John Edwards Starts Poverty Awareness Tour

[NVMojo]

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -

Former Sen. John Edwards began a national anti-poverty campaign Monday by exhorting students at the University of North Carolina to launch a grass-roots effort similar to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

This time, he told them, the divide isn't black and white but rich and poor.

The recent devastation of Hurricane Katrina exposed that rift clearly, Edwards told the roughly 700 people who attended the inaugural event of a planned 10-campus "Opportunity Rocks" tour.

Edwards, a graduate of UNC's law school, told students that an estimated 37 million Americans, including 13 million children, live at or near poverty.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2005/oct/17/101709821.html

[Maat]

1. This sounds cool ..

maybe he'll come out to SoCal!

[Erika]

2. Yes!!!!

John Edwards for president!

[confludemocrat]

3. This is super! Now change your war position or this won't mean shit.

fed up with posturing on every other position when one especially cries out for setting right.

[gorbal]

4. Well there are people already doing it

In stead of LAUNCHING a brand new campaign, I might suggest joining one of the many campaigns that have not been getting enough airtime lately. Like the campaign for economic human rights-
http://www.economichumanrights.org/

[gorbal]

5. My bad

I checked the link and he IS advocating involvement iin different groups.

Here are some other anti-poverty links-

http://www.faireconomy.org/

http://gnn.tv/videos/16/Drug_War_Reality_Tour

http://www.universityofthepoor.org/

http://www.poorvoicesunited.org/

http://www.stillwerise.org/
:)

[depakid]

6. So- how does this jive with his new job?

I must be missing something....

Oct. 14, 2005

Fortress Investment Group LLC has given a job to former vice presidential candidate and former U.S. Senator John Edwards, who will advise the firm on "global economic issues related to Fortress' investment activities," said Kim Rubey, Edwards' spokeswoman.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9697260/

[Erika]

7. Let him worry about it

Or why do you care?

[depakid]

10. It sounds a bit hypocritical

To be taking a job as a senior advisor with a Wall Street investment firm like Fortress Investment Group LLC

http://www.fortressinv.com/

...while going around preaching about 2 America's.

Then again, Edwards voted for the Bankruptcy bill the last time it came up for a vote in the Senate in 2001, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00236

[Erika]

11. Another one who likes to eat their own?

Go to the GOP.

[depakid]

13. Why go to the GOP

When their policies can come to us?

Not that Edwards is all bad- check his voting record. He just speaks out of both sides of his mouth too often for my taste- and he seems more opportunistic than sincere when he does things like this back to back.

[meganmonkey]

19. Being honest about who and what people are is not 'eating our own'

and I would argue that if we really want to work towards fixing the numerous problems in our country we need to be aware of what we can really expect from people in power or our other leaders.

It isn't particularly productive to ignore the truth, IMHO. The truth is a starting point. What we choose to do with the information is what makes us effective (or not).

[laureloak]

21. Dems support Dems unless they are criminal.

Right?

[Pithy Cherub]

23. The Iraq war is/was a criminal enterprise. Any vote for it knowingly

made the military industrial complex and the corporations that support it, stronger. There are many poor people, American & Iraqi, who died for a war that was based on false premises.

[laureloak]

25. The vote was to empower the Pres - not to declare war.

FYMNI

[Pithy Cherub]

27. Yep, a vote to empower a known liar. n/t

[laureloak]

28. Nonetheless, to say otherwise is to SSPPPIIINNN.

And you know we don't do that.

[AmericanDream]

18. He has publically said that he was wrong about that bill, it was a mistake

[AmericanDream]

9. It gives him more perspective on how to change the economic landscape...

in this country. You can't change the system, unless you know it from inside out... by working with global investment companies, he gains more experience and perspective of the new globalized economy and how it is changing America's domestic economy. I think it's great to form informed policies... and that is what he seems to be doing. He is also meeting with people living in poverty and organizations helping them get out of poverty... however, if we need to help those at the bottom, we have to look deeper into the workings of those at the top.

And, he seems to be looking to form a well-rounded policy platform ... that takes all aspects of our economy into account... that is how the two jive!

[Erika]

12. Why aren't the republicans doing this? n/t

[laureloak]

22. You just don't understand that poverty involves both the poor

AND the rich.

OOOPS, and you left out "part time".

But mosty what you missed is that you need to make a choice as to where your party loyalty lies - with the Democrats or the Republicans because by trying to tear down a fellow Democrat, you are just creating fodder for the other side.

[Erika]

8. The GOP are scared to death of Edwards

He's got the charisma and intelligence that not one of their potential candidates posess.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. Wonderful!

[Delphinus]

15. Ooh,

shades of Bobby Kennedy! (IIRC)

Go for it John ... show the truth.

[robbedvoter]

16. Do we get to wear ribbons? Or just raggedy clothes?

Will the Wall Street firm help finance this...uh...awareness?

[RubyDuby in GA]

17. Stops at Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth?

Yeah....they know poverty.

Don't get me wrong because I'm thrilled that someone of Senator Edward's high caliber is at the very least talking about poverty and its effects, but seriously, go somewhere that people know a little bit about it other than learning it in a textbook.

[Orsino]

24. Well, these would be folks who need to hear him.

Perhaps he should start on the floor of the Senate, though. And end there. And make several stops there in between.

[karynnj]

20. It's great that he is talking about students becoming involved in

a grassroots effort. It's interesting that Dean and Kerry have been exhorting crowds they have been talking to saying very much the same thing. Kerry has been using very very similar words. I would bet this may be true of other Democrats as well - and to me indicates that when 2008 comes, if people take people up on these charges to action - there will be a huge anount of POSITIVE energy behind whoever the candidate is. (Note: I am not saying that any are copying others, but that it does address one weakness we had in 2004. The Republicans had better grassroots.)

Hey, Clarkies - Is he doing this too? Hillary? Gore?

[Gregorian]

26. O/T How it would have been.

I just can't believe it. Totally the opposite. We'd still have a surplus. No bullshit patriot act. No dead Iraqis. Alternative energy on it's way. No new logging roads.

I just want to go back to bed. Screw this administration of dicks.


That is what I thought the moment I read that article. Help the poor. Only a great person would do that. We ended up with greed, not great.

[Wordie]

29. Great! Maybe he took that high-paying job to be able to pay for this

sort of thing...

Note: an earlier thread noted that John Edwards had taken a part-time, presumably very high paying position, and there was some concern about that. But perhaps his taking that position was to finance this sort of effort.