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Politics : John EDWARDS for President -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (1364)	1/1/2007 9:42:16 AM
From: Tom Clarke	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1381

Edwards' 2008 bid brings out old supporters, new crowds JIM DAVENPORT Associated Press WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. - John Edwards is using the same team he used in 2004 to win South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary, but the former North Carolina senator knows he can't sneak up on his opponents in 2008. When Edwards showed up at an event here Saturday as part of his six-state presidential campaign launch, he was greeted by an unexpectedly large group - about 1,800 people. "People know who I am now," Edwards said Saturday after the West Columbia town-hall meeting. "Large numbers of people are going to show up, but I want to continue having this kind of event." It was the kind of campaigning he did in 2004, when the former U.S. senator who was born near Seneca won 45 percent of the primary vote compared with eventual nominee John Kerry's 30 percent. Edwards' notoriety is not the only thing that will be different in a 2008 campaign. South Carolina's role in helping choose the Democratic nominee will be more prominent as it hosts the party's fourth presidential contest. Anyone looking to win in South Carolina will have to win the approval of black voters who make up half the state's Democratic voters. Edwards' event Saturday was held at Brookland Baptist Church - one of the state's largest black churches - but less than half the crowd at the event was black. That could play big if U.S. Sen. Barak Obama of Illinois decides to run. At Saturday's kickoff, Luevera Caeser said she voted for Edwards in 2004 and would support him in 2008 - unless Obama runs. "If Barak Obama runs for president, I'm behind him," said Caeser, who is black. "He's an African-American man and we're long overdue." Still, she said, she wouldn't mind an Edwards-Obama or Obama-Edwards ticket. Edwards is using many of the same organizers who helped him win here in 2004. Columbia lawyer John Moylan is reprising his role running Edwards' South Carolina campaign, but Moylan says this time there is more interest early from volunteers who want to work on the campaign. "I would rather be John Edwards with our organization than any other candidate in this state by far," Moylan said. Since Edwards announcement, Moylan said Columbia Mayor Bob Coble and state Senate Democratic Leader John Land signed on for the second race. "I'm absolutely for Edwards," Coble said, adding that he was "impressed with his making the fight against poverty more of a centerpiece of his campaign." Land said "the country made a bad mistake not nominating him" in 2004. "He just brings a fresh approach to this whole country." Barnwell lawyer Terry Richardson, one of the state's wealthiest trial lawyers, said Saturday that he's backing Edwards again. In 2004, Edwards got his campaign off the ground with donations from lawyers like Land and Richardson. His "base of support this time is tenfold what it was four years ago. He's in a very different place - a very different starting place," Moylan said. His competition also will be very different, with Obama and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York potential candidates. Edwards says he wants others to run if they want to serve like he does. "I want the best human beings possible to run for president of the United States," Edwards said last week. Other potential Democratic candidates include New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, retired Gen. Wesley Clark and U.S. Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kerry of Massachusetts. Former Vice President Al Gore, who lost to George W. Bush in 2000, says he has no plans to run. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich have already announced that they are running in 2008. thestate.com

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (1364)	1/16/2007 9:03:09 AM
From: Ron	Respond to of 1381

EDWARDS echoes King's anti-war message By BETH FOUHY Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John EDWARDS called on Americans to resist President Bush's planned troop escalation in Iraq, echoing a plea by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 40 years ago to end the Vietnam War. EDWARDS addressed about 1,200 parishioners Sunday at Riverside Church, a multiracial, politically active Manhattan congregation where King delivered his famous "Beyond Vietnam" speech on April 4, 1967. King was assassinated exactly one year later. EDWARDS spoke from the same wooden pulpit King used and was introduced by King's son, Martin Luther King III. The younger King said his father would have admired EDWARDS' commitment to fighting poverty. The former North Carolina senator and 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee touched on poverty issues in his speech, as well as AIDS in Africa, energy independence and a proposed boost in the minimum wage. But he saved his strongest words for the troop increase in Iraq, invoking King's condemnation of the Vietnam War as a betrayal of American values. "Silence is betrayal, and I believe it is a betrayal not to speak out against the escalation of the war in Iraq," EDWARDS said to a sustained standing ovation. It was a high-profile appearance for EDWARDS on the home turf of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner who has been decidedly more cautious in speaking out against the war and the proposed troop escalation. Several of Clinton's allies attended the EDWARDS speech, including fellow New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who has already endorsed Clinton's likely presidential bid. Clinton spent the Martin Luther King holiday weekend traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan. Two other Democratic presidential hopefuls, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, attended King remembrances in South Carolina. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who could join the presidential field as early as this week, was observing the holiday weekend with low-key appearances in Chicago. Underscoring his previous calls for a troop rollback in Iraq, Dodd said Sunday at a memorial service in Greenville, S.C., "It is time now that we say we have done enough." EDWARDS, who declared his candidacy in late December, said Americans must not wait for a change in presidential leadership to demand that American forces be drawn down in Iraq. Bush announced last week he would send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq in an effort to stabilize the war-torn country; EDWARDS has called for 40,000-50,000 to be removed. "We need to show we are serious about leaving, and the best way to do that is to start leaving," he said to applause. EDWARDS voted in 2002 to authorize military action in Iraq, as did Clinton, Biden, and Dodd. All but Clinton have forcefully recanted their votes. EDWARDS also called on Congress to withhold funding for the troop increase, echoing a proposal announced last week by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy. Kennedy's plan has been embraced by some other Democrats, including Dodd, but viewed warily by others who see it as unworkable and potentially harmful to troops already serving in Iraq. Clinton and Obama are among those who have not yet indicated they would support Kennedy's approach. tinyurl.com