|
 John
Edwards
 excerpts
from
the Iowa Daily Report
September
1-15,
2003
… Edwards
takes a North Carolina hit for his missed
Senate votes, but he’s not even the worst
culprit. Headline on AP report that
appeared in yesterday’s The Union Leader: “Edwards
misses third of summer’s votes” Excerpt: “North
Carolina Sen. John Edwards returned Tuesday to
Washington as Congress reconvened after a
monthlong summer recess in which he campaigned
without needing to balance his presidential
ambition with representing the state.
Edwards, like other presidential hopefuls
who serve in Congress, regularly misses
roll-call votes as he campaigns. Edwards
skipped 38 votes of the 119 tallies cast
during June and July, Senate records show.
That's a better attendance record than most of
his Democratic rivals for the White House.
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry missed nine
out of every 10 votes during the two summer
months that Congress was in session, the
News & Record of Greensboro reported.
Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman did
slightly better by missing about eight in 10
votes. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., was
away for half of the votes. Edwards
was similarly better at attending Senate
voting sessions earlier this year. Kerry
missed nearly four out of every 10 votes
between January and mid-April, not
counting the two that came when he was
recuperating from prostate surgery in
February. Lieberman failed to vote on 22
percent of the 134 Senate roll-call tallies
during that period. Edwards missed 16
percent. Graham missed 2 percent, but the
total didn't include the 16 votes he failed to
cast during his heart surgery and recovery in
February. So far this year, Edwards has
missed 69 votes out of 321, or 21 percent of
the time, spokesman Michael Briggs said…In the
House of Representatives, the two members who
want the presidential nomination have
different voting records. Missouri Rep. Dick
Gephardt skipped almost every tally during
July, when his chamber held about the same
number of votes as did the Senate during that
month and June combined. Ohio Rep. Dennis
Kucinich, considered one of the long-shot
candidates, missed no votes. The other
three Democratic candidates - the Rev. Al
Sharpton of New York, former Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean and former Illinois Sen.
Carol Moseley Braun - do not hold
elective office.”(9/4/2003)
… The Great Edwards
Challenge – getting out of single digits.
Headline from yesterday’s Charlotte Observer:
“What can Edwards do to stand out?…Political
observers say attacking front-runner Dean
might backfire” (Editor’s Note: This article
was written – obviously – prior to last
night’s debate, but the central points are
well-taken.) Excerpt from coverage by Tim Funk
of the Observer’s Washington Bureau: “Can
John Edwards do or say anything to lift his
poll numbers out of the single digits? And
will anybody be watching this 90-minute debate
on a night when ABC plans to air a Super
Bowl-size NFL kickoff, complete with a
pre-game concert featuring Britney Spears,
Aerosmith, Mary J. Blige and 25,000 U.S.
troops? Even presidential handicapper
Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan
Rothenberg Political Report, says he'll skip
the debate's final half hour to watch the
Washington Redskins take on the New York Jets.
Still, he and other pundits say, tonight's
debate -- the first of six to be sponsored by
the Democratic Party -- does offer Dean's
opponents an opportunity to take back some of
the buzz that's belonged to the former Vermont
governor all summer. Take Edwards,
for example. Once the fresh face many were
betting would break out, the N.C. senator is
now struggling to re-enter that top tier of
candidates. So far, not even the $12 million
he has raised has made him a contender in
Iowa, where he's at 6 percent in the polls, or
New Hampshire, where he's at 4 percent.
Edwards needs to do a better job, the pundits
say, at calling attention to himself. ‘He
needs to hit the Democratic Party across the
face with a wet sponge,’ Rothenberg says, …What
viewers need to see when they look at Edwards,
says veteran presidential campaign chronicler
Jack Germond, is someone who seems
presidential. ‘The debates should give
(him) this opportunity,’ says Germond, who has
covered races for the White House since 1960.
‘He'll be one of the two or three new faces
for viewers who tune in to the debate. They'll
have to cross the threshold of becoming
presidential.’ Exuding a presidential
personality and vision in the coming debates
may be particularly crucial for Edwards, says
CNN political analyst Bill Schneider. Even
though Edwards just turned 50, ‘he
looks too young and inexperienced’ to be
president, says Schneider, who evaluates poll
findings for the cable news network…One way
to get buzz from the debate is to go on the
attack -- a sound bite that zings front-runner
Dean is a cinch to make the evening news,
the pundits say. But putdowns can end up
boomeranging, they are quick to add.
‘Somebody needs to attack Dean,’
Rothenberg says. ‘The problem is, whoever
does the attacking may increase his own
negative (approval ratings) as well as Dean's.
Plus, it's almost a signal of real fear that
Dean is opening up a big lead. So
everybody will want somebody else to do the
group's dirty work rather than do it
themselves.’ Still, Rothenberg and the
others say they won't be surprised at all to
see more subtle pokes at Dean. John Kerry, for
example, may allude to Dean's opposition to
federal gun control and his call for rolling
back all of President Bush's tax cuts --
even those going into the pockets of
middle-class families. Another thing to watch
for is how certain candidates appeal to
certain groups of voters. While Dean
has the backing of what Rothenberg calls the
upscale ‘Volvo-canapé crowd,’ Edwards and
Dick Gephardt have been wooing blue-collar and
small-town voters.”(9/5/2003)
… Edwards
continues to rely on rural roots – and issues”
during Iowa campaign visit. His latest appeal:
Telemedicine. Excerpt from report by AP’s
IA caucus watcher. Mike Glover: “Democratic
presidential candidate John Edwards, seeking
crucial support in Iowa, is calling for
spending $10 million to improve a medical
system in which computer technology allows
doctors to virtually examine patients over
long distances. ‘Iowa has so many small
towns and rural areas,” the North Carolina
senator said. ‘This will allow people to live
in small towns and rural areas and still
access the highest quality health care.’
Edwards planned to discuss his proposal during
a nine-city swing through rural northwest Iowa,
the most sparsely populated corner of the
state. He previewed the proposal in an
interview with The Associated Press. Under
the plan, the money would be used to help
local hospitals purchase telemedicine computer
hardware, which can be too expensive for small
rural hospitals that need it most.
Edwards also would create 10 regional
telemedicine centers to aid inexperienced
providers. Large existing hospitals that offer
telemedicine could apply for the regional
center designation and seek federal funding.
The package also would cut through the red
tape that occasionally blocks access to
telemedicine. For example, Edwards
said, a patient in Iowa might not have access
to a doctor in another state because of
licensing requirements. Edwards pointed
out that Iowa already has a statewide
fiber-optic communications network that links
major hospitals on a communications network.
‘Small-town America should have the same care
that is available in big cities and if we use
new technology we can help make that happen,’
Edwards said.”(9/7/2003)
… Edwards in
Council Bluffs – Des Moines Register
coverage: Poll results show that he’s got the
Big Mo. Headline from yesterday’s Register
– “Edwards says S. C. poll shows his
momentum” Excerpt from report by the
Register’s Beaumont: “Democratic
presidential candidate John Edwards said
Friday a South Carolina poll showing him
narrowly leading in that early nominating
state demonstrates his candidacy has picked up
momentum after showing little movement this
summer. ‘I think I'm moving up and we will
continue to move up in South Carolina,’
Edwards, a North Carolina senator, said in
a telephone interview from Council Bluffs.
According to the South Carolina poll released
Thursday by independent polling company Zogby
International, Edwards received 10 percent
of support, a pick-up of five points since
July. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean
finished a close second with 9 percent,
followed by Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts with 8 percent. The South
Carolina primary is Feb. 3, two weeks after
the Iowa caucuses and a week after the New
Hampshire primary…Making his third campaign
visit since May to a part of the state notably
less-Democratic than Republican is part of
Edwards' strategy to appeal to rural
Democrats. ‘The rural counties in western
Iowa present a lot of potential for me because
of my own background and my rural message,’ he
said. Edwards endeared himself to Iowa
Democratic activists last year with generous
financial contributions and by visiting
several times. But his decision to spend most
of the first quarter of 2003 raising money for
his presidential bid, instead of campaigning
in key states such as Iowa, allowed other
candidates to pick up momentum. Edwards
has since increased his time in Iowa. Recent
polls show him in fifth place with support in
the single digits. In his campaign, Edwards
spotlights his upbringing in small town in
North Carolina. He also unveiled a rural
economic proposal in Iowa in May.”(9/7/2003)
… Edwards
in Council Bluffs – Omaha World-Herald
coverage: NC Sen highlights health care plans.
Headline in yesterday’s World-Herald: “Edwards
pushes phased-in health plan” Excerpts
from coverage by the World-Herald’s Henry J.
Cordes: “Attempting to be heard amid the
din of Democratic presidential hopefuls
pledging health care reform, John Edwards said
Friday that he is the only candidate who
guarantees health insurance coverage for every
child. ‘I want to make health care a
birthright of every child in America,’ the
U.S. senator from North Carolina said,
lamenting the estimated 12 million Americans
18 and under who have no insurance coverage.
During a health care roundtable at a Bluffs
diner, Edwards also pledged improved
coverage for mental health and blasted drug
companies for policies that have sharply
driven up costs for consumers. As they
swing through western Iowa seeking supporters
in January's Iowa caucuses, all nine Democrats
seeking to unseat President Bush have talked
up improving health care. Most have
proposals for universal health insurance
coverage. All note Iowa's
lowest-in-the-nation reimbursement rate under
Medicare and pledge to work to change it.
It can make it hard to distinguish the
candidates on health care, said Barry
Miller, a Council Bluffs nursing home
manager who sat at the table with Edwards. ‘I
like what I heard, but I need to get a lot
more specifics,’ said Miller, who has not
picked a candidate to support. ‘I'm looking
for a candidate with a clear, comprehensive
plan.’ Pam Wilson, a Bluffs nurse who also
joined the roundtable, said she's leaning
toward supporting Edwards because she
thinks his plan for universal health care is
the most doable. The Edwards plan would
phase in universal coverage, first by
mandating coverage for all children.
Included is a requirement that all parents
make sure their children are covered. Edwards
next would cover the ‘most vulnerable adults’
and then help other families buy affordable
insurance through tax credits. Part of the
plan would be funded by repealing Bush's
recent tax cuts.”
(9/7/2003)
… FOR EDWARDS, IT’S
WHITE HOUSE – OR BUST. North Carolina wannabe
announces he will not seek re-election to the
Senate. Coverage by AP’s Gary D. Robertson
from Raleigh: “John Edwards will not run
for re-election to the Senate in 2004 so he
can concentrate on seeking the Democratic
presidential nomination, a state party
official said Sunday. The North Carolina
senator wrote a letter received Sunday by
state Democratic Party chairwoman Barbara
Allen announcing his decision, state party
executive director Scott Falmlen said. ‘I ...
decided that I will not seek re-election to
the United States Senate in order to devote
all of my energy to running for president,’
Edwards wrote to Allen. Edwards was
first elected to the Senate in 1998 but
announced in January he would seek the
presidential nomination.”(9/8/2003)
… Profiles in No Courage: Edwards dodging
tough interviews on national TV shows.
Under the subhead “Edwards Still Ducking,”
columnist Robert Novak reported in today’s
Chicago Sun-Times: “Sen. John Edwards,
trying to restart his flagging presidential
campaign, scheduled a second straight soft
interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulus
Aug. 14 without making himself available to
the other three Sunday talk shows in proper
rotation. On July 10, Edwards wrote
Tim Russert of NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ that
‘I'm looking forward to finding the time to
come to your show.’ The senator admittedly had
not performed well under Russert's questioning
May 5, 2002. Edwards has kept away from
‘Meet the Press’ since then, while finding
time to engage in easygoing dialogue aboard
his campaign van with Stephanopoulus that was
broadcast on ABC's ‘This Week.’ Edwards
also has been dodging non-Sunday television
programs that ask tough questions. He has
not gone on CNN's ‘Crossfire’ since May 23,
2001, after appearing there seven times the
previous nine months.” (9/8/2003)
…
Sharecroppers, milkman, anti-Bush, courage –
The themes for the initial flight of media
spots being seen by the initial players in the
2004 nominating contests. Washington Post
media guru Howard Kurtz says the wannabes are
projecting the image that they feel best suits
them in early TV spots. Headline from
today’s Post: “Media Primary Commences as
Democrats Run First Ads” Excerpts from
Kurtz’ report: “ John Edwards talks about
hailing from a family of sharecroppers. Dick
Gephardt says his father was a milkman. Howard
Dean says he's the man to stand up to
President Bush, unlike many timid Democrats in
Washington. John Kerry talks about the courage
of Americans -- while using a flag-bedecked
backdrop that may remind viewers of his own
courage in Vietnam. The initial television
ads of the Democratic presidential candidates,
even at this early stage, shed considerable
light on how they want to present themselves
to primary voters in the only format they
fully control. If you get just one chance
to make a good first impression, these
30-second snapshots are an important clue to
each man's media strategy. Despite their
stylistic differences, the commercials,
running mainly in Iowa and New Hampshire, all
trumpet the need for jobs and, almost as
often, expanded health care -- an issue about
which Democrats had been skittish since the
Clinton health plan crashed and burned in
1994. The ads all strike an us-vs.-them
tone in which the candidates sell themselves
as champions of the middle class. ‘I'm not
sure how much it does with voters,’ said
former Clinton White House spokesman Joe
Lockhart. ‘But the unwritten rule is if you
don't do well in the media primary, you may
not get to the real primary. Obviously,
Dean has passed the test, so he's in a
different place than everyone else. But
several of the others have to move numbers to
keep reporters from dismissing them.’
Republican media consultant Don Sipple agreed
that ‘the shelf life of early advertising is
very short. But these candidates need to show
movement in key early states in order to raise
money around the country.’…Edwards
takes a far more biographical approach.
Appearing in rolled-up shirtsleeves, the
freshman senator opens one ad in his hometown
of Robbins, N.C., ‘a place where values like
hard work, family, faith and community
mattered. And they still do. But today our
small towns and rural areas are hurting, and
Washington doesn't seem to care.’ He says he's
got a ‘detailed plan’ to boost jobs, schools
and health care in rural America…Edwards
also plays the class card against Bush, the
son of a president and grandson of a senator.
‘My grandmother came from a family of
sharecroppers,’ he says in a third ad. ‘My
father worked in a cotton mill all his life,
and I helped out there in the summers…George
Bush -- he comes from a very different place.
He believes if we take care of folks at the
top, that somehow the whole country will be
lifted.’ (9/8/2003)
… Edwards blasts
Ashcroft and Patriot Act at New Hampshire town
meeting last night. Headline from this
morning’s The Union Leader: “Edwards wants
repeal of parts of Patriot Act” Coverage –
dateline: Merrimack – by AP’s Holly Ramer: “While
Attorney General John Ashcroft continued his
efforts to defend the USA Patriot Act,
Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards
proposed repealing some provisions of the
anti-terrorism law. Ashcroft was in New
Castle on Monday for the latest stop on a
monthlong tour to counter criticism that the
act has given the government too much power to
monitor its citizens secretly. In other
cities, he has described a series of terrorism
arrests that would have been more difficult
had the act not helped intelligence agencies,
criminal investigators and prosecutors share
information. But Edwards, who voted for the
Patriot Act in 2001, argues that Ashcroft has
abused the power given to him under the law
and taken away citizens' freedoms without
making them safer. ‘John Ashcroft has trampled
on our rights and claimed unprecedented power.
We need to rein in this attorney general,’
he said in remarks prepared for delivery at a
Town Hall meeting Monday night. He proposed
repealing a portion of the act that allows
anti-terrorism investigators to access library
or business records and replacing it with a
new provision that would require them to
better justify their requests in court.
Ashcroft has defended the libraries provision,
saying subpoenas of business or library
records are subject to greater scrutiny by
judges under the anti-terrorism law than those
issued under regular criminal investigations.
But Edwards said more scrutiny is
needed. ‘Judges should be a real check, not a
rubber stamp,’ Edwards said. Edwards
also wants the government to provide the
public with more information about how the
Patriot Act is working. For example, the
public should know how many wiretaps
investigators have used, he said. Repeating
earlier comments, Edwards added that
the act should be updated to prevent U.S.
citizens from being detained indefinitely
without access to lawyers if they are declared
‘enemy combatants.’”(9/9/2003)
… Is this
political fiction writing? Edwards says his
prez bid is “going exceedingly well.” At least
Edwards won’t be back in the Senate – and,
barring a major change in the political
landscape, won’t be in the White House either.
Headline from yesterday’s News & Observer
of Raleigh: “Edwards rejects Senate bid”
Coverage by the N&O’s John Wagner and Rob
Christensen: “In a high-risk political
gamble, U.S. Sen. John Edwards said Sunday
that he will not seek re-election to the
Senate next year so that he may focus his full
attention on a presidential bid that has been
struggling to gain traction in the polls.
In a letter to N.C. Democratic Party
Chairwoman Barbara Allen, Edwards
asserted that his White House run is ‘going
exceedingly well’ and said that he will
‘devote all of my energy to running for
president.’…’The decision to move forward
decisively to seek the nomination was not a
difficult one,’ Edwards said. Edwards,
whose political ascent has been strikingly
swift, faced considerable pressure in North
Carolina in recent weeks to choose either the
presidential or Senate race, both of which
will appear on the 2004 ballot. His decision,
made public Sunday night, likely caps
Edwards' legislative career at a single term
and opens the door for other Democrats to
enter what is expected to be a highly
competitive contest to succeed him. At least
two Democrats are expected to get in: Erskine
Bowles, a Charlotte investment banker who ran
unsuccessfully for the Senate last year
against Republican Elizabeth Dole; and former
state Rep. Dan Blue, who lost to Bowles in the
Democratic primary…Edwards, meanwhile, is
scheduled to formally announce his
presidential bid next week in his boyhood home
of Robbins. Although he has effectively been
running for president since January, his
campaign envisions the announcement as a
pivotal event in his bid to become a top-tier
contender. In recent polls from Iowa and
New Hampshire, the first two nominating
states, Edwards remains in the single
digits, far behind the front-runners. His
numbers, however, have started to inch up in
both states since the launch of TV
advertisements and a pair of high-profile bus
trips in August. Edwards, meanwhile,
sat atop a tightly grouped field in a poll
last week from South Carolina, drawing 10
percent of likely voters. His lead,
however, is not considered statistically
significant by pollsters, given the margin of
error built into such surveys. Moreover,
the poll indicated that nearly half the likely
Democratic primary voters in South Carolina
are undecided about whom to support. Still,
the poll provided a sign of momentum for the
Edwards campaign to cite at an
important point in the race.” (9/9/2003)
… Least surprising
report of the day: Dem hopefuls take turns
blasting Bush’s Sunday night speech.
Headline from yesterday’s Chicago Tribune: “Candidates
offer sharp criticism over holes in Iraq plan”
Excerpt from coverage by Trib national
correspondent Jeff Zeleny: “The leading
Democratic presidential candidates, already
relentless in their criticism of the Bush
administration's handling of postwar Iraq,
said the president's address to the nation
Sunday night did little to ease concerns about
achieving stability in the region. ... ‘We need
a plan that wins the peace with the world at
our side and brings our troops safely home
with their mission truly accomplished,’ said
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina,
who will not seek re-election to the Senate in
2004. (9/9/2003)
…
Presidential footsteps I: Edwards wants to
follow Carter. In 1975, Jimmy
Carter started his White House adventure with
a stop in LeMars. Over the weekend, Edwards
showed up in the Ice Cream Capital of the
World, too. Excerpt from Michele Linck’s
Sunday coverage from LeMars: “Sen. John
Edwards brought his presidential
nomination campaign to this self-proclaimed
Ice Cream Capital of the World Saturday.
The North
Carolina Democrat is on his third swing
through western Iowa and drew about 30 people
– ‘a good crowd’ according to Ron Stopak, a
former chairman of the Plymouth County
Democratic Party -- to the party room of the
Wells Blue Bunny ice cream parlor…Edwards
is hoping to follow in Jimmy Carter's
footsteps: Le Mars was Carter's first campaign
stop in Iowa, made Feb. 26, 1975, on his way
to winning the White House.
Edwards, the grandson of a sharecropper
and son of a mill worker, never mentioned any
of the seven other Democratic contenders [Editor’s
Note: That – seven other contenders – is what
the report says.], but missed few
chances to point out that President Bush, the
obvious Republican nominee, is from a
privileged background. ‘I think the reason
George Bush is so out of touch with us and the
rest of America is the way he grew up --
wealthy,’ Edwards said. Edwards told
the gathering that while Bush was vacationing
last month, another 100,000 people lost their
jobs. ‘The best thing we can do about jobs
is to make sure George Bush gets a new job,’
he said, drawing his only mid-speech applause.
He also claimed Bush is underfunding his own
education initiative by $10 billion and never
talks about the country's health care
‘crisis.’ He called the war in Iraq ‘a mess’
and said the U.S. should be getting allies
involved. Among his own proposals, Edwards
said, are getting rid of tax policies that
make it profitable for U.S. companies to
operate overseas; providing venture capital
for start-ups willing to locate in
high-job-loss areas and instituting tax
policies to help existing industries expand to
high job-loss areas. He said he would
create a rural development initiative and
offer pay incentives to get good teachers into
poor school districts.”(9/9/2003)
… Edwards
baffling Dems in both New Hampshire and South
Carolina – as well as the Boston Globe’s
Patrick Healy – by campaigning in NH while
ignoring southern voters. Headline from
Healy’s Sunday report from Durham, NH: “Edwards
meets, greets, repeats” Excerpt: “If
Senator John Edwards has little hope of
winning the New Hampshire primary -- as some
of his own aides acknowledge -- then why is he
spending so much time up here? That was a
question on the minds of some Democrats during
a recent Edwards swing through South Carolina,
where, they complained privately, the North
Carolinian needs to energize his natural home
base in the South if he's to win the White
House. Yet the Edwards campaign is
operating on the conventional assumption that
you win South Carolina the old-fashioned way
-- with a pricey run of television commercials
-- while you write off the Granite State at
your peril. What's more, Edwards
advisers say that retail politics, which New
Hampshire demands, shows their candidate at
his best. He uses a town hall-style format
here that adds heft to a campaign some deride
as Clinton Lite, and has pledged to hold
more than 100 before the Jan. 27 New Hampshire
primary. Far from shaking hands in Hampton or
kissing babies in Bedford, these town halls
are issues-oriented, sometimes unpredictable
affairs. Voters have an hour to pose any
question or take any shot they want, and
Edwards usually handles it all with aplomb
-- offering detailed answers on everything
from clean air to Chinese currency, and
showing poise in the face of unwelcome
comments (on his support for the Iraq war
resolution, for instance) or difficult topics
such as the death of his elder son, Wade.
But 100 town hall meetings will consume a
large chunk of a candidate's schedule, and
Edwards takes every opportunity to hold
another one. (He has had about 30 so far.)
During a recent lunchtime ‘drop by’ at Young's
Restaurant, Edwards passed up time to munch
on a sandwich and instead declared that he was
holding an impromptu town hall because he had
a bigger crowd than expected. ‘One hundred
town halls is a serious commitment of time,
but we're talking about someone who works 16-,
18-hour days, seven days a week,’ said
spokesman Colin Van Ostern. ‘He can campaign a
lot in New Hampshire, a lot in Iowa, and a lot
in South Carolina.’”(9/9/2003)
… Now that Edwards
has ruled out Senate re-election bid,
expectations increase in South Carolina that
he’ll be a top player. Headline from
yesterday’s Charleston Post and Courier: “Edwards
likely to wage key campaign in S. C.”
Excerpt from report by Schuyler Kropf: “North
Carolina Sen. John Edwards' announcement that
he'll stick to one term in the U.S. Senate and
will run solely for the White House makes it
more likely he'll become a campaign fixture in
South Carolina, political observers say.
With a tight pack of northern Democrats
fighting over Iowa and New Hampshire, Edwards
has to finish near the top in South Carolina's
Feb. 3 primary or face the prospects of
packing it in, said Wofford College political
scientist Robert Jeffrey. Edwards told the
North Carolina Democratic Party he would not
seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2004.
Although his decision was not unexpected, it
removes any doubt he might be distracted by
running two races at once. ‘It's a sign he's
serious about being a presidential candidate,’
Jeffrey said. Reports from Iowa and New
Hampshire indicate Edwards is not drawing the
interest some other candidates are getting,
particularly former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
Because of that, following a strategy that
concentrates on South Carolina might be a good
one for Edwards to follow, Jeffrey said.
‘The way it looks now, everybody is going to
come out of Iowa and New Hampshire behind
Dean, so it's who is going to be left,’ he
said. ‘Edwards will be there because no one
expects him to win up there anyway.’ A
poll of South Carolina voters released last
week showed Edwards leading the
Democrat contenders in the state, though
almost half of the likely primary voters
remain undecided, and the margin of error
makes the race a statistical tie. Edwards
was at 10 percent; Dean was at 9
percent; Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry
was at 8 percent; and Connecticut Sen. Joe
Lieberman was at 8 percent in the poll
released by Zogby International. About 46
percent of those surveyed said they were
unsure about which candidate to back, a number
unchanged from March.” (9/10/2003)
… Edwards counters
Dean’s race remark at Tuesday night’s debate –
and even Associated Press reporter Pickler
notes that “Dean was wrong.” Headline on
washingtonpost.com: “Edwards Critical of
Dean Over Race Remark” Excerpt from
Pickler’s report posted yesterday: “Democrat
Howard Dean's claim that he is the only white
politician who talks about race to white
audiences drew criticism Wednesday from one of
his presidential rivals. Sen. John Edwards
said the entire field discusses racial issues
on the campaign trail. ‘I think what
Howard Dean said last night does a disservice
to everyone he stood next to and all the
people before us who have raised this issue
over and over again in front of all
audiences,’ the North Carolina lawmaker said
one day after the nine candidates debated in
Baltimore. Dean, defending himself against
criticism that his supporters are mostly
white, told the predominantly black debate
crowd, ‘I'm the only white politician that
ever talks about race in front of white
audiences.’ Dean was wrong.
Edwards urges racial tolerance in nearly
ever speech he gives on the campaign trail,
including addresses to white crowds. Sen. Joe
Lieberman of Connecticut talks about
his efforts as a student during the 1960s
civil rights movement. Sen. John Kerry
of Massachusetts has discussed race and its
role in his Vietnam service. ‘What he said
last night was divisive and divisive is
exactly what we're trying to overcome. He's
right about one thing, politicians should talk
about civil rights wherever they go. And in
the future, I hope he leads by example instead
of by attack,’ Edwards said in a
telephone interview. ‘Sen. Lieberman
marched with Martin Luther King. Sen. Kerry
talks about his experience in Vietnam. I grew
up in the segregated South. Fighting for civil
rights is part of who I am which is why I
talked about it in front of every audience and
whoever I'm with,’ he said. The North
Carolina lawmaker had avoided attacking his
rivals until Wednesday, but his criticism
is another sign that Dean's eight rivals are
throwing elbows at the front-runner in an
effort to force their way to the front. In
previous appearances together, the
candidates have looked more like a ragtag team
of underdogs hankering to make the big leagues
and take on President Bush. The sharpest barbs
have been aimed at the president, while the
candidates largely have avoided challenging
each other by name. Not so Tuesday night at
a debate sponsored by the Congressional Black
Caucus. Some of the sharpest exchanges were
between front-runner Dean and Lieberman, the
Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000.”
(9/11/2003)
… IOWA PRES
WATCH SIDEBAR: In yesterday’s News & Observer
of Raleigh, John Wagner reported that
U.S. Sen. John
Edwards will make his formal announcement for
president in front of a shuttered textile mill
in his boyhood home of Robbins.
The
North Carolina Democrat's announcement is
scheduled for Sept. 16. Edwards' father
formerly worked at the mill, owned by Milliken
& Company. The plant is also featured in a
campaign ad Edwards is airing. Besides
Edwards, those expected to appear on the
program in Robbins include North Carolina Gov.
Mike Easley, former North Carolina Gov. Jim
Hunt and former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt.
(9/11/2003)
… Service
Employees International delays decision as
Edwards gains – and Kerry stumbles – in the
endorsement derby. Excerpt from report by
AP’s Leigh Strope: “The largest union in
the AFL-CIO decided Wednesday to delay making
a presidential endorsement, although John
Edwards surged from unknown to contender while
John Kerry stumbled. Service Employees
International Union officials said members
weren't ready to commit to one of nine
Democrats vying to challenge President Bush
next year. An endorsement probably won't
come until November, said President Andy
Stern. Even so, the top contenders shuffled
slightly after 1,500 state and local union
leaders heard from the candidates Monday.
Edwards, the North Carolina senator,
catapulted into the top three, pushing out
Kerry, the Massachusetts senator. Former
Vermont governor Howard Dean and Rep. Dick
Gephardt of Missouri, the traditional labor
favorite, remained on the list, Stern said.
He would not disclose rankings and vote
totals…SEIU members before Monday didn't know
much about Edwards. But he
‘introduced himself powerfully, and moved from
having almost no support to being one of the
top three candidates that the members leaving
this conference are interested in,’ Stern
said. Several SEIU members said they liked
Edwards' populist message and his John F.
Kennedyesque good looks. In nearly every
speech he gives, and Monday's was no
different, he highlighted his working-class
background as the son of a mill worker.
Stern cautioned that Kerry, who has lost his
front-runner status to Dean, still had a lot
of support in the union, with the rankings
reflecting just the views of the 1,500 leaders
at this week's conference. Conference
participants were asked to rank their two
favorites before and after they heard the
candidates. Many arrived already
enthusiastic about Dean, and after hearing
him, ‘their enthusiasm is unabated,’ Stern
said. ‘I think Howard Dean is making a series
of statements that are very important and
powerful,’ he said. Gephardt, who
has been plagued with concerns about his
ability to excite Democratic voters,
increased his support, Stern said, noting that
members responded favorably to his fiery and
passionate speech. He too emphasizes his
blue-collar roots and his Teamster father in
his speeches. Gephardt has staked his
presidential ambition on support from
organized labor, and has received 12 union
endorsements so far. No other candidate has
won backing from an international union. But
Gephardt's support is mostly from trades and
industrial unions, reflecting the common
divide in organized labor between traditional,
blue-collar unions and public and service
sector unions. SEIU is the nation's
fastest growing union and among the most
liberal and racially diverse, making it an
enticing prize for Democrats seeking labor
support. Its members are janitors, nursing
home workers, home health care workers,
hospital nurses and government employees. Many
are Hispanic. Gephardt, who stumbled in
his 1988 bid, must convince leaders like Stern
that the lectern-pounding, red-faced,
emotional candidate of Monday is for real if
he is to have a shot at a laborwide, AFL-CIO
endorsement next month. It's a difficult
task made even tougher by Dean, who is wooing
labor leaders with the large crowds he has
attracted and his successful Internet
fund-raising. The wild card remains Wesley
Clark. Stern said his union would take a
serious look at the retired Army general who
has been flirting with a run. Clark
was invited to this week's conference, but was
unable to attend. SEIU leaders hope to meet
with him in the next week or two, Stern said.
Meanwhile, Clark has promised to reveal
his presidential plans by the end of next
week.” (9/11/2003)
… Edwards
pushes college program – and endorsement by
national prez of College Dems – in interviews
with state’s two major campus newspapers.
Both the Daily Iowan (University of Iowa) and
Iowa State Daily (Iowa State University)
yesterday highlighted Edwards’ plan to
provide free tuition for students willing to
work 10 hours a week during their first year
in school. (9/12/2003)
…
Accelerated Iowa campaign effort highlighted
by four Dem wannabes taking to the TV
airwaves. Headline in yesterday’s
Quad-City Times: “Caucus field is opting
for TV” Excerpt from report by the Times’
Ed Tibbetts: “There’s still four months to
go before the Iowa caucuses, but Democrats
running for president have begun filling the
airwaves with television commercials. Four of
the candidates are already on the air, and one
says he’ll continue running commercials until
the Jan. 19 caucuses. Experts say the
advertising — which appears to be happening
earlier than in past Democratic caucus races —
is being prompted by the heavy slate of
candidates, peer pressure and the proximity to
Labor Day. And another says the ads are
spurred by a desire to look presidential to
political types beyond our borders. U.S.
Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass, John Edwards,
D-North Carolina, former Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean and U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt,
D-Missouri, all are advertising on television.
In fact, Dean kicked it off with a $300,000
buy this summer. Edwards’ campaign says it
will continue with its commercials right up to
the caucuses. Like many of the happenings
on the campaign trail this year, Dean
appears to have been a catalyst for some of
the activity. ‘Dean upped the ante by
airing his ads,’ says Steffen Schmidt, a
political science professor at Iowa State
University.” (9/14/2003)
… “Candidates
try to be hipper-than-thou” – headline on
Mark Silva’s column in yesterday’s Orlando
Sentinel. Silva reports other wannabes try
to outdo Howie – jog with Edwards or jam with
Kerry. Excerpt: “Everybody wants to be
Howard Dean. He's the former governor of
Vermont raising millions of dollars for his
campaign for president from small donors
logging on to his Web site. Here are some
actual outtakes from the imaginary set of
Being Howard Dean: * ‘Jog with
John.’ Forty-four dollars and a little
chain e-mail buys a headband with that
inscription. That's $44 for the campaign of
U.S. Sen. John Edwards, the jogging junior
senator from North Carolina seeking the
Democratic nomination. That's 44, as in 44th
president. Buy one, and get four friends
to donate $44 online, and the headband is
yours. Or, if you want to skip the hard
work of recruiting four friends, the campaign
says, you can buy the headband for $220.
Really. * Howard Dean has his
"Meet-Ups," town-hall styled Internet salons
for supporters. John Kerry has
Meet-Ups, too, fourth Thursday of each month.
Howard Dean played guitar at a blues club
in Des Moines, Iowa, this summer. But Kerry
already was playing guitar for a long time.
‘Kerry Unplugged’ is prominently featured
on his Web site, complete with pictures of the
senator from Massachusetts and his sunburst
Gibson ES-137 guitar. See Kerry playing
with Moby, and see Kerry practicing a
routine he hopes to run on the Democratic
field: Bruce Springsteen's ‘Tenth Avenue
Freeze-Out.’” (9/14/2003)
…
Washington Post: Most Dem wannabes are haunted
by their past records -- but Dean benefits
since he’s the one without a voting record on
the Bush agenda. Headline from Friday’s
Post: “Past Votes Dog Some Presidential
Candidates… Democrats Defend Siding With
Bush” Excerpt from report by Jim VandeHei: “Presidential
candidate John F. Kerry is bashing President
Bush's policies on Iraq, education and civil
liberties. What he rarely mentions, however,
is that his Senate votes helped make all three
possible. The Massachusetts Democrat is
not alone. Rep. Richard A. Gephardt
(Mo.) -- who is calling Bush's Iraq policy a
‘miserable failure’ -- led the House fight
last year to allow the president to wage the
war without the international help the
lawmaker now demands. Gephardt, then the
House Democratic leader, also voted for the
USA Patriot Act, which expands the
government's surveillance powers, and for
Bush's No Child Left Behind education program.
He often criticizes the policies now. Sen.
John Edwards (N.C.) is calling for Bush to
enlist the help of the United Nations in Iraq,
even though he, like Kerry and Gephardt, had
the opportunity to vote against the war
resolution and in support of one measure
demanding U.N. involvement during last fall's
congressional debate. Edwards is
also calling for changes to the Patriot Act,
for which he voted, and more funding for the
education plan, which he voted to authorize.
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) voted with
Bush on all three, too. That these
lawmakers voted with Bush on key issues is
complicating their bids to win their party's
nomination, as fellow Democrats demand
explanations. As the campaign progresses,
it also could make it harder for them to draw
sharp distinctions with Bush on what are
shaping up as among the biggest issues of the
2004 campaign, according to political
strategists. Kerry, Edwards, Lieberman and
Gephardt contend that their votes for Bush's
agenda took place in much different political
climates and were predicated on their beliefs
the president would carry out each initiative
in a different manner than he has. In
Iraq, they say, they believed he would work
harder to win U.N. assistance. On the Patriot
Act, they believed the administration would
carefully protect citizens' privacy and civil
rights. And on education, they believed Bush
would fully fund the program. Moreover, a
large number of congressional Democrats voted
the same way they did. ‘Your votes are your
votes, and you need to stand and explain,’
Gephardt said. ‘You have to also describe
changes you would like to now make and also be
legitimately critical of where the
administration has done something’ wrong.
Still, their rivals are starting to use the
votes against the lawmakers, especially Kerry
and Gephardt. In Tuesday night's debate at
Morgan State University, Rep. Dennis J.
Kucinich (Ohio) -- the only House member
running for president who opposed the Bush
agenda in Congress -- and others repeatedly
accused their rivals of trying to have it both
ways, voting with Bush in Congress and bashing
him on the campaign trail, especially on Iraq.
The most stinging rebuke came when Al
Sharpton turned Gephardt's new favorite phrase
against the Missouri lawmaker, saying it was a
‘miserable failure’ for Gephardt and other
Democrats to have helped authorize the war.
The biggest beneficiary of all this appears
to be Howard Dean, who as a former Vermont
governor did not have to vote for or against
the president's agenda, party strategists
said. ‘He does get a break, because he didn't
have to lay it on the line with a vote,’ said
Gerald W. McEntee, international president of
the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees. This has freed Dean to
become Bush's biggest critic of the war and
helped distinguish him from the Democratic
pack by allowing him to ridicule Bush's
domestic agenda without having to defend a
series of votes.” (9/14/2003)
… Edwards
boosts prospects for union endorsements.
Headline from Thursday’s News & Observer of
Raleigh: “Edwards in running for key
endorsement” Excerpt from report by N&O’s
John Wagner: “U.S.
Sen. John Edwards has moved into the running
for a key union endorsement that could provide
a major boost for his presidential candidacy.
Based on the strength of his performance
Monday at a conference of the Service
Employees International Union, the North
Carolina Democrat is now one of three
candidates under consideration for the backing
of the group, which claims 1.6 million
members. ‘John Edwards, a person who a
lot of members didn't know much about,
introduced himself powerfully, and moved from
having almost no support to being one of the
top three candidates that the members leaving
this conference are interested in,’ SEIU
President Andrew L. Stern state in a statement
Wednesday. Also under consideration are
U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, a
long-time ally of labor unions, and former
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has emerged as
the Democratic front-runner in Iowa and New
Hampshire, the first two key nominating
contests. The SEIU is the fast-growing of
unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO, labor's
umbrella organization.” (9/14/2003)
Going for the bronze
in New Hampshire: In the largely ignored
battle for third in New Hampshire, Boston
Globe columnist says Edwards is making a move.
Headline on Friday’s column by Scot Lehigh
from Bedford, NH: “Edwards is getting a
closer look in N. H.” Excerpt: “As a
mark of seriousness, it was unmistakable. US
Senator John Edwards surprised the political
world this week by ruling out a run for
reelection to his North Carolina seat, an
option widely assumed to be his fallback if
his presidential campaign sputters. ‘I
obviously feel very optimistic or I wouldn't
have made that decision,’ Edwards says,
noting that he is now ahead (albeit very
narrowly) in South Carolina, site of the most
important early Southern primary, and making
progress in Iowa and New Hampshire. By
boldly burning his bridge, the first-term
senator, who will formally announce for
president on Tuesday, has underscored his
determination. That hasn't gone unnoticed in
New Hampshire, where Edwards is in the hunt
for third place. With most media watching
the duel between former Vermont governor
Howard Dean and Massachusetts Senator
John Kerry, little attention has been
paid to the battle for bronze. Still,
finishing a solid third is important for those
candidates hoping to survive Iowa and New
Hampshire and then jump-start their campaigns
in the Feb. 3 round of primaries. A new
Boston Globe poll has three of those hopefuls
-- Edwards, US Representative Richard Gephardt
of Missouri, and Connecticut Senator Joseph
Lieberman -- bunched in single digits.
However, among New Hampshire observers,
there's a sense that Lieberman is fading
and Gephardt is stalled. And increasingly
that it's Edwards, the new face, who is
earning an interested look as the campaign
quickens. ‘He is in the mix, and his window of
opportunity is right now,’ says Senator Lou
D'Allesandro, Democrat of Manchester, who is
uncommitted in the race. To be sure,
Edwards hasn't yet found the perfect pitch.
His twangy Southern warmth sometimes overheats
into cornpone, and his focus may be too
weighted toward the working class for a
relatively well-heeled state. Still, the
North Carolinian has put forth an interesting
mix of ideas to expand educational
opportunities, boost savings, promote ‘fair
trade’ policies, close tax loopholes, and
target business-development funds to regions
suffering trade-related job loss.
Meanwhile, his status as a Southerner adds
extra electoral weight to a resume otherwise
seen as somewhat slender…A non-Southern
candidate risks conceding to the Republicans a
base that includes the 11 states of the old
Confederacy, plus Kentucky and Oklahoma, 13
states that total 168 electoral votes, says
Mayer. To that total, add some other
regularly Republican states from the Midwest,
Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain West.
Including those that George W. Bush won by at
least 9 percentage points in 2000 puts another
11 states, with 55 electoral votes, in the GOP
column. ‘Assuming national conditions are
approximately what they are today, with a
non-Southern candidate at the top of the
Democratic ticket, the Republicans have a
pretty safe, solid base of 223 electoral
votes’ of the required 270, Mayer says. Now,
there's always a risk of reading too much into
results from a handful of elections. And yet
that data does make a certain strategic
argument for a Southerner. Interestingly,
it's an argument Edwards isn't inclined
to make for himself. Meeting with reporters
after a Tuesday speech to a New England
Council breakfast, Edwards saw
biography, not geography, as destiny, saying
his real strength was his roots in the working
class. ‘If I am on a stage with George Bush in
2004, I can make the most powerful case about
him leaving those people behind,’ Edwards
says. So is a Democrat from the South more
electable than the candidates from the North?
‘I think I can beat George Bush,’ Edwards
said. ‘I'll let voters decide what they think
about the other.’ (9/14/2003)
… Edwards
pushes for college vote in Iowa – calls
himself “the most appealing candidate to
university students.” Headline from
Thursday’s Iowa State Daily (Iowa State
University): “College Dems’ president
endorses Edwards” Excerpt from report by
the Daily’s Scott Rank: “Sen. John Edwards,
D-NC, announced he had received the
endorsement of Ashley Bell, president of the
College Democrats of America, and announced
his agenda for young Americans during a
conference call with college newspapers
Wednesday. Edwards took advantage
of the endorsement from the president of the
College Democrats, the official outreach arm
of the Democratic Party, calling himself
the ‘most appealing candidate to university
students.’ While Bell announced his
individual support for Edwards, the
College Democrats don't officially support any
of the nine democratic presidential
candidates….’Young people are aching for real
leadership on the issues to our lives. Today's
graduates are struggling to find jobs,’ Bell
said. ‘I want a job after college, and John
Edwards will make the first year of college
free and has a plan to create jobs for the
college graduates this administration has
neglected. He is our best hope of winning
back the White House.’ Edwards said he
was motivated to provide a year of free
college education because of personal reasons.
He was the first member of his family to
attend a university and worked his way through
North Carolina State University. Edwards
said his plan is to provide free tuition to a
student at a state university or college if
they meet the qualifications to be enrolled in
college and are willing to work 10 hours a
week during the first year in school.
Bell's support came at a critical time for
Edwards when his campaign is looking to
break away from the middle of the pack of nine
candidates and convince voters he is in the
presidential race for the long haul…Headline
from Thursday’s Daily Iowan (University of
Iowa): “Edwards pushes free-college plan”
Excerpt from report by the DI’s Jeffrey Patch:
“Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., defended his
‘College for Everyone’ plan and secured the
endorsement of the president of the College
Democrats, a national organization with 475
campus chapters, in a conference call with
reporters Wednesday. ‘John Edwards
will make the first year of college free, and
he has a plan to create jobs for the college
graduates this administration has neglected,’
said Ashley Bell, the national president of
the College Democrats. ‘He is our best hope
of winning back the White House.’ The
senator's college plan would give states
resources to make the first year of tuition at
every public university and community college
free for students who commit to working 10
hours a week. The 50-year-old senator said he
will repeal the Bush tax cuts on the
wealthiest Americans and ‘cut unnecessary
corporate subsidies and close pointless tax
loopholes’ to pay for such programs as College
for Everyone. On Sunday, Edwards
announced that he is fully committed to
running for president, and he will not seek
re-election to the Senate in 2004 or the
vice-presidential spot. ‘I am running for
president, period,’ he told The Daily Iowan on
Wednesday from a Philadelphia campaign stop.
‘There is no doubt in my mind whether I will
be the Democratic nominee.’” (9/14/2003)
Edwards
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