Edwards criticizes both parties at Las Vegas union meeting

[Catchawave]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/apr/11/041110048.html

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS - Former Sen. John Edwards criticized Republicans for passing "immoral" tax cuts and Democrats for focusing on the political center at a meeting of mine workers Tuesday in Las Vegas.

"We've got enough politicians, what we need are leaders, " Edwards, the vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket in 2004, told a crowd of about 500 members of the United Mine Workers of America, which represents 65,000 retired and active coal mine workers in Canada and the U.S.

<snip>

Edwards, 52, criticized President Bush and Republicans in Congress for supporting a budget he said offered tax cuts to the rich and subsidies to oil companies, while cutting money for college loans and health care programs. "It is immoral. We should be screaming from the rooftops about this," he told the miners meeting at the Riviera casino-hotel. "The country needs to know what this man is doing to this country."

<snip>

"It's time for the Democratic Party to go back and embrace the union movement, the organized labor movement," he said, bringing the audience to its feet. "I hear it from Democratic politicians, you know, 'what our party needs to do ... we need occupy the political center, we need to be more appealing to more people.' Well, how about if we show some backbone and guts and actually fight for the people we've always fought for."

more...

[joeybee12]

1. Sounds to me like a guy who's running for President...

...at least he seems to understand why many people are frustrated with the Dem leadership.

[Fierce]

2. He was the only one during the 2004 campaign

to talk about honoring card checks and so on. He gets it.

[Catchawave]

7. Welcome to DU Fierce !

:hi:

I look forward to helping him for 2008 !

[saltpoint]

3. If the nomination eventually goes to John Edwards, the party

and the government would be in the hands of a genuine public servant.

The trade of Dubya and Pickles for John and Elizabeth Edwards is a slam-dunk if ever there was one.

And I love those remarks about the union, too.

[Catchawave]

9. Oh yes, the return of Camelot will lift us up...

Not to mention a little rock star quality:

[Cha]

47. I like the whole package of

Elizabeth and John Edwards..he really has to watch his back because I can't see the neoCONS letting him get too popular. They couldn't handle The People having their say in our country.

[saltpoint]

48. zidzi, you're right about the whole package. Elizabeth Edwards

is a gleaming example of an evolved, contributive citizen.

My guess is she's a tremendous mom, too.

These folks have, in Joan Didion's phrase, "what used to be called 'character' in this country,"
and that's been in short supply in the Bush administration.

[AmericanDream]

52. John Edwards - a tremendous dad too

We've seen him with his little kids (and cate), but what his first child, Wade Edwards wrote says a lot about the kind of father he must be to inspire his son to think of being one himself at the age of just 16. I'm posting below an essay by wade edwards, which won a national essay contest. When wade edwards was asked what does he want to do in life, he said "practice law with my father." I think Wade's essay is simple yet so sincere - totally uncorrupted by any form of cynicism.


FANCY CLOTHES AND OVERALLS

BY WADE EDWARDS

A little boy and his father walk into a firehouse. He smiles at people standing outside. Some hand pamphlets to his father. They stand in line. Finally, they go together into a small booth, pull the curtain closed, and vote. His father holds the boy up and shows him which levers to move.

"We're ready, Wade. Pull the big lever now."

With both hands, the boy pulls the lever. There it is: the sound of voting. The curtain opens. The boy smiles at an old woman leaving another booth and at a mother and daughter getting into line. He is not certain exactly what they have done. He only knows that he and his father have done something important. They have voted.

This scene takes place all over the country.

"Pull the lever, Yolanda."

"Drop the ballot in the box for me, Pedro."

Wades, Yolandas, Pedros, Nikitas, and Chuis all over the United States are learning the same lesson: the satisfaction, pride, importance, and habit of voting. I have always gone with my parents to vote. Sometimes lines are long. There are faces of old people and young people, voices of native North Carolinians in southern drawls and voices of naturalized citizens with their foreign accents. There are people in fancy clothes and others dressed in overalls. Each has exactly the same one vote. Each has exactly the same say in the election. There is no place in America where equality means as much as in the voting booth.

My father took me that day to the firehouse. Soon I will be voting. It is a responsibility and a right. It is also an exciting national experience. Voters have different backgrounds, dreams, and experiences, but that is the whole point of voting. Different voices are heard.

As I get close to the time I can register and vote, it is exciting. I become one of the voices. I know I will vote in every election. I know that someday I will bring my son with me and introduce him to one of the great American experiences: voting.

[saltpoint]

55. O gosh, that's a sad post. A very beautiful thing, and I'm not

knocking you for posting it, but it hits hard emotionally, doesn't it?

Can a person be homesick for someone he never met?

And to think how Elizabeth and John must feel. Unfathomable.

And yet they soldier on, and beautifully at that.

I had a glimpse into Edwards' character after learning he climbed Kilamanjaro with Wade.

That was defining and revealing.

I just betcha John Edwards does NOT regret making that ascent with his son in this later hour.

You said it. Great parenting in that family.

[ultraist]

60. John & Elizabeth: The Dream Team

Imagine having a first lady like Elizabeth.

'nuf said.

[Digit]

4. I just love this guy!

...and he can WIN!

[awoke_in_2003]

5. Go John, go

gotta love the guy.

[RufusEarl]

6. He has always appeared to be a good man to me,

honest and plain spoken. He IMHO has a grasp on what the country needs to survive and prosper, with that said i don't think he'll ever get the nod!

I've said in the past here on DU, that i would vote for whomever got the nomination and i plan on doing just that. But i would really be happy to vote for John Edwards, he would make a great leader.

[Catchawave]

8. Hopefully the DNC will support substance over $$$$

But I'm sure they'll push the candidate who makes the most money for their War Chest. :cry:

[RufusEarl]

10. Agreed, it's always about the money!

sadly american politics have become 10% substance and 90% aroma.

[Catchawave]

14. And why the 2008 pre-season has started already

The cost of campaigning has skyrocketed, even since 2004. And the GOP is way ahead of us in their midterm war chests.

We just have to stay on message, keep positive and get fire in the bellies of apathetic voters to take back the Congress. :patriot:

[hopein08]

11. I'm behind Edwards in '08 but I have one tiny question that I...

can't find an answer too.

Maybe you all can help?

Where does he stand on the immigration issues?

[AmericanDream]

12. He is for giving...

people who are here and work hard, a path to citizenship - but he understands that border security needs to step up.

He recently gave a quote on this to the AP, I'll try to find the exact thing.

[silverojo]

33. I agree with him on this

We do need to give hard-working people a way to become legal citizens, and we also need to secure our borders from waves of illegals and/or potential terrorists (and I'm talking about the Canadian border, too).

[ultraist]

61. Edwards discusses immigration in his latest podcast

http://oneamericacommittee.com/media/podcasts/20060412/

April l2th podcast

If you have trouble loading it and get a pop up that asks you to log in, just hit cancel.

Or, you can access the podcast from the homepage: http://oneamericacommittee.com/

[Catchawave]

15. I'm not sure this is what you're looking for....

But he did tour last winter with the (union) Hotel Workers Rising campaign...

http://www.hotelworkersunited.org/citystory.asp?ID=109

Which I think are about 98% immigrants ? This whole "undocumented" immigration thing didn't hit the GOP fan until after that very successful tour. Hmmmmmm??

[AmericanDream]

13. "We've got enough politicians, what we need are leaders."

That's a classic! :thumbsup:

[CrispyQ]

16. This one too . . .

"Well, how about if we show some backbone and guts and actually fight for the people we've always fought for."


Go John!

[Catchawave]

20. My favorite JRE quote is in my sig line....

Enjoy all :hi:

[Ashamed_American]

17. Over the past year,

Edwards has swept me off of my feet. The man says the right things, at the right time, saying those things while he is taking a break from helping the right people. I couldn't tell you the last time I've looked at a politician and said, "now that is an honest man." I look at him and I see honesty. I see a caring man.

Yes I see a man sticking his foot in the 2008 Presidential door, and I couldn't be happier. I can't wait to do all I can to help get the word out and build support for Edwards if and when he makes it official.


www.BlackEyedSundays.com

[bunkerbuster1]

18. And Elizabeth kicks ass too.

I'd seen her handle a town meeting during the '04 campaign, was very impressed.

(the fact that she's posted to DU didn't hurt either.)

[Catchawave]

21. I remember Elizabeth's post.....

To a thread that was celebrating Laura Ingram's cancer diagnosis. And reminding us that we were stooping to the negative level of "them" so we become "them". It was powerful.

[bunkerbuster1]

22. Good for her.

I missed that thread; do you remember the forum so I could do a search?

[Catchawave]

23. I tried to search it ....

Even in Archives, used ElizabethEdwards as author and Laura Ingram in subject for a full DU forum/archive search. I swear, there was a post by Elizabeth responding to all the snarky/tacky comments celebrating Ingram's cancer. And it was great!

[bunkerbuster1]

24. I tried searching for "Laura Ingraham"

being that's how she spells her name, but it didn't work either.

Oh well. I'll take your word for it!

[Catchawave]

35. FOUND IT !!!!!! Elizabeth's DU posts :)))))

Had to do an archive advanced search and I used EE's name as author. Scroll down on this thread, you'll see her posts :hi:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3545777

[bunkerbuster1]

37. Thanks. I'm gonna copy/paste it just so it's up in this thread...

Of course we wish the best for her in this fight.

I have been a Democrat for a long time, and part of the Democratic principles that attracted me as a young person and kept me a Democrat all these years is our compassion. Democrats are simply good and decent people. And good and decent people want everyone to do well -- those who agree with them and those who do not. We fight for the right of voices with which we disagree to speak out, for the right of people to say things we don't believe to be true, even for the right to be malicious and mean-spirited. If we fight for the right for LI to say what she says, how in the world can we use our disagreement with those words as an excuse not to be compassionate in her fight with cancer. Being willing to have her voice muted by illness is the same thing as not wanting her voice to be heard. It is not Democratic or democratic.

I hope others will join me in wishing her Godspeed in this fight, for the easiest road that she can have, and even for the development of compassion about others who have faced hardship and disease without the support network she -- and I -- have. As I go through treatment for this same disease, I think often about the women who fight breast cancer without health insurance, without a supportive husband, with a physically demanding job that doesn't know or doesn't care that she is exhausted and weak and aching, with children but no child care. I find it absolutely impossible that LI won't also have those thoughts run through her head or that she won't rethink her position on health care or the social safety net. Pray for her health AND her enlightenment, if you must. But pray, with me, for her good health.

[Marie26]

39. Good for her

I always liked Elizabeth Edwards, but that thread made me admire her even more.

[Catchawave]

19. Wow, what A.A. said !

:hug:

[Left Below]

25. John Edwards was a Purple Heart away from beating Bush in 04

That would be a Purple Heart to neutralize the "heroism" of Kerry.

I am another Edwards supporter!

[Catchawave]

26. Love Kerry,

BUT damn you're right...most people didn't think beyond

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/opinion/18webb.html?ex=1295240400&en=f3e1d4cd5b25ed71&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

:hi:

[karynnj]

27. What are you saying???

By the way, Kerry WAS a hero, no quotes about it. The silver star is one of the highest medals given. Think before you write - would you expose yourself to gunfire to save another person. No one knows till it happens. In Kerry's case he responded as a hero.

Liars don't change reality. Idiots who joke about purple hearts need to think what they mean - they're not given for valor or excellent performance, but for getting wounded. Senator Kerry still has srapnell in his leg and over time has had surgery on one arm a few times. He also has a hearing loss from the loud noises on the boats. For the last 30 years, he has had nightmares at times where he awakes afraid his boat and crew are in danger. All these things from a missions that were poorly designed and on which a huge percentage of people were injured or killed.

Yet you, because you prefer Edwards, feel entitled to mock Kerry's Purple Heart. Something tells me that both Elizabeth and John Edwards would be ashamed of you.

[Left Below]

28. Not mocking -- they were in quotes due to the Swiftboat

U-turn on Kerry that made the minions feel Kerry was weaker than a deserter.


I voted kerry - duh!

[karynnj]

34. So, you simply accept that the SBVT attacks, while not true,

erase Kerry's genuine heroism. I could care less if you support of Kerry even in a run for his MA Senate seat - but it is wrong for Democrats to not demand that he be given his due credit as a war hero.

It's incredibly annoying that the same Democtrats who flock to Webb, who was a Republican until very recently and excuse nearly everything he's ever said or done, are willing to diminsh a true Democrat. John Kerry has led a pricipled life of service that very few people could equal.

[saltpoint]

56. A lot of folks see the same thing you do, and what a complete

sense of uplift it would be for us to have some people with bedrock decency running the government instead of... uh... the folks in there now!

(That was the g-rated version of "the folk in there now")

[Blackhatjack]

29. WARNING! Don't Underestimate John Edwards ....

There are no lawyers in North Carolina who underestimate John Edwards. He is not only persuasive, but also sincere about what he believes, and he OUTWORKS every single one of them.

I heard an insurance defense lawyer say that you need to do everything possible to avoid a trial with him. Some thought they would use their superior resources and traditional advantage to teach Johnny Boy a lesson --but they now respect him most of all.

I think the characteristic the American people would find most appealing is that he is consistently honest and sincere, he earned his station in life and did not inherit it from a rich family, and he never backs down from a fight if he believes he is right.

Just imagine what he could accomplish if he had the opportunity ....

[AmericanDream]

30. What Edwards' rival lawyers think of him...

Here are a few comments from his rivals:

"John is more than just a good lawyer," said Clay, who has opposed Edwards in 15 cases. "John is a one-of-a-kind critter. John was the only one who was a danger to do that every time he went to bat."

"I can't tell you how many lawyers I ran up against who said 'I want X amount,' " said Jim Cooney, a Charlotte defense lawyer who frequently faced Edwards. " 'If you don't pay up, I'm going to hire John.' They were using John as a bargaining chip, and I'm sure he didn't know it."

"From soup to nuts, you were going up against someone very good at every aspect of the trial," Cooney said. "What made him such a formidable opponent is that he has an ability to see a case that most folks don't have. From the time he filed a case, he pretty much knew how it was going to play out. The rest of us were playing catch-up to that."

There are more, but I think we get the idea ;)

[saltpoint]

49. I've never seen this angle before, and I like it a lot.

One's peers in a difficult career carry big weight.

[Andromeda]

31. I adore John Edwards...

and the more I see him the better I like him.

He gets it!

[Asgaya Dihi]

32. I wonder

I wonder if anyone has harassed him yet to go post it at FR first :(

I wish Edwards luck and if it isn't Feingold then Edwards might be a good option, but I'm less and less hopeful as time goes on rather than more so. Both parties are so caught up in the partisan bickering that they are driving away the middle. We don't even discuss issues as such anymore except as it provides a tool to attack the other side.

I tried to post several hours ago about the growth of the prison system and that impact on the population and the party, got half a dozen positive responses then one paranoid that was sure it was all a plot of some sort. All the sudden the topic is beside the point, it's what party am I, did I go do it at the site of their choice and yell at them first, and so on.

Seemed to me that the approximately 2.2 million people currently involved in this, the 4.7 million disenfranchised voters, plus their families, plus the additional costs to society of these policies might have been the point, not partisan bickering. My mistake.

I don't hold a lot of hope for either party, or the nation, till we can discuss an issue that involves solutions rather than just attacks. Edwards is a step in the right direction and I wish him luck, but people need to follow his lead and fix both parties and the system itself.

[Strawman]

36. John Edwards strikes me...

as a guy who has really found himself politically, especially now that he is outside of the Senate. He reminds me of Bobby Kennedy.

Maybe I'm being a sucker here and falling for a carefully crafted image making campaign, but there is something about him that I just instinctively trust. His heart is in the right place and he seems genuine.

[AmericanDream]

41. I think agree with you

Even though I personally have always liked him, it is hard to ignore how much powerful he, his message, and his ideals seem to have become since the election.

I think part of this is because when he started running in 2003, he had been in politics for all of 4-5 years. Now, having the time to reflect and having gone through a national campaign, I think he has found his voice.

I don't think it is a "carefully crafted image", I don't think he'll be able to convey his message as powerfully if he wasn't sincere about it ... I know it doesn't work that way. Maybe there is a reason why Cheney and Bush can't say a single inspiring line, even for their supporters. Edwards is a very inspiring speaker, and I find it hard to believe that you can be that way without having some inherent honesty and peace about your words and works.

[Clarkie1]

38. "We've got enough politicians, what we need are leaders."

I couldn't agree more, Mr. Edwards.

[goodhue]

40. Way to go, John Edwards

Running as a populist against the drift to the center works for me!

[leanin_green]

42. Nice piece of political strategy on his part.

The proof is in the pudding. Right now I just see it as a political ploy to reach the fading left of the party. He bears watching, however.

[eauclaireliberal]

43. Reminds me of a Lincoln quote

"There's too many pigs for the tits."

[Radical Activist]

44. Does that sound light weight to you?

People call Edwards a light weight and a pretty boy but since the last election he has made some of the most thoughtful, intelligent and inspiring statements of any major political figure in the nation. I'm more impressed every time he speaks and I think we would have won had he been at the top of the ticket in '04.

[AmericanDream]

45. What they mean by that...

People have always called him a "political lightweight" ... never an "intellectual lightweight" (he was one of the top lawyers in the country who got his law and undergraduate degrees summa cum laude)... everyone who has covered him, has always praised how smart he is.

Newsweek's Howard Fineman called him a "genial genius."

So, it is the whole political experience question they allude to time and again.

[Joe Chi Minh]

46. I'm sure the following letter to the Edinburgh Evening News

by a Jack Fraser will resonate with you folk. (I don't imagine the author or the paper will jib at my citing it in full):

"Healthy economy can fund pensions

IN "Your say" (April 5), you ask if public sector workers are right to protest at changes to the retirement age. Shelley West (Letters, April 3) says that some workers are entitled to retire at 60, but intimates there is not enough money to fund already agreed deals for public sector workers.

Gains made by working-class people have always been questioned along the lines of economics. Many thought that we couldn't afford to abolish slavery. This would be an absurd position today.

In 1925, people could retire at 65. Over 80 years later, Britain is incomparably richer. North Sea oil companies are raking it in, likewise our banks and utility companies. With 6 billion spent the war in Iraq, we now plan to waste £25 billion on a replacement for Trident, with another £1 billion a year on maintenance.

The top ten percent of earners receive £11 billion in pensions tax relief each year. An estimated £100 billion is lost to the Treasury by companies dodging taxes.

Most company directors retire at 60 with pensions 26 times the national average and 30 times that of public sector, most of whom are low-paid and women, who already suffer pay discrimination. We disgracefully spend only five percent of our national wealth on pensions, compared to an EU average of 11 percent.

The argument that there is not enough money in the pot is shameful. Many who advance it are simply misled. Shouldn't we all retire at 60 with decent pensions?"

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

50. Oh, there you are!

:puffpiece:

A couple of lightly fleshed-out ideas and a few slogans. :party:

[saltpoint]

51. You mean Edwards? I don't know, RUMMYisFROSTED. He seems

sincere to me. Not a guy who reacts to things on the sloganeering level, and by all counts and for a long time, somebody who sweats the detail work.

His clients would be the ones to ask, I'd say.

[1932]

54. good point.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

57. No. I mean the author of the article.

I didn't see much in the article that was illuminating.

Looked like a deadline piece to me. :shrug:

[Catchawave]

67. I thought you were referring to me...whew

:dilemma:

[AmericanDream]

53. You need to learn more

Visit: www.oneamericacommittee.com

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

58. That's a frightening site!

:scared:





One America?

:scared:

That's not packaged at all!

:scared:

[ultraist]

62. Edwards has the BEST site

The photo above and the one you posted are from a slide show on the front page. Check out the entire site, including the blog. It blows any other prospective presidential candidate's site out of the water.

[TxD]

63. Very comprehensive site

Amazing entries with lots of information on Edwards and issues. Intelligent blog and a sharp, user friendly design, too, keeping the pulse up for advanced users, but easy on the navigation for the not so technical group. Really good dicussions going on over there.

[ultraist]

64. Did you see the JRE-TV #l?

http://oneamericacommittee.com/media/oann/

There is some backstage footage and a clip of Danny Glover speaking, from the UNITE Hotel workers rally.

They plan on doing more behind the scenes coverage for the JRE TV feature. Very cool stuff.

[Catchawave]

66. Welcome to DU TxD !

Obviously a person with excellent taste in web design :hi:

[McCamy Taylor]

59. Edwards 2008! Winner!

[MrSlayer]

65. I can get behind those sentiments.

"It's time for the Democratic Party to go back and embrace the union movement, the organized labor movement," he said, bringing the audience to its feet. "I hear it from Democratic politicians, you know, 'what our party needs to do ... we need occupy the political center, we need to be more appealing to more people.' Well, how about if we show some backbone and guts and actually fight for the people we've always fought for."

Fuckin A right John Edwards.