!! Did you see Edwards on Hardball?

The clip begins with the usual "this is what happened what do you think" intro. Then the real answers starts. Let me draw attention to a few things [John Edward's quote].

I think that when people like Ann Coulter -- and it's not just her, unfortunately, it's her and people just like her, Karl Rove and all those people. I mean, when they engage us in this kind of hatemongering, you have to stand up to them. You have to stand up to them. They start this fight, but we have to be willing to be strong and to fight back. Because if we don't, Chris, what happens is all the important things: men and women dying in Iraq, those who don't have health insurance, et cetera, their issues don't get heard. Instead, it's this -- it's this low-level dialogue with this name-calling, which is what we see.

Notice how he doesn't get caught in the Ann Coulter trap? This is about challenging the right wing hate frame, and pointing out how it's just a distraction anyway.

2. Dailykos Straw Poll and Debate Results

a. Dailykos Straw Poll Results for the top three: Edwards 40%, Obama 22% and Clinton 6%
Richardson's support on Dkos continutes to slide down. Other and No Feaking Clue went up.
Edwards support appears steady for the last three months.

b. Democratic Presidential Debate - hosted by Tavis Smiley on PBS

This debate format was probably the best we have seen so far. The short time
for answers still is problemantic. Nonetheless each candidate had a fair shot at answers
and Tavis Smiley did a great job of moderating. There was a poll before and after.
Obama had the most support before, but he lost support after the debate.
Edwards gained significant support after the debate. I would say that Edward won.
Here are a couple of diaries if you missed them.

Edwards Wins the DC Debate...Debate Link, Poll

Debate Aftermath with Poll

3. Investing in the John Edwards Campaign

Songweasal writes about a Hot Investment Tip s/he got

I got this "tip" from a lady at the League of Women Voters Luncheon here in Orlando today. She said this, "Honey, you don't give money to political campaigns. You invest in a candidate. So just who are you investing in?" So I said...

I invest in the candidate who will lead my country's return to its rightful place as a moral, just, rational and dignified leader on the world stage.

I invest in the candidate who will lead my country to its rightful place as a leader in creating and utilizing the technologies that will ultimately save the environment of this beautiful little blue marble in space that we call home.

I invest in the candidate who will lead the return of dignity and standing to American workers who should earn a living wage and never fear losing the right to get together, if need be, and ask their bosses for better.

I invest in the candidate who has a vision of a future where no children, anywhere, in any country, are hungry or sick.

I invest in the candidate who has a vision of a not so distant future where all children will learn to read whatever they want and will talk and write freely about what they've learned.

I invest in leadership. I invest in vision.

I invest in John Edwards.

I really do think that our time and our money is being invested in the future of the country by supporting John Edwards.

4. Thank you for your Investment or Contribution to the Edwards Campaign!!!

We are almost there! I believe we will reach the goal of $9M for the second quarter before midnight.
The Edwards campaign has the resources to keep its eye on the prize - winning the primary! Thank you all for your contributions and support.

Edwards Evening News - Libby, Minimum Wage, & more

2007-06-29T04:33:00.000-04:00

Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 07:26:59 PM CDT

Hi all, it's the night after the debate, and since there has been plenty of coverage about it, I'd like to move on to more important matters, like the present state of our Supreme Court. Here we go....

sarahlane's diary :: ::

A few days ago there were numerous decisions by SCOTUS that put things in perspective, we cannot lose the next election. Imagine what happens if the court picks up one more conservative? Here's what Edwards had to say about the radical shift in recent rulings:

"This Court's rash of far-reaching 5-4 decisions this term—favoring privileged interests over ordinary Americans—shows the damage President Bush's appointments have done to the cause of equal justice in our country. The Supreme Court's hard right turn is another reminder of what is at stake for Democrats in the 2008 election—the rights of women, the rights of workers, basic civil rights and civil liberties are all in jeopardy. The next president will likely appoint at least one justice, and can either help stop this radical shift or lock it in for years to come."

Edwards is right, and that's why besides the issues of getting out of Iraq and UHC, the next election is incredibly important because the next President may have a chance to nominate the next justice. We need to make sure that the candidate we choose will not make the mistake of choosing another Anthony Kennedy. We need to make sure that we get another Ginsburg, or many rulings like Roe v. Wade could be overturned. There's no doubt in my mind that Edwards realizes the importance of this and if President will make sure that civil liberties/ consumer rights and women's rights will be protected. IMO, Edwards will nominate someone who will protect our rights, he would not nominate someone like Kennedy who is now the swing vote, who happens to swing to the right. Here's a little more from Edwards about how vital the next election is:

"If a conservative Republican president has the opportunity to replace a mainstream justice with one more right-wing vote, this country would be in a lot of trouble. The Court would shift even more dramatically to the right—on the Voting Rights Act, civil liberties, civil rights—and Roe v. Wade, now hanging by a thread, likely would be overruled. Our country would be a very different place. We can't take that chance."

The statement above is one day before the horrid ruling by SCOTUS where the ruling came down 5-4 to stop integration plans by Seattle and Louisville schools. Unfortunately we all know what came next, and now we are seeing the results of a right wing Presidency where right wingers rule the court. The scary thing to me is that Roberts and Alito are young. They're gonna be around for a long time. Breyer and Ginsburg on the other hand are not young and will not be on the court for the next twenty years. That's why it's more important than ever to make sure a Democrat like Edwards gets elected POTUS. Here's what Edwards had to say about the disappointing school diversity ruling yesterday:

"Today, right-wing judicial activists have turned Brown v. Board of Education on its head and blocked elected school boards from voluntarily integrating their schools. The decision is a blow to the cause of ensuring that every child has an equal chance to succeed. As someone who grew up in the South, as someone who knows the difference between the brutal segregation of Jim Crow and the decent integration efforts of Louisville and Seattle today, I find the decision deeply saddening.

"But we cannot give up. More than 50 years after the Brown decision, we still have two school systems - one for people who live in the right neighborhoods and one for everyone else. Although this decision makes it harder for us to build one education system for all of our children, still we must do everything in our power to try. I have proposed policies that will help us integrate our schools again -- like a million housing vouchers for working families in poor communities to move into other neighborhoods. In the days and weeks to come, I will talk about others. So should all of us.

"We also should talk about the Supreme Court. Four Justices are prepared, in deed if not in word, to reverse the principles and promise of Brown v. Board of Education. That is what is at stake in this next election. The Supreme Court is on the ballot in this next election, and the American people can stop this radical shift or lock it in for years to come."

The Edwards Campaign are revving their engines in New Hampshire. They just opened eight new offices, and hired additional field staff. And, the first ad for the Edwards Campaign in New Hampshire is set to hit the airwaves. Check it out:

Edwards is raking in more endorsements, this time a large number of prominent Latino politicians and activists have decided to back Edwards. To name just a few, U.S. Representatives Raul Grijalva (AZ), Charlie Gonzalez (TX), former New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid, Texas Mexican American Legislative Caucus Vice-Chair Trey Martinez Fischer and former Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund Chair Frank Herrera, Jr. Here's what they had to say about Edwards:

"I strongly believe that John Edwards is the right man for the Democrats to nominate for the White House in 2008," said Grijalva. "He has shown principled leadership on the way in Iraq and on economic opportunity in America."

"John Edwards and I share a commitment to improving the lives of working families," said Gonzalez. "He understands, as I do, that the key to economic development is making sure that our society honors and rewards hard work. Any American who is willing to work hard should have the opportunity to create a better life for his or her family, and John Edwards has spent his life fighting to make this happen."

"I am proud to endorse my friend, Senator John Edwards," said Madrid, the first Hispanic woman ever elected to the position of state Attorney General. "He has always fought for real change in women's lives—working tirelessly to raise the minimum wage, end poverty and guarantee universal health care."

"The issues that John Edwards cares most passionately about and talks about everywhere he goes -- eliminating poverty, creating economic opportunities, bringing about universal health care, raising the minimum wage, and making the dream of home ownership more accessible to all Americans – are kitchen table issues for Latino families everywhere in this country," said Rep. Martinez Fischer.

For a complete list of his recent endorsements go here:
http://johnedwards.com/...

In the next few days there are a few Small Change for Big Change events in Lexington KY, to Tampa FL. For more info about these events go here:
http://johnedwards.com/...

In ending the roundup tonight I want to ask for dough. That's right, I'm blatantly asking you to donate to the Edwards Campaign. It's just one day before the end of the second quarter, and I really want Edwards to have a strong showing. He doesn't need the crazy amounts that Hillary and Obama are raising, Edwards just needs to stay competitive. If you want a candidate who will push hard as hell to get UHC through, or a candidate who has a clear plan to get us out of Iraq, please give whatever you can. Thanks and good night!

https://secure.actblue.com/...

Edwards Evening News Roundup - Post-Forum Edition

2007-06-28T04:17:00.000-04:00

Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 09:31:40 PM CDT

Whew, what a day! Diaries galore about the Coulter take-down by both Elizabeth and John Edwards, with whining today from the troll herself about folks just being mean; Elizabeth's visit last evening last well into the morning as it stayed high on the rec list for hours; a friend just got a job on the campaign (woo hoo!!); rally before the debate in front of grand old Howard University was way too much fun (anyone with pictures?); and to top it off, a very decent Presidential Candidate Forum with my fav Tavis Smiley and friends. Seven months before the first caucus, and I'm already exhausted [ ;-D ]!

So, on to the evening round-up. Let's start with the news and move on to the forum shall we? After the break... ... ...

edgery's diary :: ::

Media Matters smacks Coulter down again - and it couldn't happen to a more deserving troll. Turns out Ann's little call-in to Joe Scarborough this morning had at least one, shall we say, untruthy.

Scarborough noted that Elizabeth Edwards "said that you had written some column where you had made light of John Edwards' dead son," and asked Coulter: "What's the story behind that?" Coulter replied: "Needless to say, that is not true. ..." In the column, published on November 19, 2003, Coulter, addressing John Edwards, wrote: "If you want points for not using your son's death politically, don't you have to take down all those 'Ask me about my son's death in a horrific car accident' bumper stickers?"

http://mediamatters.org/...

There's been some complaining that 'oh my, Edwards is taking advantage of Coulter's vile garbage to raise money.' on my way home from the pre-debate rally and standing in line at a fast-food stop to pick up some junk food, the guy behind me asked how I thought Edwards was going to do in the debate. Of course I said I knew he'd do great, and he chuckled. He said he didn't know who was supporting yet but he was sending Edwards money just because he disliked Coulter so much (he shuddered when he said her name) and loved that John and Elizabeth stood up to her. That's why folks are sending Edwards money in response to Coulter -- because he stood up and people are hungry for that.

Great evening at Howard University - Candidates' supporters were out in force this evening in Washington DC outside one of the top historically black universities in the nation, Howard University. Lots of energy from everyone, but we had the wonderful drummers from DC's own Dunbar High School and they did a great job giving the Edwards Crew energy and rhythm as we waved signs, raised our voices, and generally had a wonderful time.

I want to give a very special shout-out to one person in particular, our enthusiastic cheer leader (anonymous but you know who you are [wink]) who kept our energy level up for over 2 hours! be inspired and okamichan13 were there as well - it was a great time. The rain held off until just as the Senator pulled up to shake our hands and thank us for being there. With a rousing cheer, we sent him off to the forum.

What was your take on tonight's event? First I loved the questions and hate the 30-second rule. How can you answer a serious question in 30 seconds? Ridiculous.

Whoa! Gravel ended the evening by claiming that the other candidates don't have the moral judgement to be president! Okay, that was outrageous.

Darfur is an issue that is paramount for me - I ended my time at this evening's rally by joining up with my ONE campaign friends for a while, and am very active on the Save Darfur issue.

Edwards' stance on this horrific genocide is one of the big reasons I support him. So, I will take as my perk of authoring this evening's EENR to direct you to the 24 Hours for Darfur site.

Head over and get a better idea of why John Edwards is the right person at the right time to lead our country - he will place Darfur and Africa where it deserves to be, at the top of our foreign policy not the bottom.

OneCarolinaGirl has produced another great video - this one takes us into the mood for our next national holiday, the 4th of July, with fireworks and all. I'll end, as the National Symphony does every 4th, with the rockets red glare!

Have you contributed yet? The 2nd quarter is almost up, and while we here in the Edwards camp aren't aiming for the most corporate dollars (or the most dollars at all), we do want to meet our budget. And hey, a few Coulter dollars could make you feel very good.

Artists 4 Edwards - from our very own RedJet
Bloggers for Edwards - from our very own NCDem Amy
GLBT Democrats for Edwards - from our very own refinish69
Coulter Cash - from the Edwards campaign's official site that let's them know you want Democrats to stand up to the Right Wing Hatemongers

So pick a link and add your voice!

Now, sit back, add a comment or two, enjoy the friendly surroundings of the EENR.

Tags: John Edwards, 2008 Elections, Democrats, debate, Elizabeth Edwards, Edwards Evening News (all tags)

Edwards Evening News - Elizabeth Edwards & Party for Change by okamichan13

2007-06-27T21:28:00.000-04:00

Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 11:49:29 PM EDT

Welcome to the Edwards Evening News! A lot going on, with Elizabeth blogging here as I type and answering people's questions. And also as I type, house parties in support of John Edwards around the country are just wrapping up. Follow me over the flap to see "what's going on".

okamichan13's diary :: ::

Elizabeth you Rock!
As everyone is aware, Elizabeth is visiting Dailykos tonight and has been taking questions. For more, go check it out. Here's some of what she said.

About winning Iowa:

I don't take anything for granted
But I feel great about Iowa. They look for a candidate with a constellation of qualities: character, vision (as exhibited by fully formed ideas) and (because they are pragmatic) electability. John meets all their criteria and, in addition, he is well-liked in the state. The Iowa team has done a great job of organizing so we are ready. I am convinced John will win Iowa and the only question (which I do not know) is the percentage.

About trade and jobs:

A President who thinks US jobs is part of his job
Wouldn't that be great? No more weak-as-water trade agreements and an aggressive effort to strengthen businesses here matched with an end to any tax advantages for taking US jobs overseas: that's what we need and that's what we'll get with John.

About smart trade:

Smart Trade
John opposed NAFTA (which was passed before he was in the Senate) and other trade bills that did not have a baseline of worker and environmental protections. He believes that all our trade agreements without these (which may be nearly all) need to be renegotiated and that no new trade agreements should be entered into that do not guarantee a reasonable (for each locality) wage, worker safety protections and environmental protections.

About rebuking Bush's abuse of executive power and restoring constitutional balance:

Most Democratic candidates will promise this
But think for a minute about who has been the most out-spoken, the most courageous speaker on these (and other) issues. It is John. The strength you see in the campaign is a hint about what you will see in the White House.

About John's long history of fighting to end poverty:

Long before he went into politics, John was on the board of an organization that addressed homelessness in our hometown, and he established the development fund for that organization, Urban Ministries. He and his firm did Christmas every year at a child care center in the projects, providing a party and presents for all the children. On alternating years, John was even (a thin) Santa. He made sure there was a children's library in the new public library in the rural town in which his parents were raised. He paid for a playground at a Title I school when the school system wouldn't update it and the PTA couldn't afford to. And we built a computer lab at our inner city high school (that serves the most economically advantaged and most economically disadvantaged students in the district) so that all students would start from a level playing field. I've got more, but isn't that proof enough?

About some in Congress not standing up to Bush:

Disappointing
It is disappointing. I don't know enough who to blame. We clearly need leadership. I spoke at a Rage for Justice dinner recently and that is what we need: leaders who will rage for justice. The Iraq vote was an example. Even those who voted the right way didn't exhibit the leadership we need right now. Silence, as MLK said, is betrayal.

About the primary calendar:

Iowa, Nevada, NH, SC
I feel great about the calendar. I wouldn't want John to trade places with any other candidate. (It would be nice to have their money -- hint, hint -- but John needs only to meet his budget, not their totals.) Iowa looks great, I talked about it earlier. Nevada will do Iowa style caucuses, which means that the most engaged voters will be participating and those are the ones who demand character, vision, fully developed plans, and electability. John should do great. John has run 2d or 3d in NH in polling and with the wins in Iowa and Nevada will, I believe, win NH as well. And John won in SC in 2004 with 45% without a win before that. With the earlier wins, John will repeat in SC. I feel great about this.

About priorities and the deficit:

Priorities
With John we will have a President who can walk and chew gum at the same time, and he can address several of the important issues at the same time as well. Global warming, which you asked about, has to be an immediate concern. This is an emergency, but so are the other things I talked about in earlier comments: health care, re-establishing our moral leadership. And eradicating poverty is not a niche issue or a luxury. Poverty drains our economic and social resources, it paralyzes our city services and it causes our rural communities to wither. The costs of poverty radiate far beyond the lives of those in poverty. But we need to address it primarily because it is wrong.

About public financing of elections:

Clean up and reinvigorate our election system
On two fronts:
(1) Public financing of campaigns. John has never taken Washington lobbyist money (or allowed them to bundle for him) but that is not enough. He will fight for true public financing.
(2) A reliable voting system nationwide. That means from voter enrollment, voter eligibility determinations, and actual voting processes. No black boxes and a paper trail for all voting.

About the vital importance of health care:

You think about who is election is about
I talk about this all the time. About Mary who went back to work at 75 to pay for prescription drugs she could have afforded . . . if she lived it Canada. She was lovely; I met her in Iowa. About Beverly, who I met in Detroit, who could hardly speak, so consumed was she with worry for her son in Iraq. And the pretty young woman who leaned over me in Cleveland and whispered in my ear that she was afraid; she had found a lump in her breast but couldn't go to the doctor's because she had no health insurance. She has a death sentence if we don't get her health care. It is not only easy to keep going, it is impossible to stop.

About making health care a priority:

This is a top priority
John will move immediately on his health care plan. With him at the top of the ticket, I believe we take enough new seats that he will have no problem getting it passed right away.

About speechwriters:

Ha! We don't have any speechwriters.
Refreshing, isn't it?

About people who like Elizabeth but aren't yet sold on John:

What you like about me
I would guess is that I am authentic and talk about great ideas -- those, by the way, are John's ideas.

John Edwards on Hardball
Following Elizabeth's surprise call-in to Hardball yesterday (surprise to Ann Coulter certainly), John Edwards showed up to talk about the same issues that Elizabeth brought up. Its an excellent broadcaset. John rightly pegged her as a crazy hate-mongerer who caters to the same small-minded people the KKK catered to during the civil rights movement. How do you deal with people like this? You don't run away and hide, you stand up to them. Check it out:

TomP had a great diary today, Elizabeth Edwards explains "Why I Called Ann Coulter.". Check it out if you haven't.

Personally I was surprised at a few of the comments suggesting that its somehow unseemly for Elizabeth to take the fight to Ann Coulter as a candidate's spouse. Would we say the same about Bill Clinton if he defended Hillary from something similar? For some reason I doubt it. John and Elizabeth have been married almost 30 years. They've gone through so much together - losing a son and running a campaign for president (twice) are some of the most personally trying things one could imagine. If anyone has the right to speak out, she certainly has.

Party for Change

Just came back from my own Party for Change. If you havent watched the video, A Conversation with John and Elizabeth Edwards, you should. Its good, its damn good.

This campaign is about real change for America, transformational change away from where Bush has been taking us on his roller-coaster ride of incompetence and shortsightedness. Its much more than about an individual, its aabout a vision of America with hope restored, with universal health care, where the crush of poverty becomes a fairytale that noone believes really existed, and where the world can openly look up to us instead of snickering at our hypocrasy. Do you support change? Are you willing to stand up?

If you do, then drop some small change for big change Edwards way and join the campaign. Help Edwards and all progressive candidates out: Artists for Edwards

Tomorrow begins Today!

Tags: John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, 2008 elections, president, primaries, Edwards Evening News

Edwards Evening News Roundup by benny05

2007-06-26T21:26:00.000-04:00

Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 08:46:56 PM EDT

Good evening, I'm Benny05 and have been asked to guest anchor. LadyLib has the night off. Today, many events took place, but the lead off is Elizabeth Edwards engages nouvelle Queen of Mean, Ann Coulter, in her comments about John Edwards.

Context: Ann Coulter is not married, does not have children, and yet attacks the Edwardses for losing young children and they talk about them when asked. As Elizabeth Edwards points out, Coulter is not asking for participation on issues as her commentary is turning away potential voters for any candidate.

Follow me under the fold.

benny05's diary :: ::

We were aware of Coulter's comments about John Edwards from last night, but today, the politics took a more human and less cheap political conversation on Hardball. Watch this afternoon's discourse between Elizabeth Edwards and Ann Coulter:

It's very clear that Elizabeth Edwards is challenging all parts of the media to ask questions or debate politicians' positions, instead of personal attacks. Mrs. Edwards was applauded by the audience.

More domestic news that was about issues:

Presidential hopeful John Edwards-the 2004 Democratic vice presidential candidate and former U.S. senator from North Carolina-visited the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center this morning to meet with staff and increase his understanding of the diverse needs of the GLBT community.

Here what was said about the visit:

We're grateful that Sen. Edwards was eager to learn more about L.A.'s GLBT community and that he chose to see firsthand the important and life- saving work we do every day at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center," says Center CEO Lorri L. Jean.

"Sen. Edwards' visit was particularly meaningful because his long-standing commitment to fighting poverty throughout our nation relates so closely to much of the work we do here at the Center with vulnerable, low-income people in Los Angeles who are in desperate need of care and support," Jean adds.

Edwards Evening News Roundup: Tonight Show Edition by TomP

2007-06-25T21:24:00.000-04:00

Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 10:46:10 PM EDT

Hi! Welcome to EENR.

Before we get to any stories, I want to tell you that John and Elizabeth Edwards will be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this evening. That is 11:30 p.m. eastern and pacific, 10:30 central time. I'm going to watch it tonight.

Here's a sneak preview:

he used the occasion to mock Vice President Dick Cheney, who is being criticized by Democrats for declaring his office exempt from sections of a presidential order involving matters of national security.

Edwards noted that the Constitution says the vice president is part of the executive branch.

"But it's just the Constitution," Edwards said.

SF Gate

I have a lot of stories tonight, so come with me around the folk for tonight's EENR

TomP's diary :: ::

John Edwards is fighting back.

In the e-mail, headlined "Haircuts and hatchet jobs," Edwards Deputy Campaign Manager Jonathan Prince writes, "they don’t want the American people to hear the message, so they attack the messenger. They call him a hypocrite because he came from nothing, built a fortune while standing up for regular people during some of their toughest times, and—heaven forbid!—he has the nerve to remember where he came from and still care passionately about guaranteeing every family the opportunities he had to get ahead."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...

There is a great diary on this right now on the Recommended List by McSnatherson. If you have not checked it out, do it soon.

John Edwards Hits Back Hard

Big Tent Democrat has words of praise for John Edwards in a diary on MyDD.

Not Our Kind of Rich? Is Edwards Becoming The Anti-Establishment Candidate?

Now you may know that BTD does not post on Daily Kos anymore:

I can't post at daily kos (none / 0)

Both on principle and as a practical matter.

I quit and also was banned.

Anyone is free to use it if they like.

by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 09:22:33 PM EST

Here is a little snippet. I suggest you visit MyDD (and Talk Left) and read the whole thing:

This reminds me of no one so much as Bill Clinton circa 1992 and during his Presidency. The Washington Establishment never liked the Clintons because, as far as I could see, they were nouveau powerful and, in the minds of the Beltway, tacky. Sort of like they feel about the blogs.

Remember the pronouncements of Sally Quinn and all the Beltway Gasbags about "their town?" I wonder if John Edwards is suffering from some of the same thing.

And as I think it through, I think Yglesias is getting at a point, but does not articulate it -- to wit, Edwards is really primed to fully play the "outsider" role. His pushback on the NYTimes today really seems to show that Edwards is realizing this possibility:

John Edwards comments on the recent bad Supreme Court decisions and what it means for the 2008 election.

"Like President Bush, Chief Justice Roberts sought high office claiming he would be a consensus-builder. But this term's rash of far-reaching 5-4 decisions proves that Roberts, like Bush, is exactly the opposite. With its two newest members, today's Supreme Court is moving the right-wing's agenda faster than we've seen in decades—slamming the courthouse doors in the faces of ordinary people, favoring big businesses over civil rights, and undermining protections for women and the environment. Because the next president will likely nominate at least one Supreme Court justice, which could shape the balance of power on the Court for years to come, the stakes in the 2008 election could not be higher."

A new poll by the Richardson Campaign:

The poll of 500 likely Iowa caucus-goers was conducted for the Richardson campaign by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin and Associates June 18-20 and has a margin of error of + 4.4%.

. . . Here are the results to the question "If the caucuses were held today, who would you support?" (likely caucus-goers)

John Edwards 34%

Hillary Clinton 24%
Barack Obama 17%
Bill Richardson 13%
Joe Biden 2%
Dennis Kucinich 2%
Chris Dodd 0%
Other 1%
Don't Know/NA 8%

Here are the results to the same question, broken out among "likeliest" caucus-goers (representing just over 40% of the sample -- voters who attended the 2004 caucuses, voted in the 2006 primary, and say they are definite to attend next year's caucus)

John Edwards 31%
Hillary Clinton 23%
Bill Richardson 18%
Barack Obama 16%
Joe Biden 3%
Dennis Kucinich 2%
Chris Dodd 0%
Other 1%
Don't Know/NA 8%

Richardson for President

I don't know what to make of it, but it does show Edwards winning in Iowa. Clearly, the Richardson people want to highlight the subset of the folks who place Richardson third.

Diary review and rescue.

I hope to make this an every evening feature. Not everyone sees all the fine Edwards-related diaries during the day. Here are a just a few worth checking out:

a. ACORN Backs Up Edwards, Disses the NYT

Even though the New York Times was too lazy to talk to any of the people John Edwards worked with at his Center for Promise and Opportunity, something they've been called out for at Talking Points Memo and DailyKos. It turns out some of his allies are eager to talk about his work and how valuable they think it was in fighting poverty. The President of the anti-poverty group the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, commonly known as ACORN, Maude Hurd released this statement:

b. Edwards' motivations in advocating for the poor defended

Furthermore, ACORN was on the receiving end of Edwards’ advocacy because he joined with us in a half-dozen states in working to raise the minimum wage.Furthermore, there was never even a hint of quid pro quo or wink and nod. There was no behind the scenes, "Hey, ACORN, I’ll stand tall now, but you need to commit you are with me in ’08."

I’m not saying Edwards is not running for President, he absolutely is, but I am saying that he is totally committed to fighting against poverty, and his voice counts. It is beyond me why that would not be a fair – and legal -- expenditure of funds, which the Times concedes. And, that makes this a cheap shot!"

This quote is from ACORN’s Wade Rathke.

c. My meeting with Elizabeth Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards met with a half-dozen bloggers after her historic address the morning of San Francisco's Gay Pride parade. Here's my report from that meeting.

In the press conference before she spoke to us, Edwards made history by supporting gay marriage, as the Chronicle reports.

snip

I was somewhat impressed with Mrs. Edwards. She seemed mostly genuine, and seems to have an excellent grasp of the issues involved. She was clear about the times that she wasn't in complete agreement with her husband, and overall seemed to be an informed, engaged person who is also willing to work on her spouse's campaign as an actual partner, rather than window dressing.

And that is the Edwards news for tonight, Monday, June 25, 2007. Be sure to catch John and Elizabeth on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno later.

Tags: John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, Edwards Evening News, primaries, 2008 elections, president

	Definitely, it's the best term I've heard so far!
78%	47 votes
	Maybe
7%	4 votes
	No, I think it sounds stupid
13%	8 votes
	I don't know, what does green collar mean?
2%	1 votes