20080810
John Edwards - John McCain - Media - Politics - 2008 Election - Obama - Family - People - Money - History
"Catching the Wrong John: Why Are the Media Talking about John Edwards' Infidelity If They Aren't Going to Talk about John McCain's?" ... "If John Edwards' infidelity is news, and he's not a candidate for anything, why isn't [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's? He reportedly had numerous affairs in the years after returning home from Vietnam to a beautiful wife who had been disfigured in a car accident, and ultimately, by his own reports, he zeroed in like a laser on beautiful a 25-year-old heiress upon meeting her one evening in 1979 while he was still married, promptly lied to her about his age, and almost as promptly left his wife for her. We all extol John McCain for enduring 5 years of extreme hardship in Vietnam. But aren't his first wife's circumstances much like Elizabeth Edwards'? After all, the first Mrs. McCain waited in agony (and presumably fidelity) during those five long years for her beloved husband to return from Vietnam, raising their children while he was away and undergoing dozens of painful operations herself, only to be repaid by a philandering husband who ultimately left her for a younger woman." ... "Now personally, I don't think anybody's sex life has any bearing on a campaign, except to the extent that the candidate runs as a hypocrite, extolling family values, fighting gays while fighting his own gay demons, etc. But John McCain is increasingly making this campaign about character, and his actions over many years suggest some worrisome patterns that fly in the face of the entire story he tells about himself. Setting aside his cheating on his first wife, what about his attending to something other than the people's business as a member of the Keating Five (and ultimately contributing to a bailout that cost middle class American taxpayers the equivalent of nearly half a trillion in 2008 tax dollars -- imagine the middle class tax break we could offer if we weren't still paying off the principal and debt on that boondoggle); or hiring the most dishonest, amoral campaign team money could buy in 2008; or generating one fabricated or grossly misleading charge after another against [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama in the last three weeks (as in his sleazy new tax ad where, for example, he says Obama would raise taxes on small businesses when Obama has never proposed anything of the sort)? Like [Republican] George W. Bush, he doesn't seem like a man who once was lost but now is found. He [McCain] seems more like a man's whose principles are soluble in self-interest." -By Drew Westen -HuffingtonPost.com

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20080809
WATCH - John Edwards - People
"John Edwards ABC Interview: Discusses Affair With Rielle Hunter (VIDEO)." ... "John Edwards appeared on ABC"s Nightline Friday to discuss the revelations about his affair with Rielle Hunter. During the interview Edwards spoke about how the relationship began, what drove him to adultery, its effect on his political future, and whether or not he was the father of Hunter's child." ... "Read the full transcript" -HuffingtonPost.com

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WATCH: John Edwards ABC Interview (3 Parts)

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20080808
John McCain - John Edwards - Family - People - 2008 Election - Politicians
"How is John McCain's Affair Different than John Edwards'?" ... "We have this weird notion in America now that if a politician is caught in an affair that his career is done. We seem to be saying that what he did in his private life effects his policies or how he governs. But we all know that isn't true. We know that because almost all of our great presidents, and great leaders throughout history, have had numerous affairs. Obviously it didn't hurt how they governed at all." ... "Now, we get to the most relevant question - if [former 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards' political career is done, why isn't John McCain's? [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain had a well-documented affair on his first wife, with his current wife. He has admitted in the books he has written about his life that he ran around with several different women while still married to his first wife. And don't forget that he left her for a younger, richer woman - multi-millionaire Cindy Hensley who is now Cindy McCain - after she had been severely hurt in a car accident." ... "So, why are McCain's actions any more excusable than Edwards'? Because it was thirty years ago? Does that wash it away? Will we be fine with Edwards running for office again in a couple of years because then it will all be in the past? What is the statute of limitations on an affair?" ... "Remember Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan and Ross Perot were so upset with how John McCain dealt with his first wife that they didn't forgive him for a very, very long time. Perot still hasn't forgiven him. In fact, he said recently about McCain dumping his first wife for Cindy, "McCain is the classic opportunist. He's always reaching for attention and glory."" ... "So, I want every pundit who condemns John Edwards today to tell me what the difference between him and McCain is and why John McCain shouldn't also be run out of politics for his adulterous affairs and what he did to his first wife." -By Cenk Uygur -HuffingtonPost.com

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Elizabeth Edwards - John Edwards - Family - 2008 Election - Politics
"Today." [By Elizabeth Edwards] ... "Our family has been through a lot. Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness, and some – most recently – caused by the desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences.  None of these has been easy.  But we have stood with one another through them all.  Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him." ... "John made a terrible mistake in 2006.  The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007.  This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well.  Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private." ... "The pain of the long journey since 2006 was about to be renewed." ... "John has spoken in a long on-camera interview I hope you watch. Admitting one’s mistakes is a hard thing for anyone to do, and I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame.  The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown.  But now the truth is out, and the repair work that began in 2006 will continue.  I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John’s conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time." -By Elizabeth Edwards -DailyKos.com 

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John Edwards - Elizabeth Edwards - North Carolina - Politics
"Transcript: John Edwards Interview: Read Selections of Bob Woodruff's Interview With John Edwards." ... "The following excerpts are from an interview by ABC News' Bob Woodruff of former [North Carolina Senator] Sen. John Edwards for ABC News "Nightline" on Aug. 8, 2008." ... "JOHN EDWARDS: In 2006 2 years ago, I made a very serious mistake. A mistake that I am responsible for and no one else. In 2006 I told Elizabeth about the mistake, asked her for her forgiveness, asked God for his forgiveness. And we have kept this within our family since that time. All of my family knows about this and just to be absolutely clear, none of them are responsible for it. I am responsible for it. I alone am responsible for it. And it led to this most recent incident at the Beverly Hilton. I was at the Beverly Hilton. I was there for a very simple reason, because I was trying to keep this mistake that I had made from becoming public." ... "BOB WOODRUFF: Is this affair completely over?" ... "JOHN EDWARDS: Oh yes, it's been over for a long time." ... "WOODRUFF: I know this is a very difficult question, but were you in love with [Rielle Hunter]?" ... "EDWARDS: I'm in love with one woman. I've been in love with one woman for 31 years. She is the finest human being I have ever known. And the fact that she is with me after this having happened is a testament to the kind of woman and the kind of human being she is. There is a deep and abiding love that exists between Elizabeth and myself. It's always been there, it in my judgment has never gone away. " (1, 2, 3, 4) -ABCNEWS.com 

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20080514
• John Edwards - Barack Obama - 2008 Election - North Carolina - Illinois - Michigan - Clinton - "Edwards Endorses Obama." ... "John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina who bowed out of the [2008 Election] presidential race in January, endorsed [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama at a rally here tonight." ... "“The reason I am here tonight is because the Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and so have I,” Mr. Edwards said. " ... [WATCH: John Edwards: "There is one man who knows and understands that this is the time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground up. There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America, not two, and that man is Barack Obama."]
Edwards Obama

[NYTimes photo] "Officials announced the news of Mr. Edwards’s endorsement shortly after Mr. Obama landed here [in Michigan] late this afternoon." ... "Mr. Edwards began by paying tribute to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Mrs. Clinton. “It is very, very hard to get up every day and do what she’s done,” Mr. Edwards Mrs. Clinton. “It is hard to go out there and fight and speak up when the odds turn against you. What she has shown is strength and character.”" ... "He said Mrs. Clinton is a “woman who is made of steel. She is a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done.”" -By Jim Rutenberg and Julie Bosman with contributions by Jeff Zeleny -NYTimes

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WATCH full video: "John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama."

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20080427
• Elizabeth Edwards - Edwards - Biden - Barack Obama - Media - Television - Corporations - Sports - Politics - 2008 Election - Pennsylvania - Freedom - Health - "Bowling 1, Health Care 0." ... "For the last month, news media attention was focused on Pennsylvania and its [2008 Election] Democratic primary. Given the gargantuan effort, what did we learn?" ... "Well, the rancor of the campaign was covered. The amount of money spent was covered. But in Pennsylvania, as in the rest of the country this political season, the information about the candidates’ priorities, policies and principles — information that voters will need to choose the next president — too often did not make the cut. After having spent more than a year on the campaign trail with my husband, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards, I’m not surprised." ... "Why? Here’s my guess: The vigorous press that was deemed an essential part of democracy at our country’s inception is now consigned to smaller venues, to the Internet and, in the mainstream media, to occasional articles. I am not suggesting that every journalist for a mainstream media outlet is neglecting his or her duties to the public. And I know that serious newspapers and magazines run analytical articles, and public television broadcasts longer, more probing segments." ... "But I am saying that every analysis that is shortened, every corner that is cut, moves us further away from the truth until what is left is the Cliffs Notes of the news, or what I call strobe-light journalism, in which the outlines are accurate enough but we cannot really see the whole picture." ... "Did you, for example, ever know a single fact about [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Joe Biden’s health care plan? Anything at all? But let me guess, you know [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama’s bowling score. We are choosing a president, the next leader of the free world. We are not buying soap, and we are not choosing a court clerk with primarily administrative duties." ... "What’s more, the news media cut candidates like Joe Biden out of the process even before they got started." ... "News is different from other programming on television or other content in print. It is essential to an informed electorate. And an informed electorate is essential to freedom itself. But as long as corporations to which news gathering is not the primary source of income or expertise get to decide what information about the candidates “sells,” we are not functioning as well as we could if we had the engaged, skeptical press we deserve." ... "If voters want a vibrant, vigorous press, apparently we will have to demand it." (1, 2) -By Elizabeth Edwards -NYTimes 

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20080408
• Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - John Edwards - John McCain - Health - 2008 Election - New York - Illinois - Ariz - "Elizabeth Edwards Backs Clinton Health Care Plan: Edwards Declines to Endorse Either Democrat, but Likes Idea of 'Dream Ticket'." ... "Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former [2008 Election] presidential candidate John Edwards, remains unwilling to endorse either of the two remaining Democratic contenders, but the health care advocate told ABC News she preferred [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator Hillary] Sen. Clinton's health plan to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator Barack] Sen. Obama's." ... "In an interview with "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts, airing Wednesday, Edwards — who recently began work as a senior fellow at the liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress — said she believed Clinton's health care plan was more inclusive than that of the Illinois senator." ... ""You need that universality in order to get the cost savings ... I just have more confidence in Sen. Clinton's policy than Sen. Obama's on this particular issue," she said." ... "She [Elizabeth Edwards] argued that neither she, who has breast cancer, nor [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator John] McCain, R-Ariz., who had skin cancer in the past, could obtain health insurance under his health care proposal." ... "Edwards said she liked the idea of Clinton and Obama running together on a so-called dream ticket, and discounted the idea of her husband, John, accepting a place as either candidate's running mate." ... ""[Clinton and Obama] are the two strongest Democrats running. It's hard not to believe that together they are stronger than they would be apart."" (1, 2) -By Russell Goldman -ABCNEWS.com 

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20080330
• John McCain - Edwards - Consumer - Laws - Politics - Arizona - Women - 2008 Election - "McCain's health plan fails her test: Neither Elizabeth Edwards, whose cancer is incurable, nor the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would be covered by his policy, she asserts." ... "Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former [2008 Election] Democratic presidential contender John Edwards, said she and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain have one thing in common: "Neither one of us would be covered by his health policy."" ... "Edwards lodged her criticism of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's proposal Saturday at the annual meeting of the Assn. [Association] of Health Care Journalists." ... "Under McCain's plan, insurance companies "wouldn't have to cover preexisting conditions like melanoma and breast cancer," she said." ... "McCain has been treated for melanoma, the most serious type of skin malignancy. Edwards in 2004 was diagnosed with breast cancer, and announced a year ago that it had returned and spread into her bones, meaning it no longer could be cured." ... "His [McCain's health] plan would make it difficult for people with preexisting conditions, but who aren't covered by a government- or job-sponsored plan, to buy individual coverage, Edwards said." ... "Cancer survivors are routinely denied insurance when they try to purchase it as individuals, health experts say." ... "Edwards also criticized McCain's proposal because it would allow companies to sell health insurance across state lines." ... ""... Edwards said the plan would allow insurers to move their headquarters to states in which consumer protection laws are weak." -By Rong-Gong Lin II -LAtimes 

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20080328
• John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Poverty - Health Care - Economics - Politics - North Carolina - 2008 Election - "Who’ll Stop the Pain?" ... "In the days after [former 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards’s withdrawal from the Democratic race, the political world expected his endorsement of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama would be forthcoming tout de suite." ... "But now two months have passed since Edwards dropped out—tempus fugit!—and still no endorsement. Why? According to a Democratic strategist unaligned with any campaign but with knowledge of the situation gleaned from all three camps, the answer is simple: Obama blew it. Speaking to Edwards on the day he exited the race, Obama came across as glib and aloof. His response to Edwards’s imprecations that he make poverty a central part of his agenda was shallow, perfunctory, pat. [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton, by contrast, engaged Edwards in a lengthy policy discussion. Her affect was solicitous and respectful. When Clinton met Edwards face-to-face in North Carolina ten days later, her approach continued to impress; she even made headway with Elizabeth [Edwards, John Edwards's wife]. Whereas in his Edwards sit-down, Obama dug himself in deeper, getting into a fight with Elizabeth about health care, insisting that his plan is universal (a position she considers a crock), high-handedly criticizing Clinton’s plan (and by extension Edwards’s) for its insurance mandate." -By John Heilemann -NYMag.com 

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20080302
• John McCain - John Hagee - Religious - Politician - Terrorism - Women - Arizona - Texas - North Carolina - John Edwards - 2008 Election - Media - "NY Times' standards for Catholic League's Donohue: Three articles for criticism of Edwards, two paragraphs for criticism of McCain." ... "Summary: The New York Times has devoted only two paragraphs and 102 words thus far to Catholic League president Bill Donohue's criticism of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain for his failure to repudiate the support of evangelist John Hagee, who has made statements Donohue considers anti-Catholic, and McCain's ensuing response. By comparison, the Times published three separate articles on Donohue's criticism of former [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and North Carolina Senator] Sen. John Edwards' presidential campaign for hiring two bloggers who Donohue contended were "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots," and the Edwards campaign's subsequent reaction." ... "In its March 1 article on a new Clinton campaign ad, the Times reported:"
"On the Republican side, Mr. McCain defended his endorsement from the Rev. John C. Hagee, an evangelical pastor in Texas. On Thursday, the president of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, released a statement calling on Mr. McCain to repudiate the endorsement for what Mr. Donohue said was Mr. Hagee's war on the Catholic Church in calling it the "anti-Christ" and "a false cult system."" ... "Mr. McCain responded that he was proud of Mr. Hagee's spiritual leadership and his commitment to Israel, and that "when he endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for or believes in.""
"In addition to the comments about Catholicism highlighted by the Times, Hagee has also made controversial statements about homosexuality, Islam, and women. For instance, investigative journalist Sarah Posner reported in God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters (PoliPointPress, January 2008) that in his book What Every Man Wants in a Woman (Charisma House, 2005), Hagee wrote: "Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist." -MediaMatters.org

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20080130
• John Edwards - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - New Orleans - Louisiana - Poverty - Homeless- People - Health Care - US - Iraq - Military - Money - 2008 Election - "Democrat Edwards exits presidential race: Clinton, Obama praise ex-rival, who refrains from endorsing one or other." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat John Edwards bowed out of the race for the White House on Wednesday, saying it was time to step aside “so that history can blaze its path” in a campaign now left to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Rodham Clinton and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama." ... ""It is time for me to step aside," said Edwards, ending his second campaign in a hurricane-ravaged section of New Orleans [Louisiana] where he began it more than a year ago. “With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November.”" ... "Edwards said Clinton and Obama had both pledged that “they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.”" ... "“This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause,” he said before a small group of supporters. He was joined by his wife Elizabeth and his three children, Cate, Emma Claire and Jack." ... "Edwards said that on his way to make his campaign-ending statement, he drove by a highway underpass where several homeless people live. He stopped to talk, he said, and as he was leaving, one of them asked him never to forget them and their plight." ... "“Well I say to her and I say to all those who are struggling in this country, we will never forget you. We will fight for you. We will stand up for you,” he said, pledging to continue his campaign-long effort to end what he frequently said was “two Americas,” one for the powerful, the other for the rest." ... "Edwards burst out of the starting gate with a flurry of progressive policy ideas — he was the first to offer a plan for universal health care, the first to call on Congress to pull funding for the [Iraq] war, and he led the charge that lobbyists have too much power in Washington and need to be reigned in." (1, 2) -AP via -MSNBC 

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20080126
• Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - John Edwards - South Carolina - 2008 Election - "Obama smashes Clinton in S.C. victory." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama cruised to a decisive victory in South Carolina's presidential primary Saturday with overwhelming support from black voters and about one-fourth of whites as well, a win that leaves [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton humbled and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards staggering." ... "Clinton and her husband, the former president, fought hard in the final days to overtake the Illinois senator, or at least come close in a state where polls found she was the front-runner just last month." -By David Lightman -McClatchyDC.com 

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20080125
• John Edwards - Consumer - Marketplace - Politics - Government - Law - 2008 Election - North Carolina - South Carolina - "Health Care Up to Public, Edwards Says." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and North Carolina's] Former Senator John Edwards does not discount the possibility that his health care proposal, which would allow Americans to buy new government insurance packages modeled on Medicare, could evolve into a federalized system like those in Canada and many European countries. And if it does, Mr. Edwards said he would be just fine with that." ... "But Mr. Edwards, of North Carolina, emphasized in a 40-minute interview on health policy that the choice would be made not in Washington, but by consumers in an open marketplace where private insurance competes with government plans." ... "“American health consumers will decide which works best,” Mr. Edwards said Wednesday afternoon while traveling through South Carolina on his campaign bus. “It could continue to be divided. But it could go in one direction or the other, and one of the directions is obviously government or single-payer. And I’m not opposed to that.”" ... "If the government is able to undercut private insurers on price — by forgoing profit, reducing overhead, and maximizing economies of scale — it theoretically could put the private system out of business and become the de facto insurer for the nation." ... "Republican candidates and policy strategists have raised the specter of “socialized medicine” and depicted the Democratic plans as a back-door route to a so-called single-payer government system." ... "Mr. Edwards brushed off that critique. “There is nothing back-door about it,” he said. “It’s right through the front door. We’re going to let America decide what health care system works for them.”" (1, 2) -By Kevin Sack -NYTimes 

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20080123
• John Edwards - Entertainment - TV - Politics - 2008 Election - North Carolina - "John Edwards, Funny Guy." ... "Former Senator [of North Carolina and 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards did not receive an endorsement from David Letterman on CBS’s “The Late Show” Tuesday night, but he did receive eight valuable minutes to woo voters." ... "Mr. Edwards’ jokes earned several rounds of applause from an approving audience." ... "Mr. Letterman, who had a long feud and subsequent truce with Ms. [Oprah] Winfrey, extolled the talk show’s virtues, saying: “She’s admired and she’s beloved and she’s a role model for men and women all over the world now.” With the timing of a stand-up comedian, Mr. Edwards interrupted: “You think you’re not?”" ... "The line gave Mr. Letterman an uproarious laugh and a nod of approval. “Oh my God,” the host said, “he’s a funny guy, isn’t he?”" -By Brian Stelter -NYTimes 
• Watch: John Edwards on the Dave Letterman Show via YouTube.

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20080122
• John Edwards - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Money - Drug - 2008 Election - People - "Edwards ad hits rivals on special interests." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards new South Carolina TV ad referring to 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama:] "One gets more money than anyone from drug companies. The other one takes more money than anyone from Washington lobbyists," the narrator says as photos of Clinton and Obama appear on the screen." ... ""What’s happened to the Democratic Party? Whatever happened to the party of the people? Good question," the narrator continues, as a montage of Edwards on the campaign trail appears. "The only one who’s never taken a dime from PACs or Washington lobbyists, who knows we’ve been ignored too long, who knows that rebuilding the middle class is more important than politics? Our John Edwards. The only one."" -By Foon Rhee -BostonGlobe 

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• John Edwards - South Carolina - Workers - Economy - 2008 Election - Health-Care - Kids - Education - "Edwards gets union support, details $1.5B plan for SC." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Tuesday won the endorsement of one of South Carolina's largest unions [the Communications Workers of America] as he gave details of an economic plan his campaign said would offer his native state's struggling economy $1.5 billion in relief." ... ""Our country is no longer on the brink of a recession. I think we're in one," Edwards said during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, a day after a testy debate between the Democratic candidates." ... ""I was proud to represent the grown-up wing of the Democratic Party," he told the cheering crowd." ... ""When all those kinds of personal attacks are going on, it doesn't do a thing to help somebody get health care who doesn't have it," Edwards said. "It doesn't do a thing to help our kids get the education they need. We have work to do in this country."" ... ""There's a disconnect between Washington and the government paying attention to what's happening in real people's lives, as opposed to just paying attention to what's happening on Wall Street," he said." ... ""You watch what [Republican President] George Bush does he just waits and waits and waits and then by the time the water's coming in like a flood, he responds, which is exactly what he's done about the economy," Edwards said. "A month ago I said we had to do something about this and still be he waited and waited."" -By Bruce Smith with contributions by Jim Davenport -AP via-AJC 

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20080121
• John Edwards - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - 2008 Election - Economics - Workers - Energy - Poverty - Racial - Politics - "Edwards Excels in Ferocious Democratic Debate." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards tweaked both his opponents for making the debate about political squabbling instead of public policy. Returning to his populist economic platform -- especially salient as Americans ponder a recession -- he reminded voters that he was the only candidate to outline a comprehensive plan to end poverty, and the first to introduce a national economic stimulus proposal. His plan came out weeks before [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama. The program drove the "party's policy agenda," as Paul Krugman explained, by advocating "aid to unemployed workers, aid to cash-strapped state and local governments," and alternative energy, (most of which Clinton later adopted in her plan). And while the debate moderators kept pushing trite racial questions, even asking Obama if Bill Clinton was the "first black president," Edwards outlined a vision of racial and economic equality, where "every American is of equal value."" -By Ari Melber -TheNation.com

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• John Edwards - 2008 Election - Politics - "What the Grown-Ups Say." ... "Seriously, why should John Edwards drop out of the race?" ... "First, as others have noted, his campaign has had an effect on this race out of proportion to his poll support in as much as he's forced the two other leading candidates to grapple with issues they would not have otherwise. And in this race specifically, there is at least a chance we could come into the convention with neither candidate having a majority of the delegates, in which case he might play the kingmaker." -By Josh Marshall -TalkingPointsMemo.com

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20080120
• John Edwards - Justice - Health-Care - Environment - Economic - Poverty - People - Political - History - 2008 Election - "Martin L. King, III [eldest son of Martin Luther King] letter to The Honorable John E. Edwards. [PDF]" ... "Dear Senator Edwards:" [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards] ... "It was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father’s legacy.  On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up with a personal note." ... "There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father’s legacy.  It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy.  I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice." ... "I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice.  And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this [2008] election." ... "You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system.  They don’t have lobbyists in Washington and they don’t get to go to lunch with members of Congress.  Speaking up for them is not politically convenient.  But, it is the right thing to do." ... "I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic justice has received during this campaign.  I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America." ... "From our conversation yesterday, I know this is personal for you.  I know you know what it means to come from nothing.  I know you know what it means to get the opportunities you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the same opportunities you had." ... "I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes.  My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society.  He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives." ... "So, I urge you: keep going.  Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice.  My dad was a fighter.   As a friend and a believer in my father’s words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going.  Keep fighting.  My father would be proud." -By Martin L. King, III via -JohnEdwards.com 

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20080118
• John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Radio - Ad - Nevada - Illinois - Iowa - North Carolina - "Edwards hits Obama on independent ads." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards said Friday that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama needs to “speak up, if he really means what he says” about ending divisive politics and denounce a Nevada ad funded by an independent group that supports the Illinois senator’s presidential bid." ... ""Everyone pledged that this kind of divisive politics that divides the Democratic Party, and could divide America, would come to an end. [Senator] Sen. Obama made that pledge, I was sitting five feet from him when he made it," Edwards told the crowd at a Nevada campaign event." ... "“And now it turns out that in the last 24 hours there's a radio ad, a malicious radio ad, attacking [Senator] Sen. Clinton. That is exactly the kind of divisive politics. It's being run right here, in Las Vegas [Nevada]. I denounce it. This kind of ad, I don't care who's doing it — in this case it's [Senator] Sen. Obama's supporters — but this sort of thing needs to stop.["]" ... "“And from what I've seen, [Senator] Sen. Obama has not said a single word about this. Nothing. When two days ago, three days ago, he said on a stage in front of America and said, 'This kind of politics has no place in America,’” said Edwards." ... "“He should speak up, if he really means what he says, and this is not just talk, he should speak up and denounce this type of divisive politics.”" ... "John Edwards was criticized by Obama in Iowa for not calling an independent group that supported the former North Carolina senator to demand they pull ads they were running in support of his candidacy." -By Rebecca Sinderbrand -CNN

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Edwards Videos:
John Edwards

  John Edwards Parents:
"Bobbie and Wallace Edwards."

"What's Caucus Day Like? Take A Look...."

"Undecided Republican Chooses John Edwards."

"[Edwards:] "I'm running for president to do what I've always done -- fight for people like the ones I grew up with against the powerful forces that have corrupted Washington.""

"Give 'Em Hell."