John and Elizabeth Edwards sat in the front row of Barack Obama’s Raleigh, NC, speech today, where the presumptive Democratic nominee talked about the economy. “I don’t think there are two people in the country who have done more to elevate the debate about politics, who have focused on critical issues like health care, and who’ve made us all think about our obligations to create one America,” Senator Obama noted at the top of his speech.

When talking about his health care plan, Obama gestured towards Mrs. Edwards and told the approving crowd, “By the way, I’m gonna be partnering up with Elizabeth Edwards. We’re gonna be figuring all this out.”

While John Edwards endorsed Obama at a rally in Michigan last month, Elizabeth Edwards kept mum on her choice, causing many to speculate that she had in fact parted ways with her husband and supported Senator Clinton.

An Obama spokesperson noted this won’t be an official partnership.

Bonita Springs, FL — Elizabeth Edwards, who has quickly become the go-to voice in opposition to the McCain health care plan plan, lambasted the presumptive GOP nominee’s speech today as “the most radical plan ever suggested by a presidential candidate.”

“”We need to move towards universal coverage. The Democrats have plans that with those goals in mind and Senator McCain’s plan seems to have only the insurance companies in mind. It’s a tremendous disappointment,” Edwards said in a conference call hosted by the Center for American Progress.

Responding to McCain’s criticism that that the Democrats’ plans for universal health care would create an “inefficient” government monopoly, Edwards said the Republican needed to look in the mirror.

“Nobody on the Democratic side is proposing anything nearly as radical, or nearly as government-centric as what Senator McCain is suggesting,” Edwards said. “If you’re poor or you’re sick, you are going to find it extraordinarily difficult to purchase insurance. It will be much more expensive for you, if it’s available at all.”

Edwards also couldn’t resist painting McCain as a flip-flopper on the health insurance issue.

“It used to be that Senator McCain was the person you looked for to stand up to special interests like the insurance companies. We are seeing a different John McCain now,” she said, adding that he is now “capitulating” to industry interests.

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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For the past 36 nonstop hours, Democratic candidate John Edwards barnstormed around the state of Iowa in his final sprint before the Iowa caucuses. For each hour during Edwards’ “Marathon for the Middle Class,” he discussed one specific policy initiative—a total of 36 steps he’ll take to strengthen the middle class if elected President.

As he visited 15 Iowa counties in the wee hours of the night, Edwards stopped at the homes of local supporters to speak out for the working middle class and boost his campaign’s momentum. He was accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth, and oldest daughter, Cate.

12:30 AM—Atlantic, Iowa

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2:30 AM—Creston, Iowa

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So what was it like to spend 36 straight hours with the Senator? In our 29th hour, Edwards surprised the entire press corps when he hopped on board our bus to hand out cups of coffee to reporters. He poked fun at some of us for looking tired (a remark he later joked he would regret). Not a coffee drinker, he said he was fueling himself with Sprite.

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Edwards’ marathon campaign run climaxed in its 36th hour at a concert featuring singer-songwriter, John Mellencamp, in West Des Moines.

In his final thrust before the Iowa caucuses, John Edwards stopped at his local campaign office in Mason City, Iowa, to wish his supporters a “Happy New Year” and continue firing up the base.

The crowd, swarming around the “Mainstreet Express” bus as it pulled up to the door, chanted, “We love Elizabeth! We love John! We wanna see them on the White House lawn!”

After making his way inside, the Senator stood up on a chair to address the packed crowd of supporters.

“We need you every step of the way,” he said. “Now is not the time to let up on the gas peddle. Now is the time to push the peddle to the floor.”

This remark, of course, got quite a chuckle from the national press corps. Our media van was pulled over for speeding along an Iowa highway in its rush to make it to the event on time.

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At a campaign stop in Emmetsburg, Iowa, on Monday, a man raised his hand and told John Edwards that Michelle Obama said he was a great candidate, but couldn’t win because he didn’t have enough money. Mrs. Obama’s remark, he said, was made at an event in Pocahontas, Iowa.

The man’s account—though not confirmed—elicited a strong response from the Senator.

“We’re not going to have an auction in Iowa, we’re going to have an election,” he said. “I just want to say how unbelievably weak it is to be arguing that you should be the candidate because you have more money than the other candidate.”

Edwards continued to chastise those who divert attention from the issues and focus only on a candidate’s war chest. Yet, fair or not, his campaign financing has become the subject of debate among political strategists, who question whether or not he can compete effectively in the larger state primaries. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama reached $27,859,861 and $21,343,292 in the third quarter, respectively—and are expected to have each raised over $100 million by the year’s end on their presidential campaigns. Edwards, whose campaign is publicly financed, raised $7,157,233 in the third quarter, and is expected to close the year with about $44 million.

“When you’re resorting to arguments about how much money somebody has, you’re in a bad place,” he said. “When I win the Iowa caucuses, the money will pour in. It’s how it always works.”

Offering a final exclamation mark, Elizabeth Edwards, who was seated directly behind him, stood up and took the microphone.

“You may not be surprised,” she said to her husband, “but I am surprised and disappointed in Michelle.”

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In an effort to rally support in the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses, John Edwards’ campaign unveiled a theatrical trailer on Tuesday. The trailer—narrated by voiceover artist, George DelHoyo—encourages voters in Iowa to visit the campaign’s “Caucus Command Center” to learn more about the former North Carolina senator’s positions on the issues.

Some pundits have already declared it a two-person race among the Democratic presidential candidates—one featuring senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But according to a recent CNN poll, a different script has emerged. The poll—released December 11, 2007—finds that, among the Democratic contenders, Senator John Edwards is strongest in beating any one of the GOP candidates in the primary election—and by more significant margins than both Clinton and Obama achieved.

Edwards beats Rudy Giuliani (53% to 44%), Mitt Romney (59% to 37%), John McCain (52% to 44%) and Mike Huckabee (60% to 35%). Click here to read the poll.

The poll’s findings come at a critical time for Edwards, who is in a tight three-way race with Clinton and Obama for Iowa. With the caucuses less than three weeks away, Edwards has continually cited the poll in speeches to Iowans as he travels throughout the state on his “Main Street Express.” Like a skilled trial attorney, he is highlighting the news in his closing argument as the jury—the Iowa caucusgoers—deliberate over who is best suited to lead the country.

“The empirical data points out, I’m the Democrat who beats every single Republican in national testing,” Edwards said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “I’m the strongest candidate in the general election.”

The former North Carolina senator has also softened his tone, focusing his energy on conveying his core message and avoiding attacks against Clinton and Obama.

Mrs. Edwards expresses a similar attitude. While on route to an event in Iowa on Saturday, the Edwards’ bus stopped by a local campaign office in Waterloo, where Mrs. Edwards greeted volunteers and made phone calls to rally support. The campaign office is coincidentally next door to one belonging to Barack Obama. Upon leaving the building, Mrs. Edwards approached dozens of Obama supporters gathered in the parking lot and thanked them for their hard work. “We’re on the same team,” she said. “Look me in the eye and shake my hand.”

But her “esprit de corps” was not extended to the GOP field. At an event in Dubuque, Iowa, Mrs. Edwards said, “Republicans should scare us in a lot of ways,” and singled out former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, calling his views on evolution and inner-city violence “nutty.”

On route to address a gathering of undecided caucus-goers after participating in the Des Moines Register’s debate, presidential hopeful John Edwards and his “Main Street Express” bus made a quick stop alongside a hill in Johnston, Iowa, on Thursday to go sledding. Mr. Edwards—accompanied by wife, Elizabeth, and children, Emma Claire and Jack—grabbed a red, plastic sled and decided to give it a whirl.

Mrs. Edwards, meanwhile, playfully tossed snowballs at her husband while Emma Claire, 9, and Jack, 7, took turns racing down the hill. Sporting a yellow and gray snowsuit, Jack made it to the bottom in record speed.

Click to watch:

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Despite wearing patent-leather heels and a suit, I, too, wasn’t going to miss out on a favorite childhood pastime. My ride down the hill wasn’t as smooth as the Senator’s (in fact, my shoes flew off), but it certainly was worth a go.

Click to watch:

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After the conclusion of the Des Moines Register’s Democratic Presidential debate, Senator John Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth, spoke to reporters in the Spin Room. Mrs. Edwards attended the debate with her husband’s parents, Bobbie and Wallace Edwards.

Elizabeth Edwards set apart her husband’s plan for improving Medicare by criticizing Hillary Clinton’s explanation of how she would strengthen it. Clinton would negotiate with drug companies to lower part D prescription costs for seniors, but not reinvest the savings in Medicare, according to Mrs. Edwards. By comparison, her husband would use the money gained from negotiations to directly strengthen Medicare benefits for seniors, she said.

“She does not keep them in Medicare to strengthen Medicare,” Edwards said of Clinton. “She gave a completely wrong impression to the Iowa voters who were listening and the seniors who are a very big part of the Iowa caucus participation.”

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