Edwards Makes His Mark
Standing before a crowd of supporters in the Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans on Wednesday, John Edwards formally announced his plans to withdraw from the presidential race.
“It’s time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path,” Edwards said.
Dressed in blue jeans, the former North Carolina senator ended his campaign in the place where it had begun. The setting was symbolic for a man who made poverty the soul of his campaign. His decision to withdraw came as a surprise to many—the American public, members of the press, and even those within Edwards’ campaign. Though the senator had yet to win a single primary, his advisers consistently stated they would continue campaigning all the way to the convention—hoping to acquire enough delegates to remain viable in the race. On Monday, the campaign announced an aggressive media buy in several of the states scheduled to hold February 5th contests, and boasted of the recent surge in online donations.
But today a different decision was reached. Campaign spokesman, Mark Kornblau, said Edwards realized “he had no real path to the nomination” at this point in the race and “it was time to step aside.” Kornblau said Edwards spoke with senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama the night before, asking them to make poverty a central issue in their general election campaigns and in their administrations. He added that Edwards had no plans to endorse a candidate as of yet.
Edwards may no longer hold a place on the presidential ballot, but his populism, often expressed with great zeal, has impacted the presidential race in innumerable ways, some of which have yet to be realized.
At the heart of Edwards’ message was the need to speak out for the poor and disenfranchised—those people whom the Senator often referred to as “the real underdogs in this election.” He was the first to propose a universal health care plan—ensuring coverage for all Americans—and the first among the Democratic candidates to make poverty and global warming a key focus of his campaign.
For Edwards, the need to combat these problems was a “moral test,” and he referred to such issues as “the causes of my life.”
Not without fault, Edwards was sometimes criticized for his changing positions on the Iraq war and for oversimplifying the problem of lobbyists. Yet he was honest in admitting that his initial support of funding the war “was a mistake.”
Upon leaving an event in Springfield, Missouri, on Monday, that drew over 1,000 Edwards supporters, a high-school English teacher related his message to a line from Shakespeare she had recently taught her 12th grade class.
“To thine ownself be true,” she said, quoting a famous line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. “Edwards inspires because he’s pushed issues not always politically popular. And for that he deserves credit.”
Tags: barack obama, hillary clinton, john edwards, New Orleans
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Let us look at McCain’s conservative credentials:
-IMMIGRATION: he wrote the bill granting amnesty to illegal immigrants (co-sponsored by Ted Kennedy)
-SOCIAL SECURITY: he voted to give your social security money to illegal immigrants
-TAXES: he voted against the Bush tax cuts multiple times (he has since flip-flopped and has campaigned as a lifelong tax-cutter)
-RHETORIC: he routinely engages in Democratic class warfare against big companies in America, particularly the “evil” drug companies who research cures to debilitating diseases for a profit
-ECONOMY: as recently as December 2007 he admitted “he does not know the economy very well” and needed to get better at it
-1ST AMENDMENT: he wrote the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill that was declared to be an unconstitutional infringement of the 1st Amendment (co-sponsored by ultra-liberal Democrat Russ Feingold)
-2ND AMENDMENT: he was called the “worst 2nd amendment candidate” by the president of the NRA
-ENERGY TAX: wrote a bill (co-sponsored by his buddy Lieberman) imposing a massive tax on energy which, according to the Department of Energy, would drastically raise the price of gasoline and put 300,000 Americans out of work
-GLOBAL WARMING: supports radical global warming legislation which involved him voting with every Democrat; think only America is responsible to take action, not other superpowers
-JUDGES: he joined forces with Democrats (Gang of 14) to block the Senate Republican’s attempt to confirm conservative, strict constructionist judges
-WAR ON TERROR: fought with Hillary Clinton to demand that terrorists be given a full American trial
-GAY MARRIAGE: he joined liberals to fight against a federal marriage amendment supporting the institution of traditional marriage
-CHRISTIANS: campaigning in 2000, he famously described Christian leaders as “agents of intolerance”
-PRO-LIFE: he filed an amicus brief against pro-life advocates in Wisconsin
-BI-PARTISANSHIP: he met with leading Democrats in 2004 to discuss the possibility of being John Kerry’s Vice-President
-PROFESSIONAL ETHICS: ringleader of the infamous Keating 5 ethical scandal which cost US tax payers $160 billion (Google it)
-PERSONAL ETHICS: McCain cheated on his first wife after she had a severe accident that left her partially disabled. He then divorced her and married his multi-millionaire mistress, whose daddy bought McCain a spot in the Congress
Vote Romney. This liberal, old fraud McCain can’t fool this conservative!
I think this is the first step to making the OBACKARAMA party a reality!!!
EDWARDS: “I don’t know how it started,” he said. “I don’t know when our party began to turn away from the cause of working people” It started when we were forced to choose between Hillary and Obama! Edwards epitomizes the democratic party and yet we are forced to address an obstruction of unification. Dam Hillary - Dam Bill! Edwards suspends his campaign… I apologize for not walking precincts all over the nation for this guy! I am forced to address the immediate ill, the Clinton ILL, a divisive polarization within the democratic party. Although I love Edwards, I am thankful for Obama. He personifies unification and eloquence, and democratic values! If we ever get past the primitive BS of polarization, perhaps we can progress towards issues like Universal Health Care and services for the poor. Obama, please bring on board Edwards. Please, please, please! We are ONE.
I spend extra money on flourescent light bulbs,wood pellet fuel,biodiesel for my cars in a effort to slow global warming but I can see I’m spinning my wheels.Floridians have voted they want the status quo and the flood waters like Katrina to sweep over them because they want the soap opera of the Clintons to return,or the blind irnoring of John McCain that climate change exists.Either way 4-8 years of nothing done=1/2 of Florida underwater.I wish people knew how to read people with pasts do not change if it still works for them.Uncompremising people don’t compremise for the good of others.
Good bye and Good riddance! War on terror a bumper sticker? PLEASE! He’s right about one thing, there are two Americas. The people who risk their lives for freedom and the people who have more freedom than any other people on earth yet still don’t appreciate it (John Edwards)
I like the way FOX is blocking articles from the internet on candidates so that voters can’t read them and make up their own minds.
C’MOM FOX…YOU ARE SO NOT FAIR AND BALANCED!!
AND HERE’S Southern girl, BEING A AVERAGE DEMOCRATE, COMPLAINING, AND WANTING SOCAIL WELFARE, AND MORE INFLUENCE ON FREE MEDIA AND RADIO. TO FORCE PEOPLE TO JUST HEAR AND SEE ONLY HER LEFT WING POINT OF VIEW. GO FOX NEWS.. THEY ARE FAIR AND BALANCED… GO MIKE HUCKLEBEE AND GOOD LUCK SUPER TUES. YOU HAVE THIS BLACK REPLUBLICAN’S VOTE.. SEMPER FI
I was an Edwards supporter, but Obama has always been my second choice. A Clinton presidency would be swapping a corporate Republican with a corporate Democrat. No thanks. http://tinyurl.com/26owvc
Edwards has a lot to offer…he is intense and I hope he will indorse Hillary, as she has the same go for it energy to help get his causes attention.
He also has earned some position in her White House.
Check out the campaign funding sites. Obama and the Hillster are being bankrolled by the same groups; big investment houses, lawyers, big business, etc. The Clinton’s are a throw-back to the politics of the nineties; Obama is now in bed with the remnants of one of the most famous (or infamous) political machines of the 20th century ( can you say Kennedy). If we wanted any significant change, I’m afraid John Edwards was it.
Does anyone not know the truth about Obama? Listen to the BBC news!!!Why hasn’t our reporters told us about his connection to Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga who said he is a cousin of US presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Why hasn’t our news media mentioned that Obama is a distant cousin of Dick Cheney? No wonder the news media is so nice to him! check out this website http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7176683.stm
Odinga has done horrific things to his people! are you sure you want Obama to be your next president?
Donna, you’ve missed it. Edwards is dropping out of the race so Obama can continue his momentum to the nomination. John and Elizabeth Edwards DETEST the Clinton’s, their style of politics and their representation as the status quo who makes decisions based on polls and special interests. I hope Obama picks Edwards as the #2 - though it’s likely Edwards won’t want to be Obama’s or anyone else’s VP since he was 2nd on the ticket last time. Dems got bamboozled by celebrity and media influence….John Edwards is the best Presidential candidate since the first Bill Clinton. For 2 straight primaries, Dems failed to realize it…shame on us!
Edwards, being the consummate opportunist, won’t endorse anyone until Feb 6th, to ensure he “endorses” a sure thing, and thereby secures a “seat” for himself in someone’s cabinet. I doubt if he cares whose.
No wonder America rates very low in Science, Mathematics, Geography, the Humanities when compared to
other industrialized countries.
America has more illiterate people than many third world countries.
Many college students cannot identify any Supreme court justices but know all about Britney Spears.
When there is something wrong with my computer, my cable system, I call and talk to someone in India.
But we have hope, inspiration, Oh, Oh, Oh…….
Many university studies have found that College students are far behind HS students in China.
It is obvious by how easily they are influenced by superficialities, banalities, fluff.
Thinking hurts, like learning Math and Science do. Let’s think about lunch.
And listening to Oprah is….Oh, Oh such fun!
There is something unhealthy about the cult like atmosphere surrounding Obama’ supporters. What is he saying? Who is he? How did he get so high, so soon….?????
two words………RON PAUL!!
Thanks to John and Elizabeth for a wonderful campaign. Hopefully we shall stay focused on the poor.
“Brown” mentioned the War on Terror bumper sticker comment. If this Administration really believed they were fighting a War on Terror, I truly believe they would be trying to win it rather than just helping Halliburton. It is were a true War on Terror, why would the President make the comment that he didn’t know where bin Laden was and frankly didn’t care. Why wouldn’t we spend time training linguists to help learn about terrorist plans. Our first strategy in this fight was what- let’s go shopping!
No matter what your party, John Edwards is the only candidate for you. The Media made sure that he was seldom seen on the air though the candidates who each had $100 million on their campaign saturated the TV screen. The Media doesn’t like John Edwards because he knows too much. He went from Mill worker to multimillionaire by helping people who had no voice. A number of unethical corporations were exposed due to Edwards investigations and these guys can’t continue in their mischief. These groups dominate the other candidates. For this reason I will be writing in John Edwards name because he is the only true representative of the people. a real American.
Don’t let the media choose the next president. Keep the campaign to change America alive. Vote for John Edwards on February 5th!
http://blog.johnedwards.com/section/news/
Tell John Edwards to support Obama.