Tampa, FL– Getting more Americans health insurance and rebuilding the ailing U.S. health care system is about giving more power to the individual, Sen. John McCain declared Tuesday.

“The key to real reform is to restore control over our health-care system to the patients themselves,” he said in a speech at the University of South Florida–as he touted the power of the free market as the solution to the problem of nearly 47 million uninsured Americans. “Families should only pay for getting the right care: care that is intended to improve and safeguard their health….Americans need new choices beyond those offered in employment-based coverage. Americans want a system built so that wherever you go and wherever you work, your health plan goes with you.”

Flanked on stage by nearly 50 medical professionals, many in white doctor’s coats, McCain restated a number of aspects of the plan he initially laid out last fall–albeit with some new details–which at it’s heart offers a tax credit ($5,000 for families and $2,500 for individuals) for health insurance. The goal he says is to offer an alternative to employer-based coverage (as he will eliminate the current tax exclusion for people who receive coverage through work) and create an open market that will require insurance companies to compete for customers. The speech came in conjunction with a new health care ad (see above) set to air in the key swing state of Iowa.

McCain took a few shots at his Democratic rivals’ plans, which offer universal or near-universal coverage, arguing that they “will replace the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of the current system with the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of a government monopoly.” McCain also called on both Sens. Obama and Clinton to support medical liability reform if they are “sincere” about putting “the needs of patients before the demands of trial lawyers.”

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Hillary Clinton made her first trip to Oregon, speaking to a packed high school gym just outside of Portland. While they acknowledge that her rival Barack Obama is favored here, the Clinton campaign is playing hard — naming a state director and what the campaign calls a “very active” steering committee, ramping up field staff and opening a state headquarters in Portland next week and satellite offices in every congressional district.

They’re also tailoring their strategy around Oregon’s unique mail-in primary system; ballots will be mailed out on April 28th, and the majority of voters are expected to submit ballots through the post.

“I’m here to meet with you and talk with you and hopefully make my case to you,” she told the voters of Hillsboro, OR. “This is my first trip in a campaign of firsts, and I’m glad to be able to blaze a home in the land of the Trailblazers.”

But even in the Beaver State, she was focused on Michigan and Florida. She’s long argued that their delegates should count, but today she claimed their popular votes should count as well — a move that would put her much closer to Obama in that metric.

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It finally happened. Senator Obama managed to ditch his traveling press corps (thanks to some nasty weather in Wisconsin that led to the cancellation of his Sunday rally) to make the trip down to the Edwards’ home in Chapel Hill. The meeting, originally scheduled for February 11th, had been postponed when the national media found out and staked out the site.

Yesterday the campaign would only reveal that the meeting, one that Senator Clinton also had with John and Elizabeth Edwards, took place and that they discussed “the state of the campaign and the pressing issues facing American families.”

Here’s what Senator Obama said about the meeting and what an Edwards endorsement would mean to his candidacy at a media availability today in Ohio:

Political endorsements, for all their promise of acquiring additional financial support, have long been seen as meaningless in swaying voters. Yet in this tight two-way Democratic presidential race between senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, there is one endorsement that may well determine the outcome of the race—that of former presidential candidate John Edwards.

Both Clinton and Obama all too clearly understand the impact his support will carry, and, of course, have courted him for several weeks. Obama reportedly expressed interest in Edwards’ endorsement before he even dropped from the race. Clinton said on Saturday that she intends to ask Edwards “to be a part of anything I do at the White House,” and praised his universal health care plan and commitment to fighting poverty.

Sources within the Edwards campaign have described the former North Carolina senator as “very torn” over whom to endorse, adding that he has been in talks with Clinton and Obama “for weeks”—a revelation that has surprised many, especially those who believed an Obama backing was inevitable. On the campaign trail and in debates, Edwards often criticized Clinton by labeling her “an agent of the status quo,” while aligning himself with Obama for advocating change.

Whoever ends up winning Edwards’ support will stand to gain both delegates and supporters, and the stakes are high in a race in which the three biggest primaries still lie ahead—Ohio, Pennsylvnia, and Texas. Though it is not clear whom he will choose, Edwards’ indecisiveness—assuming it is genuine—indicates he is not completely convinced yet that either candidate is best suited to take the White House. He will likely evaluate their candidacies based on the issues he devoted himself to—fighting poverty, offering universal health care, and standing up to big businesses and their powerful lobbies.

Whom do YOU think he will endorse? I welcome your comments.

At a coffee shop in Silver Spring, Maryland, Senator Barack Obama weaved his way through pro-Obama coffee drinkers and a massive throng of reporters and cameras for a pre-election day photo-op. The senator shook hands, posed for photos, and bought a couple to-go coffees — and took questions here and there from the many journalists crammed into the cafe.

The question on the minds of national reporters today was about the once secret meeting scheduled between Obama and his former rival, John Edwards. Both Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton were invited to meet with Edwards, in theory, to discuss a possible endorsement. Clinton managed to fly down to North Carolina to meet with Edwards without the company of any press Monday night. Obama had originally been scheduled to fly to North Carolina following his Baltimore rally today for his turn.

Yesterday the Obama camp declined comment on the alleged meeting, pointing press to Edwards’ people. As word spread and the press found out the likely day and general time of the meeting, cameras and reporters set up and waited for the meeting near Edwards’ home. Suddenly, word came that the meeting was postponed.

So what do we know now? Obama staffers still won’t say anything on the record, but when asked at the coffee shop, Obama revealed, “It will be rescheduled. We’re gonna make it happen.” He then turned to greet more voters. On with the photo-op.

Fox News has confirmed that former presidential contender, John Edwards, will meet with Barack Obama tomorrow at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss a potential endorsement—one that would surely impact the outcome of the Democratic presidential campaign as both Clinton and Obama compete for delegates in a tight two-way race. Senator Hillary Clinton met with Edwards on Thursday, though neither the Edwards nor Clinton campaign have disclosed details about the private meeting. Sources within the Edwards campaign described the former North Carolina senator as “very torn” over the decision, and declined to provide a time table as to when an endorsement will be made.

Hillary Clinton spent Thursday morning flying to North Carolina - unbeknownst to her press corps - to meet with John Edwards at his home in Chapel Hill — where the two former rivals discussed a possible Edwards endorsement.

Clinton officials would not discuss the sit-down, calling it a private meeting. And Edwards aides confirmed the meeting, and said he has another private get together scheduled with Barack Obama on Monday. Those aides say he’s been “in talks” with Clinton and Obama “for weeks” about an endorsement, though he has not yet said who he will endorse or when he will do it. Another source described him as “very torn” in reaching his decision.

Sen Clinton praised Edwards twice yesterday in lewiston, maine, yesterday, telling an ex-Edwards supporter that she and the fmr NC Senator have a lot in common. “I will be a fighter, and I intend to ask John Edwards to be a part of anything I do at the White House,” she said.

Sen Clinton praised her former rival John Edwards in blue collar Lewiston, ME — saying she’d want him to be a part of her White House.

Addressing a former Edwards backer who stood up to say she’d switched her support to the NY Senator, Hillary said she had a lot in common with Edwards. “”I will be a fighter,” she said, “and I intend to ask John Edwards to be a part of anything I do at the White
House.”

Earlier, she joined herself with the one-time VP nominee on the issue of health care, saying “I’m proud Sen Edwards and I decided to put ourselves on the line politically and said we’re going to be focused on achieving universal health care.” Obama, she says, did not.

Edwards has not endorsed a candidate since dropping out of the Democratic race, and his supporters have mostly split between the two front runners. Both Clinton and Obama have courted the fmr NC Senator, who might be counted on to deliver the working-class constituency he cultivated during the campaign.

Attending today’s event, one couldn’t help getting a sense of deja-vu: the lengthy QandA session at the end of the event, the blue and white signs that read simply “Ready.”, the focus on the economy and health care — all are vestiges of Hillary’s winning “I found my voice” strategy in New Hampshire. Clinton’s NH press secretary Kathleen Strand was even in attendence…she’s been reassigned to handle all of New England. The whole thing gave this Town Hall a very January 7th feel.

Senator Barack Obama today held a rally in downtown Minneapolis in front of thousands of enthusiastic Minnesotans, and was sure to invoke the name of Paul Wellstone, of the state’s popular Democratic politicians who died just days before his potential reelection in a 2002 plane crash.

He told the crowd about opening up his desk drawer in the US Senate and seeing the names of several senators who sat at the desk before Obama - including Paul Wellstone. According to Obama, Wellstone was “a guy who helped create a movement here in Minnesota because he believed in you.” He added, “The way I believe in you.”

A few minutes later, Obama thanked Senator John Edwards for bringing the issue of poverty to the forefront and noted, “He was true to the Paul Wellstone tradition.”

Watch his remarks here:

Minnesota will hold its caucus on February 5th and has a total of 88 delegates.

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.”