|
 John
Edwards
 excerpts
from
the Iowa Daily Report
June
2003
Headline
from today’s Omaha World-Herald online: “Bush
hasn’t thought about needs of rural America,
Democrat says” World-Herald staff writer
Rick Ruggles wrote that “Edwards, a
self-described champion of common folk, laid
out his plan to revitalize rural America
during a stop Saturday in Council Bluffs.
The U. S. senator from North Carolina told
about 65 supporters in a Travelodge meeting
room that merely because President Bush
‘walks around on the ranch in Texas wearing
a big belt buckle,’ that doesn’t mean he
has any feel for rural America…He
pledged Saturday to ‘take the fight right at
George W. Bush in the toughest possible
way.’ Edwards, an attorney, said his
message wasn’t concocted by consultants.
‘This comes from right here,’ he said,
putting his hand on his chest.” (6/1/2003)
The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported yesterday
that “Edwards, speaking before labor
activists under a drizzly sky yesterday, found
a welcome audience for what has become his
stock presidential campaign pitch: He’s a
man of humble roots who would, if elected, be
‘the most powerful champion’ for working
people the White House had ever seen.
Repeatedly hitting his populist theme, Edwards,
a Democrat, thumped President Bush for
being out of touch with the plight of people
who might lose their jobs because of a
faltering economy – ‘the Bush
recession,’ as he termed it. ‘Let me
tell you something about President Bush,’ Edwards
said. ‘He doesn’t come from you, he
doesn’t understand you, he has absolutely
no idea what your lives are like.’… Edwards,
wearing a red, white and blue ‘Machinists
Union’ jacket, said it was vital to rebuild
the country’s manufacturing base. As
president, he said, he would do that by
budgeting $50 billion to state and local
governments to expand the nation’s
manufacturing base, pushing for ‘fair
trade’ agreements to protect American jobs
and giving businesses tax incentives to keep
those jobs from being exported. Edwards
also hit corporate executives, saying their
salaries have unfairly risen exponentially
faster than those of average workers. ‘We
are going to democratize the corporate
boardrooms of America,’ he
said.” (6/1/2003)
Weekend
report: Several media outlets – including
The Union Leader in New Hampshire and the News
& Observer of Raleigh in Edwards’ home
state – reported that the American
Conservative Union (ACU) has filed a complaint
against the North Carolina senator with the
FEC. The Union Leader carried an
Associated Press dispatch that said the ACU
called Edwards “a ‘petty
criminal’ for accepting
questionable campaign donations.”(The
ACU news release actually described Edwards
as “a petty criminal and a major-league
hypocrite.”) The complaint stems from
earlier news accounts – reported in previous
Iowa Pres Watch Daily Reports and already
under investigation by the Justice Department
– of $10,000 in contributions the Edwards
campaign received from low-level employees at
a Little Rock area law firm. The News
& Observer (and the ACU website) quoted
ACU chairman David Keene as saying: “He (Edwards)
and the people who put together this scheme
are lawyers and can have no excuse whatever
for their acts. It’s our hope that the
FEC will take appropriate action and that the
public will treat the man as a hypocrite
he’s shown himself to be.” The News
& Observer quoted Edwards campaign
spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri as saying the
ACU complaint was “just the latest in a
series of baseless partisan attacks against
Senator Edwards from Republican groups
allied with President Bush…Republicans
continue these attacks because even they admit
that Edwards is the Democratic candidate most
likely to deny Bush four more years of
ignoring the problems facing real Americans.” (6/2/2003)
From
Register’s coverage of the Edwards visit
to western IA over the weekend: Headline –
“Edwards admits concerns on Iraq”
Excerpt from Beaumont’s coverage, datelined
out of Sioux City: “Democratic
presidential candidate John Edwards said
Saturday that he was troubled by the failure
of the U.S. forces to uncover weapons of mass
destruction in postwar Iraq. The U.S. senator
from North Carolina, while campaigning in
western Iowa, added his voice to the growing
chorus of concern among Democrats who
supported the war but now wonder whether they
were misled. ‘I think people in this
country are entitled to an explanation,’ Edwards
told about 50 western Iowa Democrats
Saturday morning in Council Bluffs.
‘Do we have intelligence information that is
inaccurate? Was there a distortion of
information?’…Edwards, a member of
the Senate Intelligence Committee, acknowledged
that the search for chemical and biological
weapons in Iraq was unfinished. ‘I think
we have to finish the process of looking and
seeing what may be there that we don’t know
about now,’ Edwards later told about
50 Democrats in Sioux City. ‘Then we
have to determine whether there is a
disconnect between what we were being
told…and what turns out to be true.’” (6/2/2003)
Iowa
Pres Watch Note: The rapidly developing
question is whether any of the Dem wannabes
will pass through IA between now and January
without a Register headline about the Iraq
situation? While other media outlets have
stressed comments by the wannabes on several
issues – such as Edwards’ emphasis on
his rural development plan in Council Bluffs –
the Register has continued to focus on the
Iraq war and the wannabes’ postwar
criticisms of the Bush administration.
Example: Also over the weekend, the Register
highlighted Kerry’s comments on Iraq
while other media outlets in the state
headlined his focus on veterans’ benefits,
his national health care proposal and his
national service plan. (6/2/2003)
Although the
Dem wannabes are expected to be unanimous in
their opposition to yesterday’s FCC ruling on
the territorial rights of broadcasters and
publishers, Edwards jumped on the Federal
Communications Commission’s actions first
by saying he’d cosponsor legislation to
reverse the decision. A news release posted on
the Edwards campaign website said the
senator “criticized an anti-consumer decision
by a divided Federal Communications Commission
to let national broadcasting networks own and
operate television and radio stations. Senator
Edwards said he will cosponsor
legislation to undo the controversial decision
that would permit the big television networks
to own local stations that collectively reach
up to 45 percent of the nation’s viewing
audience… ’The decision by President’s
Bush’s allies on the FCC exemplifies
everything that is wrong with this
administration,’ Senator Edwards said, ‘The
FCC has ignored the public’s will and the
public interest to enact a massive giveaway of
public resources to a few privileged insiders.
The result will be good for this
administration’s friends, but bad for free
expression, bad for American democracy and bad
for the forgotten corners of rural America.”
(6/3/2003)
Happy
Birthday, John Edwards. The News &
Observer of Raleigh reports that Edwards
has “scheduled a pair of home-state
presidential fundraising events next weekend
to commemorate his 50th birthday.
The North Carolina Democrat is scheduled to
appear in Charlotte Friday night at a
restaurant called The Flying Saucer.
Entertainment will be provided by a band
called Fantasy. The action moves to Raleigh on
Saturday where Edwards hosts an event
at his campaign headquarters. Dean Smith, the
former basketball coach at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is scheduled to
appear. Music will be served up by a band
called Liquid Pleasure.” (6/3/2003)
Headline from
yesterday’s The Union Leader: “Edwards
credits Bush for strong 9-11 response”
Datelined Concord, the story reported that
Edwards said “good things Monday about two
Republican presidents, including the
incumbent. On a radio call-in show, Edwards
credited President Bush with responding
well and showing strength after the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. But, Edwards said,
‘He has not maintained it; he’s diverted from
that path.’ The senator from North
Carolina said his favorite president was
Democrat Harry Truman for his courage and
for fighting for ordinary people. Appearing on
New Hampshire Public Radio’s ‘The Exchange,’
Edwards also praised Democrats
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bill Clinton.
Pressed to say something good about a
Republican president,
Edwards
said he ‘disagreed violently’ with Ronald
Reagan’s policies, but respected his personal
connection with voters. ‘He communicated
with the American people in ways they
understood,’ Edwards said. ‘I think
it’s enormously important for a president to
have a personal connection with the American
people.’ Edwards said he was undeterred by
Bush’s popularity in polls, saying the same
polls show that voters have not decided that
he deserves to be re-elected next year. He
praised Truman and Reagan for speaking simply
and directly, but said that trait is less
admirable in Bush. ‘A lot of Democrats think
that he isn’t thinking through the problems
the nation faces,” Edwards said. ‘He
approaches those problems in too simply a
way.’” (6/4/2003)
… Under the
headline “A Candidate Turns New Money Rules
to His Advantage,” the New York Times
wrote about Edwards fundraising machine –
“Frederick M. Baron, one of the nation’s
top plaintiff lawyers, whose firm has
generated hundreds of millions of dollars in
revenue by suing manufacturers of asbestos
products and other companies, found himself in
a Pennsylvania airplane hanger one evening
this spring, amid hors d’oeuvres and wafts of
fumes from aviation fuel. The scene was a
fund-raiser in Scranton for Senator John
Edwards of North Carolina, a fellow trial
lawyer. Mr. Baron was there because he has
made a substantial investment in the senator’s
race for president, letting him use his firm’s
jet and helping make him the early leader in
the race to raise cash for the 2004 Democratic
nomination. Compared with some rivals who
enjoyed more established fund-raising
networks, Mr. Edwards appeared to have little
to go on at the start of the campaign. But
he did have a strategy that made the most of
the new campaign finance law as well as a
cadre of plaintiff’s lawyers and other
fund-raisers, including Mr. Baron, who knew
how to take advantage of the wealthy community
of lawyers across the country. The lawyers
also had a willing candidate: fueled by Diet
Cokes and chocolate doughnuts that kept him
alert, Mr. Edwards blew through an average of
14 fund-raisers a week. Mr. Edwards’
success is an early signal of how the new
campaign finance law, if upheld by the Supreme
Court, could greatly increase the amount of
money raised by presidential candidates and
continue the influence of wealthy special
interests like trial lawyers…Eschewing most
political appearances to focus on fund-raising,
Mr. Edwards ended the first quarter of
the year with $7.4 million, stunning rivals
and gaining him credibility among pundits and
donors. Almost two-thirds of the money came
from lawyers and their families.” (6/5/2003)
… From
this morning’s Washington Post: “Sen. John
Edwards (D-N. C.) today is scheduled to
become the latest presidential candidate to
expound on health care, which is emerging as a
dominant issue within a crowded field for the
Democratic nomination. Unlike four of his
primary opponents, who have offered
large-scale plans to provide health insurance
to most Americans who lack it, Edwards’s
proposal will focus on the part of the health
care system in which prices have been
increasing the most: prescription drugs…Edwards
is to lay out a six-point plan to make
medicine more affordable. According to
campaign documents, one of those points
reprises legislation he has sponsored that
would change U.S. patent law to give patients
access more quickly to generic drugs, which
typically are less expensive than their
brand-name counterparts.” (6/5/2003)
… Excerpt
from PoliticsNH.com: “Asked for his opinion on
the latest spat between the Howard Dean
and John Kerry campaigns over the
weekend, Edwards offered little perspective.
‘I am going to focus on President Bush and
what I believe need to be done in this country
and let Democratic voters decide who should
lead the party,’ Edwards said.”
(6/5/2003)
… Under the
subhead “Not a good ol’ boy,” Greg
Pierce wrote in his “Inside Politics” column
in yesterday’s Washington Times: “’The
Republican National Committee is circulating
excerpts from several interviews with Sen.
John Edwards, North Carolina Democrat,
in which the presidential contender admits
he no longer listens to country music, pays no
attention to NASCAR races and even no longer
owns a gun’, the Hill newspaper reports.
‘Haven’t hunted in years,’ Edwards told
the Charlotte Observer. In another interview
he apologized for once hunting rabbits and
squirrels. Asked about fishing, Edwards
replied, ‘I haven’t fished in years either.’ ‘Have
you even done any farming?’ the Observer
inquired. ‘No,’ Edwards said, then
corrected himself. ‘I shouldn’t say never.
When I was a young kid, we’d go sometimes and
pull tobacco and stuff. But I never did any
serious farming.’ Admissions such as these,
the GOP concluded, prove Edwards has
lost his rural roots. ‘His background
speaks for itself,’ said Jennifer Palmieri,
press secretary for Edwards’ campaign.
‘The Republicans, to use a rural term, are
grasping at straws.’” (6/6/2003)
… Several
Alabama news outlets – reported on al.com –
reported that Edwards said he hopes the
state’s legislature moves the presidential
primary date from June 2004 to the first
Tuesday in February, one week after the New
Hampshire primary. The Alabama primary is now
scheduled as the last in the country and would
be held after the party presidential races
have long been decided. Edwards quote: “I
think it’s a terrific idea. The South needs to
have a strong voice in this election.” He
made the comments while visiting with
reporters before a private reception –
featuring four-time heavyweight boxing
champion Evander Holyfield and hosted by
Montgomery grocery chain owner Greg Calhoun –
that generated $100,000 for the Edwards
campaign. (6/6/2003)
… Under the
headline “’Boyish’ Edwards returns home to
celebrate 50th” – The Union Leader reports
this morning that Edwards is “marking
his 50th birthday with a series of
celebrations – and the hope that the
oft-repeated description ‘boyish’ gets a rest.
The first-term North Carolina senator is
frequently characterized as youthful and
good-looking – terms any Democrat would relish
considering the party’s last presidential
candidate described that way was John F.
Kennedy. But inevitably those adjectives
lead to talk that Edwards is too inexperienced
to serve as the nation’s chief executive.
To no surprise, the Edwards’ campaign is
making sure that the weekend events let
everyone know the senator has reached the
half-century milestone.” Edwards
opened his birthday bash blitz last night in
Charlotte, attends a birthday barbecue in
Raleigh today and travels to his original
hometown – Seneca, S.C. – for another event
tomorrow. (6/7/2003)
… The
Charlotte Observer – headline: “A day of
politics, partying…Edwards talks
with high school students, then raises money
at birthday celebration” – reported yesterday
that “Edwards mixed business with
politics in Charlotte on Friday, touting a
proposal to boost community service by high
school students and raising money for his
presidential campaign at an early 50th
birthday party. Edwards met with about
50 students and teachers at Harding University
High…Edwards said he’ll introduce
legislation Monday to create a national high
school “Community Corps” that would make
federal grants to schools that make community
service a graduation requirement. ‘I’m a
strong believer in the need to get young
people involved in every facet of the
community,’ he said. Edwards aides said
the grants would cost about $65 million a
year. They say he would pay for it by
repealing tax cuts for wealthy Americans and
cutting the federal work force…Later,
Edwards held a birthday party fund-raiser
for himself at The Flying Saucer, a restaurant
near UNC Charlotte. A crowd of about 150, who
had each paid at least $50, sang ‘Happy
Birthday’ and watched him blow out candles
shaped like a ‘5’ and an ‘0.’ In what has
become a standard campaign speech, Edwards
offered the partisan crowd red meat. He
blasted Attorney General John Ashcroft for
allowing what Edwards called an erosion of
civil liberties and attacked Bush, saying he
favors the wealthy and is presiding over a
sour economy. ‘I want to be on stage with
George Bush in 2004 because I have a question
for the American people,’ he said. ‘Are you
better off now than you were four years ago?’”(6/8/2003)
… Headline
from yesterday’s Des Moines Register: “Caucus
race offers surprises… Edwards is
off to a slower start than expected after
frequent visits in 2002…Kucinich’s
quick organization, nine trips since February,
have impressed activists.” The Register’s
caucus-watcher, Thomas Beaumont, wrote: “The
race for the 2004 Iowa caucuses has produced
two surprises in the campaign’s early going,
according to Democratic officials and
activists. Sen. John Edwards’
caucus campaign has gotten off to a slower
start than expected, especially considering
the U. S. Senator from North Carolina visited
the state regularly in 2002 and made generous
contributions to Iowa Democrats that year…Edwards
said visiting Iowa only once in the first
three months of 2003 was part of a plan that
focused more on raising money and hiring staff
than visiting early nominating states.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio,
among the least known in the field of nine
Democrats two months ago, has impressed some
activists with his nine trips to Iowa since
February and his quick work putting together
an Iowa staff and headquarters. But the
former Cleveland mayor so far has not acquired
the state Democratic Party’s voter file,
considered the road map to caucus activists
and a gauge of a candidate’s seriousness in
Iowa.”
(6/8/2003)
Most news
organizations skipped standard coverage of
the “Take Back America” conference held in
DC late last week – in favor of general
stories about the growing divisions within
the Dem Party. Only a handful included
actual coverage (and quotes) by the Dem
wannabes, but Iowa Pres Watch has compiled
some of the coverage – and comments – from
the latest anti-GWB rally. Some of the
coverage and the wannabe’s comments:
EDWARDS
“used his speech to announce his proposal to
lower the cost of prescription drugs. He
assailed Bush for not adequately addressing
health care costs, corporate fraud and equal
rights. ‘The president keeps telling us
he wants a debate about values in 2004 – and
we are going to give him a debate about
values,’ Edwards said. ‘Because
this president’s values are not the values
of the American family.’”…Brownstein
coverage: “Echoing language President
Clinton effectively used as a campaigner,
Edwards said he was raised to believe
that ‘if you work hard, you play by the
rules, you can build a better life for
yourself and for your family. But, he
charged, ‘this president is doing everything
in his power to break that bargain every
single day. He is betraying the American
people.’” (6/8/2003)
…
Edwards joins AARP. The News &
Observer of Raleigh yesterday reported: “Amid
a weekend of 50th birthday
celebrations, U. S. Sen. John Edwards
was presented with a poster-size membership
card welcoming him to AARP, the organization
formerly known as the American Association of
Retired Persons. The presentation was made
Saturday by Edwards’ campaign chairman,
Ed Turlington, and two North Carolina AARP
representatives, at the end of a town-hall
meeting with constituents in Raleigh. It
was part of an effort to highlight the
maturity of the White House aspirant, who is
often described as having ‘boyish good looks.’”(6/9/2003)
… More from
Edwards’ weekend birthday romp through the
Carolinas. In the Sunday News & Observer
of Raleigh, Edwards-watcher (and the paper’s
Washington correspondent) John Wagner wrote
about the North Carolina senator’s return to
Raleigh: Headline – “Passing the test in
dual roles” Excerpt – “With polls showing
lukewarm support for his presidential bid back
home, U. S. Sen. John Edwards arrived
at a town-hall meeting Saturday braced for
some questions about the wisdom of his
candidacy. What he got instead could
have been tossed at any Tar Heel senator.
Pointed queries about the war with Iraq,
the safety of a local nuclear plant and what
more can be done to help struggling farmers.
The hour-long meeting highlighted the two
worlds Edwards is straddling these days: He is
running full-bore for his party’s presidential
nomination but has not yet completely
abandoned the idea of seeking re-election to
his Senate seat – which is also on the ballot
in 2004. Die-hard North Carolina Democrats
have rallied to Edwards’ side. That was
evident later Saturday at a fund-raiser
outside his presidential campaign
headquarters…But some of the home-state
ambivalence surrounding Edwards’
presidential bid was also evident during the
day.” (6/10/2003)
… Fox News
Channel online yesterday – headlined “Edwards
Campaign Comes Up Short – So Far” –
reported that “Edwards kicked off a
weeklong birthday bash this weekend with a
series of activities that aim to enhance
the ‘golden boy’ persona that first
accompanied his announcement that he is
running for president. ‘I am going to take
this fight right at President Bush, and when
American people understand they have a real
choice, a real alternative in 2004, there
will be a new president and that president
will be John Edwards,’ Edwards said
Saturday at a birthday and campaign event in
his home state of North Carolina…On the
campaign trail, the good-looking, youthful
Edwards has a Clinton-like energy that voters
love. He fancies himself the Democrat that the
Bush White House fears most, in many ways a
model candidate. A Newsweek
cover boy last year and top fund-raiser in the
first quarter of this year, conventional
wisdom would have people thinking that the
first-term senator is doing well in his bid to
be the next Democratic presidential nominee,
but so far expectations have outpaced
performance. In the crucial early primary
and caucus states, he has yet to catch on with
the electorate. Polls put him fifth out of
nine in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire and
fourth in South Carolina, next door to his
home state. Nationwide, Edwards remains
largely unknown. In the latest Fox
News-Opinion Dynamics poll, 70 percent say
they can’t form an opinion of him. Seventeen
percent view him favorably, and 13 percent do
not. To his advantage, seven months remain
before the first votes, and Edwards is ready
to go, having fully outfitted his campaign
with the message, money and organization
needed to launch a serious challenge…Others
say they can’t figure out where he is running
from, sometimes lambasting President Bush,
other times clearly supporting the president’s
positions, for instance, by voting for war in
Iraq…Edwards is up for Senate re-election
next year and has not taken himself out of the
running to focus on the White House. To some,
that says Edwards has doubts. Some say they
believe he is running in 2004 as practice for
another try later in his career.”(6/11/2003)
… Edwards
expected in IA today. The News & Observer
in Raleigh reported yesterday that the North
Carolina senator is on a two-day campaign
swing through “two early nominating states” –
Tennessee and Iowa. In Iowa, the report said,
Edwards will visit Mason City,
Algona and “Dodge” – which presumably
is Fort Dodge. (Iowa Pres Watch Note:
While Edwards is in the state, maybe he
can comment on the Confederate flag issue in
Independence. See below for details.)
Morning media reports – Register and AP –
say Edwards will call for changes in the
nation’s pension system to narrow the gap
between top executives and the average worker.
In fact, the headline on this morning’s The
Union Leader online said: “Edwards calls
for pension system reform” The report by
AP’s Iowa guy Mike Glover said Edwards
“touted his proposal as a way to address
pension inequities that he said are rampant at
major companies. ‘Executives at far too
many corporations today use tricks and
gimmicks to give themselves huge benefits
while cutting pensions for workers,” said
Edwards, in remarks he planned to
deliver Friday. “The economy is still in bad
shape and working people in Iowa and across
America are counting on their pensions.’ The
Associated Press obtained a copy of
Edwards’ remarks.” By the way, it turns
out that “Dodge” is Fort Dodge.(6/13/2003)
… Three of
the four senator-wannabes voted against a
GOP-sponsored plan to help underwrite
development of a new generation of nuclear
power plants. An attempt to strip a
provision from the bill to provide loan
guarantees for new nuclear plants fell short
on a 50-48 vote – with Edwards, Graham
and Kerry supporting the
Democrat-sponsored amendment to strike the
nuclear plants section. Lieberman was
recorded as not voting. Iowa’s two
senators, Grassley and Harkin,
split along party lines. Under the measure,
the government would provide loan guarantees
for at least a half dozen advanced design
commercial nuclear power plants expected to
cost about $3 billion each. The government
would guarantee half the cost.
(6/12/2003)
… Nashville
Tennessean headline from yesterday: “Edwards
courts votes, bashes Bush…Democrat playing
on Southern roots in presidential bid” The
Tennessean reported that Edwards “kicked
off his Tennessee campaign for the Democratic
nomination for president yesterday, meeting
more than 100 Nashvillians at a public
reception and attacking President Bush.
Touching on his humble upbringing in North
Carolina, the Democrat said, ‘I hope a son
of a mill worker can beat the son of a
president.’ Edwards was on 2000
Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore’s
short list for a running mate…As a
Southerner, Edwards said, he plans to visit
Tennessee many times over the coming months
and will court Gov. Phil Bredesen for his
endorsement. Edwards plans to have
a fully staffed campaign office up and running
by August, press secretary Jennifer Palmieri
said. Edwards played up his Nashville
connection, saying he lived here from 1978 to
1981, his first son was born at Baptist
Hospital and he worked for former law firm
Dearborn and Ewing, which once employed Sen.
Lamar Alexander.”(6/14/2003)
… PRES
WATCH SIDEBAR: From the Drudge Report – “Out
of the money: Sen. Edwards (D-NC) new book
deal with Simon & Schuster: Documents released
by Senate Ethics Office show only $7,500
pre-publication advance for Edwards. As
Sen. Clinton (D-NY) too $2.9 million pre-pub
advance – from the same publisher!” The
AP’s Will Lester reported, however, that
Edwards won’t be making any money from his
book since all earnings will go to an
education foundation he set up after his son,
Wade, died in a car accident in 1996. The
foundation provides learning labs and
after-school computers for students in Raleigh
and Goldsboro, N. C. The Edwards book
will focus on his two decades as a trial
lawyer. (6/14/2003)
… Edwards
engages in political full-court press in Iowa.
Not only did Edwards swing through the
northern sections of the state on Friday to
promote his pension proposal, but he rehashed
his rural initiative – first outlined last
month at a Nevada news conference – in
an op-ed piece in Friday’s DSM Register,
which also surfaced on the day’s
RealClearPolitics.com website. Headline –
“Safeguard rural way of life…Plans can
be financed by cutting corporate subsidies”
Excerpts – ‘Factories are closing. Farmers
are losing their land. People are leaving. And
this president – and admittedly many
Democrats, too – just do not seem to care. It
is time for that to stop. We need to make
preserving and protecting rural America a
priority in Washington, and I have a plan.
We need to draw capital and investments to
rural areas to spur growth and create jobs.
Only a tiny fraction of venture capital ever
gets to rural communities. I propose the Rural
Economic Advancement Challenge, or REACH Fund.
Using a $1 billion investment, the REACH Fund
will sponsor programs that train and support
the businessmen and women who anchor America’s
small towns…We need to use technology to
bring out the best in rural America…We
should make sure every rural community has
affordable high-speed Internet access within
four years. Businesses can use that technology
to compete. Schools and hospitals can use it
to hook up with resources and experts…We
need a president committed to strong
enforcement of clean-air and clean-water laws
in rural America. We must do more to
develop technologies to protect the
environment while keeping small farms
profitable.” (6/15/2003)
… Des
Moines talk show host – and former GOP U. S.
Senate aspirant – Bill Salier said yesterday
“the party of the rich has been redefined” by
the fact that three of the four
senator-wannabes (Kerry, Graham, Edwards) were
identified as millionaires in recently
released personal finance disclosure
statements. On his KWKY program yesterday,
Salier also noted that IA GOP Sen. Grassley
made the Senate millionaires list – barely by
a few thousand dollars. That, Salier said,
made Grassley “the poorest of the
Senate millionaires.”(6/17/2003)
… The
Quad-City Times yesterday picked up weekend
coverage of Edwards’ visit to Mason
City. Times headline: “Sen. Edwards:
America needs to fight ‘Bush light’” The
Mason City Globe Gazette’s Deb Nicklay wrote
that Edwards “told a Mason City
gathering Friday that the nation’s
Democrats will have to fight hard to take back
the White House in 2004 – a White House he
says is being operated by ‘Bush light’
politics. ‘There are a handful of insiders
running this country,’ Edwards told the
70 people gathered at the Holiday Inn. ‘We
have a government of the insiders, by the
insiders and for the insiders.’ Big money
and big lobbying represent the interests of
the American population, he said. ‘The real
question is: Who is going to stand up for you?
It won’t be George W. Bush,’ he said.
Also, the Fort Dodge Messenger – reporting on
Edwards’ Friday visit – reported that
he “views his bid for the White House as the
next step in a crusade to help working people
that began over 20 years ago when he started
his career as an attorney. Then, the Democrat
from North Carolina was representing people in
legal struggles with big insurance companies.
Now, he is engaged in a campaign that he
described Friday as an effort to take the
leadership of the country away from a small
group of the wealthy and return it to the
majority of Americans. ‘We have to take
this democracy out of the hands of this
handful of insiders and give it back to the
people,’ he told a Fort Dodge audience
Friday. ‘It’s been the cause of my life to
fight for working people.’ Edwards
said.” (6/17/2003)
… In
yesterday’s News & Observer of Raleigh, the
newspaper’s Washington Edwards-watch,
John Wagner, reported that Edwards was
scheduled to “unveil a new package of tax cuts
to benefit the middle-class – paid for by
rolling back some of President Bush’s tax cuts
for the nation’s wealthiest taxpayers.
The move is intended to highlight what the
North Carolina Democrat claims is ‘a
fundamental difference’ between his values and
those of the president he wants to replace.
‘I believe America should value work. He only
values wealth,’ Edwards says in
excerpts of his prepared remarks made
available to The News & Observer. ‘He wants
the people who have the most to get more. I
want to make sure everybody has the chance to
do well.’” Among the elements of the
Edwards plan, Wagner wrote: “Offer a tax
credit of up to $5,000 to help first-time
homebuyers with down payments. Aides claim the
credit would enable more than 2 million
Americans to buy a home they could not
otherwise afford…Cut taxes on capital gains
and dividend earnings for families in the
first three income bracket…match payments made
into retirement plans, such as 401(k)s and
Individual Retirement Accounts, for people
earning less than $50,000.” Edwards,
whose campaign also distributed copies of his
plan and prepared remarks to AP and other
political reporters, was scheduled to unveil
his proposal during a speech yesterday at
Georgetown University. (6/18/2003)
… From the
Newton Dem outpost – a political Little Big
Horn. The thousands of central Iowa
Dems and union activists anticipated in
Newton yesterday to scrutinize the
five Dem wannabes didn’t materialize, but
about 350 and AP’s Iowa caucus-watcher, Mike
Glover, did. Headline from this morning’s
Orlando Sentinel online: “Democrats attack
Bush on trade, health care” Excerpt from
Glover’s coverage in the Sunday News: “At a
forum focused on the economy and job creation,
five Democrats running for the White House
said Saturday they favored tougher trade rules
and universal health coverage. They joined
in attacking Bush administration economic
policies they said had driven American jobs to
low-cost countries and lowered the U.S.
standard of living. ‘What's happening is a
race to the bottom and it's hurting families,’
Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt said.
‘People are giving up because jobs are
leaving.’ Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry
called for tougher labor and environmental
standards in trade agreements, and an economic
policy focused on more than simply cutting
taxes. ‘We need a manufacturing policy that
helps our companies compete,’ Kerry said…The
city's biggest employer is the Maytag Corp.,
where workers are represented by the United
Auto Workers union. The company just moved
operations from an Illinois factory to Mexico
and there are deep worries that the Newton
plant could close too. ‘We have to have a plan
in place to replace the manufacturing jobs
we've already lost,’ said North Carolina Sen.
John Edwards. ‘We've lost 2 million
jobs under this administration.’ Al
Sharpton drew some of the loudest cheers
when he accused President Bush of abandoning
ordinary families. ‘This government protects
the multinational conglomerates rather than
protecting the citizens,’ Sharpton
said. ‘The president is not elected to be
the business agent in Washington for
billionaires.’ Ohio Rep. Dennis
Kucinich said his first act as president would
be to repeal the North American Free Trade
Agreement, which is unpopular with labor
groups. Kucinich argued that trade deals
have meant ‘not only a loss of jobs, it's
meant communities breaking up, it's meant a
loss of dreams. It's caused a transfer of
wealth out of this country.’” The other four
Dem hopefuls – Dean, Graham, Lieberman,
Moseley Braun – did not attend. (NOTE:
Because of space limitations today, additional
coverage of the Newton forum – along
with today’s cattle call – will be featured in
tomorrow’s report.) (6/22/2003)
…
Reports from the Perry front:
Edwards on political warpath against Bush,
anti-Edwards billboards. Headline from
yesterday’s New & Observer online, Raleigh: “Edwards:
Bush a ‘phony’” N&O’s John Wagner reports
from Perry:
“During a
Friday night campaign stop in Perry,
Iowa, U.S. Sen. John Edwards said that
President Bush is a ‘phony’ who must be
replaced.
The North
Carolina Democrat addressed an enthusiastic
crowd of about four dozen Democratic activists
in the nation's first presidential caucus
state. ‘We have to show this president as
the absolute phony he is,’ Edwards
told the crowd. ‘He is a phony through and
through.’ At another point, in a
discussion of the deficit, Edwards
called Bush ‘one of the most irresponsible
presidents in our lifetime.’ Edwards
used the talk to pitch his recently unveiled
plan to target tax cuts toward the
middle-class.”…Headline from yesterday’s Des
Moines Register: “Edwards criticizes Bush’s
views, tactics” Register’s Lynn Okamoto
reports from Perry: “U.S. Sen. John
Edwards of North Carolina said Friday
night that billboards that will soon sprout
up near the Des Moines airport attacking his
record are evidence that he is doing better in
the Democratic race for president than some
portray. ‘I believe that my view of the
world is in so many ways different from
President Bush's," Edwards told several
dozen Dallas County Democrats at the Hotel
Pattee. ‘I think they get that. They know it.
They know how dangerous that is to his
re-election.’ Some national polls suggest
Edwards is not a leader in the pack of nine
Democratic presidential candidates.
Earlier this month, Gov. Tom Vilsack failed to
include Edwards when citing the "first
tier" of candidates. But Edwards said he is
the only candidate being attacked in
billboards sponsored by Americans for Job
Security. The billboards in Des
Moines and Manchester, N.H., are critical
of Edwards' work as a trial lawyer,
saying he filed frivolous lawsuits. ’I spent
my life standing up for kids and families,’
Edwards said in response to the ads. ‘These
billboards are being paid for by big insurance
companies and big drug companies.’ The
North Carolina senator spent most of his
half-hour speech Friday criticizing President
Bush. He said the president's values are not
aligned with American people. ‘We have to
show this president as the absolute phony that
he is," Edwards said. The comments
surprised Chad Colby, regional press secretary
for the Republican National Committee, who
said most Americans agree that the president
is doing a good job. ‘It's kind of sad it's
become so mean-spirited on that side,’ Colby
said of Democrats. ‘It's really about being
anti-Bush than being pro-policy.’”(6/22/2003)
… Edwards
impresses Illinois voters – or at least one
Bloomington reporter – as first Dem prez
candidate to visit GOP-dominated area in a
decade and a half. The Bloomington
Pantagraph’s Scott Richardson reported in
yesterday’s online edition: “John Edwards
-- the first Democrat running for president to
visit heavily Republican McLean County in 15
years -- assailed President Bush in a
Bloomington appearance Friday. With
shirt-sleeves rolled up, the U.S. senator
from North Carolina struck a theme of Bush
favoring the wealthy at the expense of working
people. ‘I have a basic question for the
American people: Are you better off now than
you were four years ago? ... George Bush
honors and respects wealth. He wants to make
sure that those who have it, keep it,’
Edwards said. Edwards told a
standing-room-only crowd at the McLean County
Museum of History that his father worked in a
textile mill and his mother was a postal
worker. The first of his family to graduate
from college, Edwards became a trial
lawyer before he joined the Senate in 1999.
He portrayed Bush as a man of privilege, the
son of a former president who believes in
‘government of the insiders, by the insiders
and for the insiders.’ Edwards said Bush's
recent tax cuts, which Edwards opposed, favor
the rich at the expense of working men and
women. The senator wants Congress to
rescind tax breaks for people earning more
than $240,000 a year. ‘We are going to have
to be willing as Democrats to take the fight
right at George W. Bush, and we're going to
have to give people a choice, something I'm
absolutely convinced they are hungry for,’
Edwards said.”(6/22/2003)
…
Headline from News & Observer of Raleigh – “Edwards
casting fewer votes” – indicates the North
Carolina wannabe is on faster pace for missing
Senate votes. On Saturday, the newspaper’s
Washington correspondent, John Wagner,
reported: “For the first time since
launching his campaign for president, U.S.
Sen. John Edwards is on pace to miss more than
half the Senate votes in a given month.
The North Carolina Democrat has not cast a
vote in Washington for more than a week as he
crisscrosses the country raising money for his
White House bid and puts in appearances in
early nominating states.
Since the
start of June, Edwards has been present
to vote 14 times, while he has missed 16
votes, including two on Friday -- one to allow
lower-cost drugs to be imported from Canada --
while he was campaigning in Iowa and Illinois.
The votes that Edwards recently missed
include a bid to block a study of oil and gas
reserves off coastal states, including North
Carolina, and a provision to speed up the
introduction of generic drugs into the
marketplace. Edwards has championed the
latter measure on the campaign trail, blaming
President Bush for its failure to become law.
Aides point out that Edwards'
attendance record this year has been better
than that of three of his Senate colleagues
who are also seeking the presidency. And,
they note, none of the votes he missed has
been close enough that his presence would have
swayed the outcome. Still, Edwards'
absences are certain to add to the ammunition
that Republicans are gathering in the event
Edwards seeks re-election to his Senate
seat, which is also on the ballot in 2004.
Republicans have tried to paint Edwards as
AWOL from North Carolina since he started
flirting with a presidential bid two years ago.
‘It's bad for the people he represents,’ said
Marc Rotterman, a Republican political
consultant who splits his time between Raleigh
and Washington. ‘They hired him to do a job
that he's not fulfilling, and now he wants a
promotion.’”(6/23/2003)
… Edwards –
the leading first-quarter wannabe fundraiser –
blasts GWB for his fundraising efforts,
implying the president is rewarding
contributors with tax cuts. Headline from
yesterday’s News & Observer online: “Edwards
Links Bush Fundraising, Tax Cuts.” The
Raleigh newspaper’s DC observer, John Wagner,
reported: “ In a new email solicitation
to raise money for his White House bid, U.S.
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina accuses
President Bush of rewarding his political
contributors in advance with generous tax cuts.
‘You probably saw the headlines last week,’
Edwards says in the solicitation.
‘President Bush is going to break all
fundraising records for his re-election
campaign. But that's not surprising, since
he's rewarding his wealthy supporters in
advance with hundreds of billions in tax
cuts.’ Edwards also notes that the
close of the 2nd quarter fundraising period is
next Monday and that his fundraising total
will be compared to other Democrats seeking
the nomination. ‘The media will be focused
on one question: Has the Edwards campaign
raised enough early money to be a contender
for the Democratic nomination?’ Edwards says.
‘Your financial support now will help prove
I'm a contender.’”(6/25/2003)
… So, when
can we expect to see Edwards’ campaign bus?
The News & Reporter of Raleigh reported
yesterday that Edwards is going to do
“a John McCain” in New Hampshire by scheduling
town-hall meetings. Excerpt from John Wagner’s
report: “U.S. Sen. John Edwards'
presidential campaign announced Tuesday that
it will hold about a dozen town-hall
meetings in New Hampshire during July and
August to help voters in the nation's first
presidential primary state get to know the
North Carolina Democrat.
The first such
meeting is scheduled for July 7 in Concord,
N.H., at a local library. Subsequent events
will be held at schools, community centers and
other facilities across regions of the state,
said Edwards spokesman Colin Van Ostern. ‘He's
going to stay until every last question is
answered," Van Ostern said. The strategy
is similar to an approach used in 2000 by U.S.
Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, who
rose from single digits
in the polls to win
the Granite State's GOP primary.”(6/26/2003)
... Edwards
in no mood to be hassled – and made to look
incompetent – again on “Meet the Press.”
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported
yesterday: “Ever since U.S. Sen. John
Edwards' May 2002 appearance on ‘Meet the
Press,’ there has been no shortage of
speculation in Washington as to when he might
return. The North Carolina Democrat's
performance, which included some vague
responses, was panned by pundits, and
Edwards even poked fun at the experience
when he addressed the annual Gridiron dinner
earlier this year.
The question
has been renewed in the wake of last weekend's
appearance by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean,
a rival for the 2004 Democratic presidential
nomination. In the eyes of most viewers, Dean
got roughed up pretty badly by host Tim
Russert. Edwards, in any case, is not likely
to reappear anytime soon.
Betsy Fischer, the show's executive producer,
said NBC has been trying for months to get
Edwards back on. ‘He has an open
invitation, but we have not been able to nail
anything down,’ she said, adding that
Russert has even made personal pleas to get
Edwards on again. ‘They know of our interest.’
Edwards spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri
said that doing the Sunday morning show simply
isn't a priority at this point in the
campaign. ‘Some political observers in
Washington may pay attention to who does what
show,’ Palmieri said Wednesday. ‘But
voters don't care.’” (6/27/2003)
…
Apparently, the Washington Post’s Linton
Weeks couldn’t resist the temptation –
hands out awards for a Dem event
attended by 7 of the 9 prez hopefuls.
The headline: “Democratic
Candidates Chew Over Their Chances”
The report from yesterday’s Post:
“Only two of the Democratic hopefuls --
Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman --
were missing last night at the
Democratic National Committee's
presidential candidates dinner at the
Mayflower Hotel. Everyone else was
there. More than 650 tickets were sold
for the event, which raised $1.7
million, according to DNC spokeswoman
Debra DeShong. The money will go into
a pot to be used by the candidate who
emerges from the primaries as the chosen
one. Last night, in the cramped
quarters of the hotel's Grand Ballroom,
it was kind of hard to tell just who
that frontrunner might be. DNC
Chairman Terry McAuliffe ran the show,
recalling days of Clintonian glory and
taking pokes at President Bush. ‘He has
put a big old For Sale sign on the U.S.
Capitol,’ McAuliffe said. With so many
candidates and so little time, McAuliffe
tried to hurry things along…he handed
out awards to big-dollar Democratic
donors like Haim Saban, creator of the
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As each
candidate rose and gave a brief speech,
we, too, wanted to hand out awards…
• Best Preacher: Sen. John Edwards
of North Carolina. The Republicans, he
shouted, ‘know no limits’ when it comes
to raising big bucks. But all that
money, he warned, ‘will not buy them the
right ideas.’ He added: ‘We are not
about closing doors. We are about
opening doors.(6/27/2003)
… Six Dem
wannabes go after the Latino vote in Phoenix.
Associated Press’ Mike Glover, usually
assigned to cover IA politics, reported from
Phoenix. Headline from yesterday’s The Union
Leader: “Six Democrats court Hispanic
voters in Ariz.” Glover’s report: “Six
rivals for the Democratic presidential
nomination, courting the large and growing
Hispanic community Saturday, promised to
overhaul the nation's immigration policy and
enlarge economic opportunities for newcomers. Speaking of the
increasing importance of Hispanics, who
recently replaced blacks as the largest ethnic
minority, Sen. John Edwards spoke of
the tiny North Carolina town where he grew up,
which he said is now half Hispanic. ‘They are
living the immigrant's dream,’ Edwards
said, and ‘they are living the American
dream.’ (6/30/2003)
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