Bonior in charge of Edwards campaign
By NICOLE GERRING
Times Herald
David Bonior, a longtime Michigan congressman and advocate of organized labor and the middle class, will lead John Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign.
Bonior, 61, was a Democratic representative in the state House from 1973 to 1977 and a U.S. Congress representative from 1977 and 2003.
In 2002, he ran as a gubernatorial candidate and lost in the Democratic primary against Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Edwards, a former North Carolina senator and 2004 running mate to presidential candidate John Kerry, announced his intentions to run for president in late December.
A fundraising e-mail for Edwards' campaign sent last week by Bonior used strong language to reject Bush's contention that Congress could not stop the troop surge in Iraq.
"That's bull," Bonior wrote to members of the John Edwards for President e-mail list. "I served in Congress for 26 years, and I can assure you that Congress does have the power to stop this escalation - and it has used that power many times before, including in Vietnam, Lebanon, Nicaragua and Colombia."
The John Edwards for President Web site allows viewers to sign a petition calling on Congress to halt the troop surge. More than 70,000 Americans have signed the petition, Bonior said.
Bonior took a leave from teaching labor studies and politics at Wayne State University in Detroit and moved from Mt. Clemens to Chapel Hill, N.C., where he is organizing volunteers and raising money to boost awareness of Edwards' campaign.
Michigan residents have priorities similar to all Americans, Bonior said.
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