Edwards Crowds Rise for ‘America Rising’

ABC News’ Raelyn Johnson reports: As his eight day bus tour through Iowa winds down, John Edwards is starting to bring audiences to their feet when he talks about America rising.

“Every time we speak up for 47 million people who have no health care coverage, America rises," Edwards says. "Every time we speak up for 35 million of our own people who went hungry last year, America rises.   Every time we speak up for 200,000 veterans who ware homeless and sleeping under bridges, America rises.”

It is a newly injected message that Edwards has been preaching to larger crowds than he’s previously attracted. It is met by applause and, at times, standing ovations. 

“That rising is going to begin right here in Iowa on Jan. 3,” Edwards told caucus goers Sunday at a town hall in Colfax, Iowa.

With both candidates and caucus-goers focused on a cold night in January, Edwards pointed in the direction of the media gathered in the back of the room, predicting, “They all think they know what’s going to happen, they’re dissecting the polls. … Wait ’til they see what’s coming.”

Having poured many of his resources into Iowa, Edwards acknowledges a win there could help him capitalize on victories moving out of the first-in-the-nation-caucus state.  However, following the event, Edwards shot down the theory that he was a one-state candidate, telling reporters the characterization was “dead wrong.”