Edwards Brings Exhibit A: Dad

[Nutmegger]

DUBUQUE, Iowa--Meet Wallace Edwards, father of John Edwards and Exhibit A on the campaign trail as his son laments the plight of the middle-class worker.

The senior Edwards and his wife, Bobbie, joined their son in Dubuque, Iowa today for a rare campaign appearance, followed by lunch a local Italian restaurant. When Edwards unveiled an eight-point plan to "rebuild American manufacturing for the 21st century" at a United Auto Workers forum, he pointed to his father as one of the folks who had left behind.

"Our economy depends on a successful middle class, but our middle class depends on manufacturing," Edwards told the crowd in Dubuque. "I am running for president on behalf of the men and women who worked in the mill with my father and lost their jobs when that mill closed."

Wallace Edwards' employment difficulties are more than just another chapter in the Edwards biography -- they are a driving force in the economic populism that defines Edwards' 2008 campaign. The former senator aired his first South Carolina television ad today, appearing in front of the North Carolina textile mill where Wallace had once worked -- along with Edwards himself for a time.

Full article: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/11/14/edwards_brings_exhibit_a_dad.html