|
 John
Edwards
 excerpts
from
the Iowa Daily Report
August
17-31,
2003
.... “Edwards
Criticizes ‘Shooting Gallery’”
– headline from Friday’s News & Observer, the
NC Sen’s home state paper. Excerpt from report
by the N & O’s John Wagner: “U.S.
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina stepped
up his criticism of President Bush's handling
of post-war Iraq and lamented the
continuing deaths of U.S. servicemen during
campaign stops in Iowa Thursday.
‘We've
got a bunch of young people in a shooting
gallery over there,’ the White House
aspirant said during a meeting with Democratic
activists gathered at an Elks Lodge in
Mason City. The North Carolina Democrat
blamed Bush for not adequately preparing for
the war's aftermath. Edwards, who supported
the war, also said Bush was too slow to invite
allies to help stabilize the country. ‘It
is an absolute, stubborn arrogance,’
Edwards said. ‘It is a huge mistake.’ The
Mason City stop was part of Day Two of
Edwards' ‘Real Solutions Express’ bus
tour in Iowa. Later in the day, Edwards
pitched his health-care plan, which would
require parents to insure their children, at a
forum in Des Moines Thursday hosted by
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. Edwards
told the audience that providing health
insurance for children is as important as
making sure they get an education. ‘There is
no moral difference between the two,’
Edwards said.”(8/17/2003)
… Blame Bush – Dem
hopefuls suggest that the president pulled the
plug on the northeastern United States.
With wannabes wandering IA, Associated Press’
caucus watcher Mike Glover decided to
highlight their reaction to the blackout.
Want to guess who they criticized? Excerpt
– datelined Cedar Rapids – from Glover
coverage: “The Democratic presidential
contenders blamed President Bush Friday for
the massive blackout in the northeastern
United States, saying the White House's
refusal to invest in the nation's
infrastructure caused the problem. ‘It
underscores a blackout in this administration
on energy policies,’ Massachusetts Sen. John
Kerry said. ‘They have ignored the
investment needs of our infrastructure in
favor of a tax cut for the wealthy.’
Northeastern cities from New York City across
to Toledo, Ohio, were gripped by a massive
blackout Thursday afternoon that left
officials scrambling to restore power and
searching for causes of the failure. While
no one has yet pinpointed a cause, Democrats
were quick to bash Bush. Missouri Rep.
Richard Gephardt argued that the
blackouts can be linked to flaws in Bush and
the Republican party's energy policy. ‘These
events illustrate how shortsighted the Bush
administration and Republican-controlled
Congress were in 2001 when they rejected
modernization of our nation's power grid,’
Gephardt said. Much of the criticism came
during a labor forum featuring six of the
Democratic presidential candidates. One of
the candidates, the Rev. Al Sharpton, was
forced to cancel because of jumbled air
schedules after the blackout. Florida Sen.
Bob Graham said Bush called for new
investment in electrical transmission systems
but Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to
do just that. ‘Just two years ago, he and his
allies in Congress blocked a Democratic
proposal to invest $350 million in upgrading
America's electrical grid system,’ Graham
said. ‘The blackout is further evidence that
America needs to invest in its
infrastructure.’ North Carolina Sen. John
Edwards chose not to immediately attack Bush.
‘I think we need to find out what
happened,’ Edwards said. Former Vermont
Gov. Howard Dean said the Bush
administration, through the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, tried to merge the New
England's electrical grid with New York's when
he still governor. ‘I raised hell and told
them they better get a lot of lawyers,’ he
said in a telephone interview. ‘The president
always sees bigger as being better and that's
not true. What we really need to do is let
local people take care of things. What we need
is good, strong regional grids. We do not need
huge mega-grids.’ Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich
said he has fought the big utilities since he
was the mayor of Cleveland and resisted
efforts to sell of the city's utilities. ‘I
stood to the Enrons of that day, and I'll
stand up to the Enrons of this day,’ Kucinich
said. Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman,
speaking earlier at the state fair, said the
blackouts, along with the latest virus attacks
on the Internet, have Americans feeling less
secure even though neither event has been
linked to terrorism. ‘Electricity is too
important to the quality of life to all of the
American people to allow it to become a gap in
homeland security,’ Lieberman said.”
(8/17/2003)
…
“Free trade: Running from reality won’t help”
– headline on editorial in Friday’s The Union
Leader. Editorial excerpt: “Free trade is
one of the reasons the American economy
experienced such notable growth during the
1990s. The down side is that it has cost
some American jobs, and Democrats running
for President are exploiting that to win
votes, even though NAFTA was President
Clinton’s baby. At a candidate’s forum in
Iowa on Wednesday, Dick Gephardt, John
Edwards, John Kerry, Howard Dean, Bob Graham
and Dennis Kucinich all bashed NAFTA to some
extent. Gephardt and Kucinich oppose free
trade. Dean said he would support
changes to NAFTA to make foreign workers abide
by the same rules as American workers.
Edwards said he would have voted against
the trade pact had he been in office. Kerry
and Graham, who voted for NAFTA, said they now
think it needs to provide more job
protections. Adam Smith disagrees with all
of them. He wrote of trade, ‘It is the maxim
of every prudent master of a family, never to
attempt to make at home what it will cost him
more to make than to buy…What is prudence in
the conduct of every private family, can
scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom. If
a foreign country can supply us with a
commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make
it, better buy it of them with some part of
the produce of our own industry, employed in a
way in which we have some advantage.’ That
is no less true today than it was in 1776,
when The Wealth of Nations was published.
Protectionism may temporarily save some jobs
in some industries, but in the long run it is
costlier than the alternative. Is Clinton the
only Democrat who still grasps this?”
(8/17/2003)
… Most
observers probably thought Edwards was already
running for the Dem nomination, but it turns
out he won’t announce until mid-September. The
only question now – see Notable Quotable above
– is whether he’s going to announce in North
Carolina or North Korea? Excerpt from AP
report – “North Carolina Sen. John Edwards
said Friday that he will formally announce his
candidacy for president Sept. 16 in Robbins,
N.C., where he grew up. ‘Robbins is a very
special place for me,’ Edwards said.
‘It's where I grew up. It's home to my family.
And it's where I learned the values of hard
work, responsibility and fairness that made
country this great.’ Edwards was born in
South Carolina but spent his teenage years in
Robbins, now a struggling mill town of about
1,200 residents. His campaign also said
Friday that Edwards will be the first
Democratic candidate to air ads in South
Carolina, which has the first-in-the-South
presidential primary Feb. 3. The ads start
airing Monday. Two of the ads have been
running in Iowa and New Hampshire for eight
days. A third ad debuts in South Carolina and
shows Edwards outside the Seneca, S.C.,
mill village house where he lived after he was
born. Edwards' spokeswoman would not
say how much the campaign is spending on the
ads.”(8/17/2003)
… Three for the road –
or, in this case, union picnic: Kucinich, “Lou
Grant” and Edwards, but Edwards skips before
Kucinich and Ed Asner arrived. Report – an
excerpt – from coverage in yesterday’s
Quad-City Times by Linda Cook: “Although
two Democratic presidential candidates
appeared Sunday afternoon, a veteran actor and
political activist shared their spotlight.
Edward Asner, who is most recognized for his
portrayal of journalist Lou Grant on the ‘Mary
Tyler Moore Show’ and the spin-off series ‘Lou
Grant,’ spoke Sunday to about 200 people. The
third annual Democrats with Labor Picnic and
Folkfest was held outdoors at the Carpenters
Local Union No. 4 on West Kimberly Road in
Davenport. Asner urged those attending to
become politically active — ‘Look at America,
for God’s sake,’ he said after Kucinich’s
address. ‘If we all didn’t do something, we’ll
go farther down the sewer than we already
have.’ Asner said that Americans are losing
their freedoms…Many of those attending
came up to shake Asner’s hand and to have
their photos taken with him. Lots of cameras
were trained on the candidates, too, of
course. U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio,
whom Asner endorsed, drew a standing ovation
with his energetic support for labor.
Asner and Kucinich earlier attended a
River Bandits game, where Kucinich
threw out the first pitch. ‘There are certain
benefits to running for president,’ he said.
Kucinich emphasized jobs throughout his
speech…’When I’m elected president, NAFTA
is history,’ he said. Kucinich
discussed his plan for a new WPA, or Works
Progress Administration, program ‘to put
America back to work.’ He added that he
plans to announce a new program to expand
NASA. ‘America must be the country that
keeps the new technologies moving forward,’ he
said. U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.,
also was on hand earlier in the day. He talked
about his plan to create jobs and help working
Americans. ‘Every time President Bush steps
up to announce another economic plan, what
happens? We lose jobs,’ Edwards said.
‘Every time the president says that a recovery
is just around the corner, millions of
Americans start collecting unemployment checks
instead of paychecks.’ Edwards said
he plans to help workers who have been hit
hard by the Bush economy, companies moving
jobs overseas and foreign trade. Edwards
proposes giving a 10 percent tax cut to
corporations that produce goods in the United
States.”(8/19/2003)
… Black churches
become popular destinations for the Dem
wannabes in South Carolina with as many as 1.2
million votes at stake in the
first-in-the-South primary. Headline
from the New Hampshire Sunday News: “Democrats
court south’s critical black voters”
Excerpt – datelined Denmark, SC – by AP’s Amy
Geier Edgar: “U.S. Sen. John Edwards
visited the site of the nation's first school
for freed slaves on St. Helena Island. U.S.
Rep. Dick Gephardt has campaigned at
the predominantly black Longshoreman's union
near the Charleston docks. And almost all
nine of the Democrats looking to win their
party's nomination for president have visited
a black church in South Carolina. South
Carolina's 1.2 million blacks are an
irresistible Democratic block that could make
up half the voters in the state's
first-in-the-South presidential primary Feb. 3…For
now, the Democratic candidates are taking
the tried-and-true path to black voters - the
church. The Rev. Joe Darby, pastor of
Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, said
he's had contact with all the candidates.
‘We've got candidates coming out our ears,’ he
said. U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of
Connecticut, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean
and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham of Florida all have
spoken to congregations at predominantly black
churches. Gephardt has spoken with
health workers at a predominantly black
church. The Rev. Al Sharpton has been a
regular visitor to black churches, most
recently at the Chapel Hill Baptist Church in
Santee… Other candidates have taken different
tacks to reach black voters. Edwards
went to the Penn Center, which runs a number
of community outreach programs for island
residents and began in 1862 as a school for
freed slaves after Union forces captured the
area early in the Civil War. Graham and
Lieberman both have visited Allen University,
South Carolina's oldest historically black
college. Former ambassador and Illinois
Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, the other
black candidate, has met with the state branch
of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People and other black
community leaders. Most of the campaigns have
hired black staffers. U.S. Sen. John Kerry,
D-Mass., has the backing of black New York
Congressman Gregory Meeks, who visited
supporters throughout South Carolina on
Kerry's behalf. He plans to begin a
grass-roots campaign in South Carolina next
month, Meeks said. U.S. Rep. Dennis
Kucinich is one of the few candidates who has
not had a real presence in South Carolina.
The Ohio Democrat has been focusing more of
his efforts in Iowa, said campaign
spokesman Jeff Cohen.”(8/19/2003)
… The Kings
of Political Plagiarism: Dean, Edwards, Kerry,
Lieberman, etc., etc. Headline from
Sunday’s Boston Globe: “Democrats recognize
a good line…Candidates recycle campaign
material” Excerpt – datelined Mason
City – from report by the Globe’s Glen
Johnson: “Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
was so angry that the White House had blocked
union protection for members of the new
Homeland Security Department that he let
President Bush have it last week as he sat
beside his rivals for the Democratic Party's
presidential nomination. ‘Did anybody ask the
firefighters and the police officers, all of
whom were union members, whether they thought
once about that before they went into those
burning buildings on Sept. 11 and risked their
lives, whether they were going to choose
between the unions and security? No way!’ the
Connecticut senator said in Philadelphia,
during a candidate forum arranged by the Sheet
Metal Workers International Association. A
few minutes later, Senator John F. Kerry of
Massachusetts expressed similar outrage.
‘This president is so quick to give speeches
about the heroes of New York City,’ Kerry
said. ‘Well, I look forward to reminding him
that every single one of those heroes that
went up those stairs and gave their lives so
that someone else might live was a member of
organized labor.’ To the audience, it may
have sounded like Kerry was lifting from
Lieberman, but in reality, it was Lieberman
who was clipping from Kerry. In a comical
game of ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ candidates
for the Democratic presidential nomination are
stealing one another's best lines. Most
often, the crime takes place with little
notice, as the candidates stump separately
around the country. At other times, as in
Philadelphia, it occurs in full view of the
victim. No one's hands are completely
clean. Lieberman is not the only
offender, and Kerry is not the only
victim. So far, everyone is laughing about
it, for the most part, with no candidate
suffering serious repercussions. On Tuesday
in Mason City, Kerry ripped off Senator John
Edwards of North Carolina as he blasted Bush
for not supporting family farmers.
Kerry accused the president of being an
urban cowboy out of touch with average
Americans. ‘We need a president who
understands that connection to the land, for
whom it's not just a question of sashaying
around a ranch, recently bought, with a big
belt buckle,’ Kerry said. Edwards
lifted an eyebrow when told of the comment,
recalling what he said June 22 as he and
Kerry attended a candidate forum in
Newton. ‘This president is a complete,
unadulterated phony,’ Edwards said at
the time. ‘He believes that because he walks
around on that ranch down in Crawford with
that big belt buckle that he's standing for
working people.’ In an interview, Edwards
chuckled and said: ‘It's politics. Those kinds
of things happen.’ Representative Richard
A. Gephardt of Missouri deadpanned, ‘We
have filed copyright on 10 phrases.’ He
protested that the administration seems to
have claimed ownership of the phrase ‘shock
and awe’ after the bombing of Iraq, so ‘I'm
trying to come up with phrases I can
copyright.’ The candidates say the byplay
is the product of their frequent joint
appearances, already nearing a dozen for the
year, with five debates still on the way.
They also say it is natural to gravitate
toward similar types of criticism, given their
philosophical differences with Bush and the
Republican Party. In addition, many of the
candidates are seeking advice from the same
people, including former president Bill
Clinton. But the candidates also plead
guilty to a bit of political plagiarism.
Sometimes the loot is an effective turn of
phrase. Other times, it is political policy,
triggering protests from the candidates'
advisers and e-mail exchanges with charges and
countercharges of thievery. Both the
Kerry and Gephardt teams, for
example, have sniped as the candidates have
talked about achieving energy independence by
‘going to the moon here on Earth,’ in
Kerry's words, or through an ‘Apollo
Project’ in the United States, in
Gephardt's phrasing.”(8/19/2003)
… “Claims that
recall madness in California has sucked all
the oxygen out of national politics are
hooey. Thankfully, folks in Iowa are more
high-minded.” – Sentence from the
following account indicating that Wannabe
Madness continues in IA despite
distractions. Headline from Houston
Chronicle: “It’s Iowa, it’s almost time,
get over it” Excerpt from Sunday
commentary by the Chronicle’s Cragg Hines: “While you've
been fixating on the redistricting mess and
checking out those naked pictures of
‘Governor’ Schwarzenegger on the Internet,
I've been tramping through the tall corn in
Iowa to bring you the latest on the race for
the Democratic presidential nomination.
Claims that recall madness in California has
sucked all the oxygen out of national
politics are hooey. Thankfully, folks in
Iowa are more high-minded. The Democratic
race is for real, and no matter if you
insist on finishing a few more trashy novels
before Labor Day, conscientious
fellow-Americans in Iowa are hard at work
sorting out the candidates. Just five
months from Monday night, Iowa Democrats
will shiver and/or slog their way to
caucuses all over the state and start the
nominating process. Don't blink or you'll
miss the rest of it. Within six or seven
weeks (probably by the time that Texas as
well as California, New York and a bunch of
other states hold primaries on March 2) it
is likely to be all over. You have been
warned. Already six of the nine
Democratic candidates seem headed for
no-hope-ville. Iowa appears to be doing its
traditional job of winnowing the field --
perhaps with a vengeance this time around.
Judging by a sampling of candidate outings
last week, only former Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean, former House Democratic Leader
Dick Gephardt of Missouri and Sen.
John Kerry of Massachusetts have a
real shot. This is not wild speculation.
It's what Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and other
Democrats are saying, much to the chagrin of
the remainder of the field, especially
Sens. Bob Graham of Florida and John
Edwards of North Carolina, whose
aides have complained to Vilsack's
office. On a too infrequent trip to Iowa,
Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, only
the party's 2000 vice presidential
candidate, greeted Vilsack with: ‘Hi. I'm a
second-tier candidate.’ The protests
availeth not. ‘It's three. The perception
is correct,’ said David Nagle, former state
Democratic chairman. ‘The one thing that
separates the three is that Dean has
passion.’ Nagle recalled that Theodore White
said he knew John F. Kennedy was going to
win in 1960 when he saw girls along JFK's
motorcades jumping. ‘Dean's the only one
with girls jumping,’ Nagle said (speaking in
metaphor, you understand). The question
is, can Dean keep the girls (and
boys), many of whom are new to politics,
jumping for five months? The test is most
critical for Gephardt, who won the
Iowa caucuses in 1988 (only to crater when
contributions ran out not far down the
campaign trail). He cannot survive a
defeat in Iowa in January. Gephardt
basically acknowledges the daunting
scenario. ‘I'm going to win in Iowa,’ he
said shortly after loading about 100
inch-thick locally bred pork chops on a
medieval-looking grill at the State Fair in
Des Moines last week. Iowa Democrats,
even some who wish Gephardt all the
best, wonder, however, about his dedication
to what could be a political swan song.”(8/19/2003)
…Edwards –
who often appears to be on an issue-a-day pace
– outlines his college loan plan while
wrapping up extensive Iowa tour. Headline
from FOXNews.com: “Edwards Calls for
Revamping College Loans” Excerpt from
report – dateline: Des Moines – by AP
caucus-watcher Mike Glover: “Sen. John
Edwards is calling for revamping the nation's
college loan program, eliminating the role of
banks and making loans directly to students
from the federal government. The North
Carolinian, seeking the Democratic
presidential nomination, believes such a
move would save ‘billions of dollars’ each
year and allow financial assistance to be
provided to an additional 3 million youngsters
every year. ‘We should give the money to
the people who need it the most, our kids,’
Edwards said in remarks prepared for
delivery here Monday. Currently, the federal
government offers subsidies to banks and other
lenders to lower interest rates on student
loans, but the loans are actually made by the
financial institutions. Under Edwards'
plan, the loans would come directly from the
federal government, which also would have to
assume the liability for loans that aren't
repaid. The plan Edwards was releasing does
not carry a specific pricetag, but he said the
money currently being paid to financial
institutions could be shifted to student aid
programs, including his ‘college for everyone’
proposal. Under that package, students who
pass college prep classes and agree to work at
least 10 hours a week would be offered free
tuition at community colleges or public
universities. Edwards said he was
timing his announcement to coincide with the
opening of the new school year. ‘Parents are
getting ready to buy their kids new school
clothes and supplies,’ said Edwards.
‘But for parents and students who are about to
go to college, they're in sticker shock from
the increase in college tuition.’ A sour
economy and budget cuts in states around the
country have forced most colleges to sharply
increase tuition, and Edwards said there
are projections that up to 500,000 students a
year are being forced to forego college
because of rising costs. In addition, Edwards
called for an ending of ‘legacy’ admissions, a
policy where colleges routinely admit the
children of alumni. He said that makes it
tougher for students who are the first in the
family to attend college to gain admission. He
also called for an increase in spending on
Pell Grants, a need-based grant program aimed
at aiding low-income youngsters in financing
college costs. The proposal came as Edwards
wrapped up a six-day bus swing across Iowa,
where precinct caucuses in January open the
presidential nominating season.” (8/20/2003)
… The favorite
media story of the week. When national
political reporters weren’t writing about
Lieberman’s latest attack or slippage in the
polls, they were working the story on John
Edwards’ Big Decision. Over recent days,
newspapers from Boston to Los Angeles – not to
mention North Carolina – have reported their
versions of the Edwards situation. The
DSM Register’s Beaumont joined in yesterday.
Headline from the Register: “Sen. John
Edwards, well-financed but little known, is at
a turning point in his campaign for the 2004
Democratic presidential nomination. Facing
pressure from North Carolina Democrats to
choose between the nomination race and a
Senate re-election bid, Edwards is
airing television ads in Iowa, New Hampshire
and South Carolina in hopes of raising his
profile and poll numbers in the early
nominating states. ‘The Senate seat is
something I know I'm going have to make a
decision about at some point,’ Edwards
said Monday aboard his tour bus titled
‘Solutions Express’ after meeting with
Democrats at the Second Street Cafe in
Ottumwa. ‘I am 100 percent committed to
getting the nomination.’ Edwards begins a
bus trip across New Hampshire Wednesday, like
the six-day trip he wrapped up in Iowa on
Monday, with the belief that he can rally
Democrats to his candidacy if they take time
to learn who he is. Longtime North Carolina
state Rep. Mickey Michaux of Durham said the
longer Edwards waits, the more it hurts the
Democrats' chance of holding the Senate seat.
‘The bottom line is people need to know, and
need to know in a hurry, what he's going to
do,’ said Michaux. ‘I think there are a lot of
folks who feel that way in the party. He
should be making up his mind real, real soon.’
Democratic Senate campaign officials say
privately Edwards, an effective
fund-raiser who won the seat in 1998 largely
without party financial help, may not feel
pressure to decide because he is not beholden
to the party for his election. He has
reported raising nearly $12 million in 2003,
second-most among the nine Democrats seeking
the nomination. He has until late February
to file to run for re-election to the Senate,
but has given no deadline. Edwards
came in fifth in The Des Moines Register's
Iowa Poll last month, with 5 percent of likely
caucusgoers saying he was their first choice.
He has similar numbers in New Hampshire.”(8/20/2003)
… Edwards
introduces his book of policy proposals, but
the Register’s Beaumont wonders why he left
out standard references to his father working
at the mill and his mother working for the
post office? Under the subhead “John
Edwards, now with an office and handy pamphlet
near you,” Beaumont wrote in his online
“Caucus Notebook” column: “Sen. John
Edwards of North Carolina now has 14 Iowa
campaign offices and one shiny new information
guide with details of his policy proposals,
the campaign reported this week.
Undeterred by his 5 percent showing in the Des
Moines Sunday Register's first Iowa Poll of
Democratic caucus activists, Edwards now
has Iowa offices from the Missouri River coast
to Mississippi River coast, from Burlington to
Sioux City, including less common field spots
such as Ottumwa and Fort Dodge. Edwards
also released the booklet Tuesday, 65 pages
with everything from his recently announced
health care plan to the rural economic
initiative he outlined in Iowa in May. It
even has a letter from Edwards that reads
remarkably like an abbreviated version of
Edwards' stump speech, complete with a
reference to ‘growing up in a small town in
North Carolina.’ No mention of the mill or
the post office. Maybe that's in the sequel.”(8/20/2003)
… Edwards trying to
build a political firewall between the early
nominating contests and the later Southern
states. Headline from yesterday’s Chicago
Tribune: “Edwards seeks a bounce…Anointed
the ‘sexiest politician in America’ early in
the race, the senator from North Carolina now
needs a political comeback to remain a
contender for the Democratic presidential
nomination” Excerpt from report – datelined
Richmond – by the Trib’s Jeff Zeleny: “The
most admired fresh face in the presidential
race once belonged to Sen. John Edwards, who
downplayed being anointed People magazine's
‘sexiest politician in America’ while telling
Democrats that his charisma and Southern roots
could win back the White House. But the
ascending candidacy of former Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean, as well as a crowded field
of nine contenders, has complicated the
political path for Edwards. Suddenly,
after spending a year convincing party leaders
that he was presidential material, the
North Carolina senator is fending off
suggestions that his campaign has gone dormant
and that he is having second thoughts about
the race. ‘It's a fantasy. It's not true,’
Edwards said in an interview, exasperated
by reports he might shelve his presidential
ambitions and seek another term in the Senate
next year. ‘I am 100 percent committed to this
race for the presidency and I am in it to the
end.’ The lifeline for Edwards may rest in
Virginia and a collection of other Southern
states, which for the first time are playing a
pivotal role in the presidential nominating
season. The traditional early-balloting
states of Iowa and New Hampshire are followed
by primary elections in South Carolina,
Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma, where
Edwards hopes he can build a February firewall
that would sustain his campaign until a
nominee is chosen. So this week, between
the conclusion of a six-day bus tour in Iowa
and the opening day of a similar journey
across New Hampshire, Edwards made a quick
visit to Richmond to pursue a Plan B strategy.
He hopes to gain ground on rivals who so far
have edged him out of the first, second and
third positions in the opening states of the
2004 presidential campaign. ‘If he's going
to make the argument that he's going to win,
he has to show that he can take Southern
states,’ said Jim Nachman, a Richmond
lawyer who heard Edwards speak at a
Capital Club breakfast reception Wednesday.
‘It's not lost on me that the past three
Democratic presidents were from the South.’
The fact that Edwards hails from the same side
of the Mason-Dixon Line as Lyndon Johnson,
Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton has been one of
the strongest selling points of an otherwise
unlikely presidential bid for Edwards, who has
yet to complete his first term in the Senate.
In fact, among the Democratic candidates, only
Al Sharpton has less experience in
elective office. But after raising more money
than any other candidate during the first
three months of the year, Edwards now has
embarked on an aggressive plan to
introduce--and in some cases
reintroduce--himself to voters in the early
states. To regain its footing, the
campaign has purchased more than $1 million in
advertisements in Iowa, New Hampshire and
South Carolina, telling his son-of-a-millworker-makes-good
tale. The aggressive television push, coming
before Labor Day when political campaigns
traditionally intensify, underscores the
urgent concern for Edwards. Polls
routinely show him near the bottom of the
field, registering only 2 percent in a New
Hampshire survey last week and 5 percent in
the Iowa Poll in late July. While Edwards
disagrees that there is an 11th-hour urgency
to his campaign, he concedes that the coming
months are critical if his presidential
aspirations are to continue. ‘My job is to
make sure they touch me and see me,’
Edwards said last week, as Iowa corn and
soybean fields passed by the windows of his
campaign bus. ‘Over the next three
months--August, September, October, maybe into
November--I need to be moving.’ Few voters and
Democratic activists are paying careful
attention to the candidates or the campaign
this early in the race. But several of
Edwards' admirers said privately that the
momentum built by Dean, Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts and Rep. Richard Gephardt of
Missouri are troubling and may be difficult to
overcome.”(8/22/2003)
… Former
Iowa “Governor” Fulton supports Edwards while
Dean gets backing of former Marines Corps
commandant. From Associated Press roundup
report: “Trying to shore up his lack of
military expertise, presidential candidate
Howard Dean announced Thursday that he has
been endorsed by former Gen. Joseph P. Hoar,
former commandant of the Marine Corps and
the successor to Norman Schwartzkopf as head
of U.S. Central Command. The former Vermont
governor has been a vehement critic of the war
in Iraq but that position, and his lack of
foreign policy experience, have raised
questions about his ability to convince voters
that he could lead the U.S. military.
Meanwhile, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards
said his campaign for president has been
endorsed by 210 Democratic activists in Iowa,
including former Iowa Gov. Robert Fulton.”
(8/22/2003)
… Between
bus tours of Iowa and New Hampshire, Edwards
stops in Virginia to deliver attack on GWB.
Headline from Wednesday’s News & Observer:
“Edwards bashes Bush on jobs, civil
liberties” Excerpt of report from Richmond
by AP’s Bob Lewis: “Democratic presidential
candidate John Edwards criticized President
Bush on the issues of civil liberties and job
creation Tuesday, accusing the president of
turning his back on factory workers and giving
companies incentives to leave the United
States. Edwards cited thousands of
job losses when Pillowtex closed factories in
North Carolina and Virginia last month. ‘The
best way for us to make sure we have an
economic recovery is to make sure George W.
Bush gets another job next year,’ Edwards
told about 100 people at a morning campaign
gathering in downtown Richmond… Edwards
said the Bush administration was more
interested in the welfare of chief executives
than workers and was actually providing
incentives for manufacturers to move their
operations overseas. ‘The last thing we
need to be doing is giving our companies a
reason to leave America,’ Edwards said
in advocating creation of a national venture
capital fund that would provide inducements to
help companies such as Pillowtex to keep their
operations in small American towns. Shawn
Smith, spokesman for the state Republican
Party, said most Virginians ‘support the
president's plan to strengthen the economy and
create jobs by allowing taxpayers to keep and
invest more of their own money. John Edwards
has no solutions other than to be critical of
the president.’ Edwards also
alleged that the Bush administration and
Attorney General John Ashcroft had weakened
protections for civil liberties as a result of
the anti-terrorism Patriot Act. ‘We cannot
allow people like John Ashcroft to take away
our rights,’ Edwards said as the crowd clapped
loudly and some shouted, ‘Amen!’ Said
Smith: ‘John Edwards' scare tactics will not
take away from the intent of the Patriot Act -
to protect our citizens from another terror
attack.’”(8/22/2003)
… “Edwards:
Upgrade grid to improve home security” –
headline from Friday’s The Union Leader.
Excerpt from AP report from Newington: “Presidential
hopeful John Edwards said Thursday that
upgrading the nation’s power system and ending
market manipulation will strengthen homeland
security. Edwards outlined his
plan for better homeland security and
emergency preparedness at a parking lot near
Newington’s fossil-fuel power plant. The
press conference was part of a 29-stop,
six-day bus tour to woo more New Hampshire
voters before the tentatively set primary on
Jan. 27. Calling last week’s blackout a
‘call to action’, the senator from North
Carolina said lawmakers need to pass mandatory
reliability standards for the nation’s power
grids. Edwards also proposed giving $50
billion to state and local governments, $10
billion of which would be designated for
firefighters, policemen and emergency medical
technicians in local communities. State
and local governments would have a ‘fair
amount of discretion’ on spending the
remaining $40 billion, which is intended to
prevent cuts to education and first-responder
departments. Improving the energy system and
investing money in local governments are just
two ways Edwards said he will improve
emergency preparedness. Edwards wants to
strip the FBI of domestic intelligence duties
and create a Homeland Intelligence Agency, he
said, returning to an earlier campaign pledge.
‘(FBI agents) are structurally, poorly
prepared for fighting terrorism here at home,’
Edwards said, adding he would
supplement his intelligence agency with a
‘watchdog office’ to protect civil liberties.
Better neighborhood watch programs, reliable
emergency warning systems and more security
for attractive terror targets like stadiums
and skyscrapers is also needed, he said. He
also targeted the chemical industry as a major
flaw in homeland security. ‘We have 123
chemical plants in America, any one of which —
if subjected to a terrorist attack — that
could mean one million lives or more,’
Edwards said, pledging to stop ‘special
interests’ like the chemical industry.”
(8/24/2003)
… Edwards –
like Graham – faces another obstacle in
getting message about candidacy to Dem voters.
Question about whether he’ll abandon pres bid
for Senate re-election haunts him wherever he
goes, including New Hampshire. Headline
from Friday’s News and Observer in Raleigh: “Edwards
quizzed about Senate” The N&O’s Washington
correspondent, John Wagner, reports from
Durham, NH: “U.S. Sen. John Edwards'
indecision over whether to seek re-election in
2004 has been an issue back home for some
time. But the subject is starting to echo on
the presidential campaign trail. On
Thursday, Edwards was questioned
pointedly about his election plans while
holding a meeting at a restaurant here. A
questioner wanted to know how the North
Carolina Democrat could be running in both
2004 races at once. ‘I'm running for
president,’ Edwards said. ‘That's all I'm
doing. What I'm doing is 100 percent running
for president. ... I'm not doing anything
to run for the Senate seat.’ Despite such
declarations, Edwards has yet to
foreclose the possibility of returning to the
Senate race. Nor has he publicly given his
blessing to other Democrats to start
campaigning for his seat. His questioner here
-- who later identified himself as a Carrboro
resident who happened to be visiting New
Hampshire -- said he fears that Edwards'
delay could jeopardize the Democratic Party's
chances of keeping the seat. ‘I disagree with
you, and I know North Carolina well,’
Edwards told the man, Donald Esterling .
Esterling later volunteered that he had
given money to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean,
one of Edwards' 2004 presidential
rivals. The exchange came just days after Iowa
reporters grilled Edwards about his
intentions during a campaign stop in Des
Moines, Iowa. At that event, a picnic that
drew an enthusiastic crowd of more than 200
people, Edwards dismissed the notion
that he was considering withdrawing from the
presidential race as ‘fantasy.’…’I am totally
in this race to stay,’ Edwards said.
Campaign aides have been pleased with the size
and enthusiasm of crowds drawn by Edwards in
the past week -- a sign, they hope, that
Edwards is starting to gain traction…Meanwhile,
Edwards' dilemma about his Senate seat has
been highlighted in newspaper stories this
week in The New York Times and the Boston
Globe, the latter of which circulates in New
Hampshire. George Stephanopoulos and a
crew from his Sunday morning ABC News program
were on hand here to witness Thursday's
exchange.”(8/24/2003)
… Edwards
takes on No Child Left Behind Act, opposes
vouchers and expresses reservations about
charter schools during New Hampshire tour.
Headline from yesterday’s The Union Leader: “In
Franklin, Edwards criticizes charter schools”
An excerpt: “Democratic Presidential hopeful
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina
told a small but enthusiastic group at the
Franklin Diner yesterday that he opposes
school voucher programs and has serious doubts
that charter schools will improve education.
‘I doubt that charter schools can be used to
regenerate our educational system,’ said
Edwards, who believes a better approach
would be to focus on improving public schools.
The state Board of Education earlier this week
gave a green light to the proposed Franklin
Career Academy, which a group of business
leaders hopes to open by January. It would be
the state’s first charter school. Edwards
told the approximately 20 people in attendance
that he also has reservations about
accountability of charter schools, which
operate independently of the public school
system and don’t have to follow the same
standards. Discussing Bush administration
policies, Edwards accused the President
of shifting the tax burden to local
communities through the No Child Left Behind
Act. He also said the administration was
dragging its feet on a prescription drug
benefit program for the elderly and on other
social programs. ‘They give tax cuts to
people at the top and now say that there’s no
money for the programs that people need,’ he
said. Edwards also blasted the
Pentagon’s plan to reduce combat pay for those
serving in Iraq and said that the nation needs
a President ‘who comes from the same world as
other Americans,’ pointing out that he is the
son of a millworker while Bush comes from a
wealthy family.” (8/24/2003)
… Edwards
to announce expanded Iowa TV schedule today –
adding Sioux City, Ottumwa and Mason City to
current buys. Excerpt from report in
today’s The Union Leader by AP’s Iowa
caucus-watcher Mike Glover: “North Carolina
Sen. John Edwards has decided to expand his
television advertising drive in Iowa and is
throwing a new commercial into the mix
stressing his rural roots. Campaign
officials plan to announce Monday that
Edwards will begin airing the commercial in
Sioux City, Mason City and Ottumwa,
supplementing spots currently running in
Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. The
new commercial will feature a 60-second spot
with Edwards stressing his ties to
Robbins, N.C., a tiny town where he grew up.
‘Our small towns and rural areas are hurting
and Washington doesn't seem to care,’
Edwards said in a simple spot featuring
him talking directly to the camera. Campaign
aides put no price tag on the expanded effort,
but backers said it's yet another sign that
Edwards intends to compete hard in Iowa's
precinct caucuses. ‘We have a strong
infrastructure in place and these ads will
help us build on Senator Edwards'
growing support,’ said Des Moines lawyer Rob
Tully, one of the chairmen of Edwards'
campaign in Iowa. Edwards became the
second Democratic presidential candidate to
begin airing spots in Iowa when he launched
the latest effort. Former Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean has already aired spots in the
state. Most polls have shown Dean and
Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt bunched
tightly near the top of the race for the
state's leadoff precinct caucuses in January.
Those polls have also shown Massachusetts Sen.
John Kerry with significant support,
while Edwards has generally languished in
the single digits. Some have wondered about
the strength of Edwards' commitment to
campaigning in the state - worries that grew
when Edwards announced plans to hold 100 town
meetings in New Hampshire. Critics have
suggested Edwards can't meet that schedule and
still run an active campaign in Iowa.
Edwards has rejected that, and pointed to
a stepped up level of activity in his
campaign. He just completed a showy six-day
bus trip that took him to 19 counties in the
state and he released a list of 210 activists
who have endorsed his campaign. The expanded
television buy to be announced Monday is
further evidence Edwards intends to be
a serious player, aides said.”(8/25/2003)
… Edwards,
on New Hampshire bus tour, setting accelerated
pace, says he’ll hold 100 town meetings in
state before January vote. Excerpt from
report by the Concord Monitor: “Helen
Dabilis was about to fit a pair of sneakers on
the feet of a young customer at Alec's Shoe
Store in Nashua when a hurricane entered the
store. And this being New Hampshire in primary
season, there was a presidential candidate at
the center of the hurricane. Sen. John
Edwards of North Carolina, surrounded by a
scrum of television cameras and journalists,
strode towards the store's fitting area. ‘I
see him on TV,’ said Dabilis, who's worked at
the shoe store for 40 years. ‘He's pretty
good.’ She paused. ‘But I see more of Dean.
He better get more exposure,’ she said of
Edwards. ‘Tell him to get out there.’
Edwards followed that advice to a T
yesterday, as he shook hands and squeezed
shoulders along Main Street in Nashua, spoke
to the employees of an engineering company in
Concord and offered a free barbecue (300 hot
dogs and hamburgers in less than two hours) in
Manchester. It was the first day in a nearly
week-long swing through New Hampshire that
will take the candidate to 30 cities and
towns. And that's just the beginning.
Edwards said yesterday that he planned to hold
100 town hall-style forums in the state before
the presidential primary in January. ‘I
want to make sure not only that I get a chance
to talk to as many voters as possible here in
New Hampshire but also that I get a chance to
hear from voters,’ Edwards said
yesterday. That intense schedule mimics the
format used by Sen. John McCain four years ago
to win the state's Republican primary. In
the months before the 2000 vote, McCain held
more than 100 town hall forums across New
Hampshire. But Edwards will have to work
hard to repeat McCain's success here.
Edwards and his aides say once the candidate
begins to speak to more voters one-on-one,
they will like what they hear. And more forums
will provide just such an opportunity.”(8/25/2003)
… Edwards
takes on controversial USDA Under Secretary –
and Iowan – Dorr over rural policy criticisms.
Headline from Monday’s letters to the
editor in the Des Moines Register: “Edwards:
Dorr misstated my plan” Excerpt from
Edwards’ letter: “Thomas Dorr's July 25
opinion piece (‘USDA Programs Make Our Rural
Regions Stronger’) contained several errors.
First, he mischaracterized my plan to create a
rural business capital fund by implying this
fund would take the place of other measures
enacted in Senator Tom Harkin's 2002
farm bill. As President Bush's appointee to
oversee rural programs at the Agriculture
Department, Dorr should know better than
anyone that my plan would be in addition to
other measures, such as funding for rural
housing and alternative-fuel programs. My
proposed Rural Economic Advantage Challenge
(REACH) fund will invest $1 billion to bring
investors from cities together with
entrepreneurs in small towns, offer training
and support to these businesspeople, and put
businesses into networks to help them succeed
together. Second, Dorr implied that the
Bush administration has been implementing
rural-development measures in Harkin's farm
bill, but nothing could be further from the
truth. In fact, President Bush's budget
eliminated the Rural Education Achievement
program, which helps smaller schools buy
computers and school buses, and cut the farm
bill's support for rural broadband Internet
service, which our farmers and small-town
businesses need to compete. Lastly, Dorr
failed to point out that he is a Bush
appointee, and fails to explain why a Bush
appointee is taking the time to attack a
Democrat running for president. Maybe it's
because an Edwards administration would
represent the values of small-town and rural
America, because that's where I grew up.
President Bush comes from a different place,
and seems content to help the special
interests at the expense of the family farm. –
Senator John Edwards, Raleigh, N. C.
[Editor’s Note: Dorr’s nomination as Under
Secretary of Rural Development was opposed by
Harkin. Dorr is from Marcus.)(8/27/2003)
… “Edwards
vows to fight powergrid improvement rush”
– headline from yesterday’s Union Leader.
Dean wraps up New Hampshire bus tour with a
commitment to protect public health during
effort to expand power plant modernization.
Excerpt from report – datelined Concord –
by AP’s Holly Ramer: “Democratic
presidential hopeful John Edwards said Monday
he will fight to protect public health as the
Environmental Protection Agency prepares to
allow some power plants to modernize without
adding more pollution controls. Speaking
at a diner crowded with breakfast customers,
Edwards accused the Bush administration
of taking the life out of the 1977 Clean Air
Act by supporting a new rule the EPA is
expected to issue this week. The rule relaxes
the agency's definition of ‘routine
maintenance,’ a catch-phrase describing the
only reason an industry could modernize
without having to install best-available
pollution control technology. The Bush
administration and industry officials
characterize the changes as clarifications of
a confusing standard and say the new rules
would encourage emissions reductions by giving
utilities new flexibility. But Edwards and
other critics say the change will allow
coal-burning plants and other facilities to
release millions of tons of additional
pollution into the air. ‘The least you can
do is have somebody, the NIH or CDC, look at
what effect it's going to have on public
health,’ Edwards said, referring to the
National Institutes of Health and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. ‘I think
they refused to do it because they know what
the answer would be.’ Earlier this year,
Edwards co-sponsored an attempt to delay
the rule so experts could study how the change
would affect public health. That failed, but
he said he will keep trying. ‘I'm going to
attach this amendment to everything I can
find,’ he said. The restaurant was the last
stop the senator from North Carolina made in
his six-day bus tour of the state.”(8/27/2003)
… “Edwards:
Best for control of Congress”
– headline from the News & Observer of
Raleigh.
Edwards
contends he’d lead Dems back to congressional
success – but doesn’t name other wannabes that
Dem candidates might not want campaigning for
them in ’04.
Excerpt from report by the N&O’s John Wagner:
“U.S.
Sen. John Edwards argued Tuesday that
Democrats are most likely to make gains in the
U.S. House and Senate in 2004 if he is the
party's presidential nominee.
During an appearance at the University of
South Carolina Law Center, Edwards
said congressional candidates in all parts of
the country would want him to campaign for
them during the general election -- which may
not be the case with some of Democratic
rivals. He did not mention any other
candidates by name. ‘Democrats need to not
only take back the White House but also the
House and Senate,’ Edwards told a crowd
of about 200 people, many of whom were law
students. In response to a question,
Edwards also relayed his plan to create
panels to pre-screen medical malpractice
lawsuits and to hold lawyers financially
responsible if they file frivolous cases.
‘Those of us in the legal profession, we carry
a responsibility,’ Edwards said. The
gathering was the second in a series of
town-hall-style meetings Edwards held
in South Carolina, an early presidential
primary state, on Monday and Tuesday. The
final meeting was late Tuesday afternoon in
Greenville, S.C.”(8/29/2003)
… “Edwards
blasts Bush at town meeting…Democratic
hopeful says president lacks compassion for
ordinary citizens.” – headline from
Wednesday’s The State in Columbia, SC. Excerpt
from report by The State’s veteran political
reporter Lee Bandy: “Democratic
presidential hopeful John Edwards unleashed a
blistering attack Tuesday on President Bush,
saying he lacks compassion for ordinary
citizens and is too arrogant to seek
international help in war-torn Iraq.
During a town-hall meeting at the USC School
of Law, the Seneca native also said Bush's
economic policies built around tax cuts are
bankrupting the country. ‘I thought when
President Bush's father was president, things
couldn't get much worse; this fellow is making
his father look pretty good,’ Edwards,
50, told a standing-room-only crowd of 200,
mostly law school students, jammed into a
lecture room…Edwards, a U.S. senator
from North Carolina, spoke for about 20
minutes and then fielded questions from the
audience for nearly an hour. ‘This president
does not come from the same place that most of
us come from, and as a result, he does not
view the things the way most of us do,’
Edwards said. ‘If I were to describe what
I think is the fundamental difference between
George Bush and most of us, it's really pretty
simple. What he honors and respects is really
one thing, and one thing only -- wealth.’
State Republican Chairman Katon Dawson said
Edwards does not tell his audiences his plan
for creating jobs calls for a tax increase.
‘Call me crazy, but I don't think taking
several hundred dollars out of the wallets of
hard-working moms and dads is the best way to
get our economy growing,’ Dawson said.
Edwards delivered his basic stump
speech with a few new twists. He
repeatedly attacked Bush's trade policies,
blaming them for the loss of 3 million U.S.
jobs. He mentioned South Carolina's 7 percent
jobless rate, the highest in nine years, and
laid the blame squarely at Bush's feet. ‘It's
devastating, and this president is not going
to do anything about it,’ Edwards said.
The loss of jobs in South Carolina and closing
of textile plants due to rising foreign
competition are starting to cause voters to
question Bush's economic policies, a
development that could portend trouble for the
president even in a Republican-leaning state
like South Carolina. Edwards ridiculed a
recent White House statement characterizing
the current situation as a ‘jobless economic
recovery.’…’I don't know where the
president grew up, but where I come from,
there is no such thing as an economic recovery
without jobs,’ he said. ‘The best way for us
to have real economic recovery is to make sure
George Bush gets another job in 2004.’”(8/29/2003)
… Des Moines
Register political ace David Yepsen warns
Kerry might not withstand a Dean win in Iowa,
says it may be time for Edwards and Graham to
get “gut checks” and notes that it’s “getting
pretty late” for Clark to join the fun.
Excerpt from column on CNN.com by “Inside
Politics” anchor Judy Woodruff: “David Yepsen,
veteran Des Moines Register reporter and
political watcher, appearing on Friday's CNN's
‘Inside Politics,’ told me that he sees
Dean building a slight lead over Gephardt.
Yepsen believes a Dean win in Iowa could
prove costly to another rival, Kerry, down the
road. ‘The candidate who wins Iowa
automatically gets a 8- to 10-point bump in
the state of New Hampshire, where Dean
is already leading Kerry by, in some
polls, double-digit margins,’ he said. ‘So
I don't know that Kerry could withstand Dean
winning here because it would just have a real
multiplier effect in New Hampshire.’
Yepsen also said that Sens. Bob Graham,
D-Florida, and John Edwards, D-North Carolina,
might be due for a ‘gut check’ after spending
considerable time and resources in the state,
but failing to register any movement the polls…And
what about a possible tenth member for the '04
Democratic field? Yepsen says it's still
possible for former NATO Supreme Allied
Commander Wesley Clark, who is weighing a run,
to throw his hat in the ring. ‘Fifteen
percent say they're undecided, so there's room
for General Clark to get an audience,
but it's getting pretty late.’ In a sign that
some Democrats can't let go of the regular
fall campaign marker, Kerry and
Edwards scheduled official campaign
‘announcements’ for September 2 and September
16 respectively. Some political traditions
never die.” (8/31/2003)
Edwards
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