Edwards Marks Traditional Campaign Kickoff in Iowa
EmailABC News Raelyn Johnson Reports: With Labor Day among us, former Sen. John Edwards D-N.C., took a moment to welcome the holiday that has traditionally been known known as the start of the political season.
"I think for a lot of America this fall will be when they really start paying attention to what’s happening in the campaign," said Edwards Sunday after a community meeting in Vinton, Iowa.
Despite the season picking up, Edwards assured that he had a plan to stay on track in Iowa, where he’s enjoyed a summer of leading in many local polls. In Iowa Edwards enters the fall in a dead heat with Sens. Hillary Clinton D-N.Y., and Barack Obama D-Ill., who by comparison have made fewer visits to the first in the nation state.
"The things that I’m doing on substance and policy, talking about real change, universal health care, energy transformation, ending the war, these are the things that most of the people in Iowa have now heard from me but most of America has not. And they need to hear that, they need to hear from me and I believe that when they do, the shift will happen."
This Labor Day weekend Edwards has set out to focus on meeting with caucus goers and workers on a three day trip across Iowa. Many of his supporters have been with him sine 2004 and this weekend they’re packing into lumbar barns, filling town squares and picnic grounds, greeting the former senator with signs that read, "This is John Edwards’ Country". There may be some proof to that suggestion –this afternoon in Vinton, Edwards was able to recognize by face several audience members who stood up to ask him questions. Edwards joked, "As Elizabeth likes to say, there’s a lot of communities in Iowa where if I got stopped, I could give directions."
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If the Democrats were smart, they’d stop focusing on their infatuation with the notion of electing either a woman or an African-American president and start picturing how a general election campaign with either of those two candidates would realistically play out. Once the Republican smear machine gets geared up and starts pounding us with video snippets stirring old memories of the snitty tone that many hated about Hillary ( i.e. “I guess I could have stayed home and baked cookies”, “There’s a vast right wing conspiracy”, etc.), her negatives will go from the mid 40′s to the mid-to-upper 50′s. Barak Obama? Please. They’ll bash his inexperienced head in. John Edwards has, by far, the best chance of any of the Democrats of weathering and winning the general election.
Posted by: sps91158 | September 6, 2007, 9:54 am 9:54 am