News-Record.com

This headline from the TurboFaith blog caught my attention: "It's 2008-Pray For Elections."

We need to be spending time before God and finding out who we need to support in the 2008 election- I am asking God to raise up 2 Born Again, Holy Ghost filled, Christian men to take the office of President and Vice President and also Born Again, Christian men and women to be elected to the House Of Representatives and Senate! Also the same thing in all local and state level elections!- This country IS the greatest country on earth and I personally want to see it remain that way! If you are a Christian, please join with me in this awesome task. Pray! Seek Gods will and then get to it! Get out and vote!

Click here to read the whole post.

Certainly C.L. Tucker Jr. is not the first person to put forward such a position. Religion and politics have been mixing for a long, long time. Consider Guarino's recent take emerging (or not) differences among evangelical voters:

(Read more after the jump).

From the Associated Press:

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Democrat John Edwards embarked on a 36-hour campaign marathon, focusing on pocketbook issues while launching a new wave of advertising on the airwaves and in print. He dismissed a spate of polls showing that he had sunk to third place in the race.

"I don't need a poll to tell me that we're moving and moving in the right direction every single day," said Edwards.

He campaigned with his family and Mari Culver, wife of Iowa Gov. Chet Culver.

"I am rolling up my sleeves, traveling with the campaign," said Mrs. Culver, who - like Edwards - is a former trial lawyer and has long known the candidate.

Edwards was met by about 500 people jammed into a ballroom at the student union at Iowa State University as he began the overnight campaign push, aimed at energizing backers and delivering them to the precinct caucuses Thursday. He planned a rally in Atlantic at midnight and had a stop at 2:15 a.m. in Creston and an early breakfast in Centerville at 5:15 a.m.

Meanwhile new television and newspaper ads focused on Edwards' populist message. A TV spot features a worker - who lost his job when the Maytag factory in Newton closed - suggesting Edwards is the most likely candidate to fight to get his job back.

Bill Wright, the chairman of the Guilford County GOP, has a letter to the editor today regarding our story on Coble's age and whether he'll retire. From the letter:

But perhaps the article says even more about Jay Ovittore, an announced Democratic challenger. Ovittore suggested that anyone who has served as long as Coble begins to get cynical and corrupt.

I have known Coble for many years and shared the platform with him at numerous events, especially programs honoring our veterans and ex-POWs. Coble is a man of the people, visible throughout the 6th District. He is constantly meeting with constituent groups, area businesses, speaking to schoolchildren, veterans' groups and listening to the concerns of voters. He has assembled a talented and committed staff that provides perhaps the best constituent service of anyone in Congress.

So is Wright right? Can you serve in Washington for more than two decades and still be a "man of the people?" Or do age and length of service eventually take their toll?

From a story today about who local politicians are backing in the presidential race:

Local Democratic politicians seem to have taken a rooting interest in "favorite son" John Edwards' run for the presidency.

By contrast, many local Republican office-holders range from unimpressed to unswayed by the crop of candidates currently running for the GOP nomination.

The Iowa caucuses will start the presidential selection process on Thursday, with primaries following this January in New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida.

North Carolina is not due for its primaries until May, most likely too late in the process to influence the outcome.

Still, local politicians can influence the flow of money and volunteer support for campaigns, and if nothing else, provide a proxy for the campaign that might have been.

Other than the candidates themselves, who sways your vote? Does Oprah's endorsement of Barack Obama bring you into his camp. Or do have fewer degrees of separation from John Edwards since Kevin Bacon stumped for the former N.C. Senator? Do endorsements from the likes of the NRA or ACLU bring you into a candidates camp?

Not sure what exactly is going to go down in Iowa tomorrow? Here's a video from the John Edwards campaign that explains it well, if in a highly partisan way:

Yes! Weekly columnist and local talk show host Jim Longworth has said he won't let Jay Ovittore on his air. Ovittore is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the 6th Congressional District.

This is reminiscent somewhat of Longworth's complaints about Brad Miller in 2006, when Miller declined to come on his show. I can't say that the tiff hurt Miller in the polls any.

Triad Today is an independent production, not part of a news operation. (ABC 45 where the show is produced doesn't have a news department.)

This is the second time today that this story has sparked some sort of public tussle.

Hat tip: Blue NC

So, tell me if you've heard this one before. A former governor from Arkansas who grew up in a little town named "Hope" runs for president. He goes on a popular chat show and plays an instrument when he's not engaging in charming banter with the host.

No, not Clinton ... that's soooo 1990s. This guy:

Republican Mike Huckabee was on the Tonight Show Wednesday evening, and yes, he was playing the base. In this clip from the interview he talks about his weight loss, talks about his back and forth with Mitt Romney and offers an explanation about the whole I have an attack ad but I don't want to use it thing.

During other parts of the interview he talked about his plan to move the nation from an income tax to a national sales tax. And interestingly, Leno gave him a couple openings to talk about faith, religion, etc... (Huckabee is a Baptist minister and has sounded quite a few religious notes in Iowa during recent weeks) and he really didn't go down that road.

Update: More from the unofficial Huckabee campaign.

This just in from the Guilford County Democrats:

Due to a very enthusiastic response, the date, time and location of the January Democratic Lunch Forum with SENATOR KAY HAGAN has been changed.

The Forum will now be a Town Hall Meeting and will be held at 6 p.m., THURSDAY, JANUARY 17 at Golden Corral (at Wendover & I-40).

To ensure that we have adequate space, RSVPs ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!

To RSVP, call Democratic Headquarters at 315-5532 or respond to this e-mail.

There is no admission fee for the meeting. If you choose to eat at Golden Corral, the cost of the meal is yours.

If you plan to eat, please arrive early. The meeting will start promptly at 6 p.m.

Hagan is running for Senate, but you knew that...right?

I've been flipping news channels and surfing websites for a good three hours this evening and I've come to this conclusion: We scruffy media types need a hobby or something. The breathless projections about what a win or a loss in Iowa does or doesn't mean are just a bit much.

That said, I think there are a few take-aways from tonight:

• *Republicans: you have yourselves a presidential campaign. If Mitt Romney's fundraising and spending advantage can't get him better than a second-place showing over a guy with no money who was an also-ran three weeks ago, this thing really is up in the air.
• *New Hampshire just got a whole lot more meaningful for the GOP. Remember, Giuliani didn't really contest the state - but he better do a darned site better in NH and SC people are going to begin to smell road kill. (No, I don't buy the whole "I'm biding my time for Flordia" thing.)

• *Democrats: It's official, this is a three-way race. The conversation is Obama, Clinton and Edwards, probably in that order.

• *Edwards could be in trouble because he doesn't have as much money as Clinton and Obama, but it looks like he can hang in at least until that first February uber-primary day.

• *It seems to me that Clinton was hurt more by not winning Iowa. The whole premise of her campaign has been, "Of course it's Hillary, who the heck else are we going to vote for?" - that whole inevitability thing. That's kind of out the window for the moment.

Listening to Edwards on the TV right now, he sounds pretty upbeat. Here's what he told the Associated Press earlier:

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Democrat John Edwards told The Associated Press that the Iowa caucus showed that voters are choosing change over the status quo, and he vowed a vigorous campaign into New Hampshire.

Edwards, who lost a close race to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, said he would continue running as the candidate for middle-class Americans.

"I mean, we were grotesquely outspent in Iowa five-to-one and the fact that I'm as strong as I am now under these circumstances indicates that this message of change and standing up for corporate greed and fighting for the middle class and jobs really matters," the 2004 vice presidential nominee said in an interview with The Associated Press

He said he would distinguish himself from Obama in New Hampshire by arguing that he is the candidate who can deliver the change that voters have shown they want.

"I''m going to fight for that change," he said via telephone from his hotel room in Iowa. "I've fought for it my entire life. I have a long history of fighting powerful interests and winning."

"What's clear from the Iowa caucus results is that change won and the status quo lost," Edwards said. "And the fight is now to see if we are going to get the change we need to save the middle class in this country."

Okay, now it's your turn. What's on your mind after Iowa. To get you started, here's what editorial writer Doug Clark had to say:

I'm not impressed by Mike Huckabee's so-called big win in the Iowa caucuses tonight.

Nor by the whole Iowa experience.

I think Iowa will be forgotten in, oh, about a week.

The real story among Republicans may be Mitt Romney's poor showing after spending so much money. He should have joined Rudy Giuliani in ignoring this insignificant state, concentrating instead on primaries in more representative places. But he has time to recover and blow off this minor setback.

The Democrats, meanwhile, seem to be heading for a three-way tie, more or less, among Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

Meaning, none of them wins or loses. So, on to the next stop, and the next and the next.

Iowa attracts way too much attention and signifies very little.

More from: Wx Post, Dome, IH Tavern, Trail Mix

From a Charlotte Observer article about the attendence (or lack there of) for North Carolina's federal delegation:

Rep. Robin Hayes, a Concord Republican, missed 59 votes, tied with GOP Rep. Howard Coble of Greensboro, for the second-largest number of missed votes in the delegation.

That's 59 of nearly 1,200 votes, or a miss rate of 4.8 percent or so.

Cross-posted from Capital Beat:

I just got this e-mail from political consulting firm Fetzer Stephens:

"As of the first of this year, Fetzer Stephens is no longer engaged with the Graham for Governor Committee. We have appreciated the opportunity to work with the Graham Campaign and we wish them well in 2008."

The firm is one of the big dogs in North Carolina Republican circles, working for the likes of Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr. So what gives?

"There's no sour relationship," said campaign spokesman Aaron Lay. Fetzer Stephens was part of Graham's "Stop the Gas Tax" push last year, and had been managing much of the campaign as a lead consultant up through the New Year.

Graham's new campaign manager, Marty Ryall came on board this week. Other consultants include Strategic Perceptions.

Update: Just in from the Graham campaign:

January 4, 2008 - SALISBURY, NC - Marty Ryall, Campaign Manager for Bill Graham for Governor, issued the following statement today. "Through a cordial and mutual agreement we are no longer working with Fetzer Stephens. We appreciate the work Tom and Mark have done for the campaign and we wish them all the best in the future."

From editorial page editor Allen Johnson:

As sour a pill as it may have been for Hillary Clinton to swallow, Barack Obama's stunning victory in the Iowa Caucuses says a lot of good things about Obama and about America.

Obama won in a state that is 90-plus percent white. That means he effectively tailored a campaign message that transcends race -- that he spoke to concerns that cut across racial lines. He is clearly a different breed of candidate from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton; for Obama race was an issue, but not THE issue.

He also beat Clinton among female voters.

His victory also means that many Iowans looked past race in their choice of a candidate.

From editorial writer Doug Clark:

What's the difference between Edwards and Obama in 2008? Both are youthful, charismatic men with comparable political experience. But Obama suddenly has surged out front in the Democratic race while Edwards looks to be in serious trouble.

Could it be that, this time, Edwards' rhetoric seems to emphasize fear over hope, division over unity? That Edwards is appealing to anger and envy, trying to build resentment against "those people" in Washington or wherever who supposedly are holding ordinary Americans down?

New polling from Zogby out today confirms a lot of the polling others had going into this week. From a release this afternoon:

Among likely-voting Democrats, Clinton also enjoys strength with 36% support, compared to 24% for Obama and 20% for Edwards. Among independents who said they were likely to vote in the Democratic primary, Obama enjoys 34% backing, compared to 26% support for Clinton and 21% for Edwards. Independent voters are important in New Hampshire because they can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary.

Basically, NY Sen. Hillary Clinton is holding steady while Ill. Sen. Barack Obama appears to have picked up a couple points over the past two weeks, maybe due to his win in Iowa. Edwards has held at 20 percent for a while, no matter what group of Dems are polled.

On the Republican side, Arizona Sen. John McCain has picked up ground in tracking polls. Huckabee seems to be edging up in New Hampshire while Romney is holding steady but in second place. From the release:

McCain's lead continues to be based on the strength of support among independents, where he holds a 42% to 29% over Romney, with no other Republican winning more than 10% support among this group. Among moderates, McCain's edge dropped from 53% support to 48% support after yesterday's polling was added to the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby three-day rolling average, while while Romney also lost some ground, dropping from 24% to 22%. Meanwhile, Romney's edge over McCain among mainline conservatives - the largest voting bloc in the GOP - increased from one to five points.

Huckabee's bounce from the Iowa victory comes among those who consider themselves "very conservative," where he jumped from 21% to 28% when just yesterday's post-Iowa caucus polling is folded into the mix. However, Romney still leads in the category with 33% support. McCain wins 20% among the very conservative.

How is this playing out on the ground? From an Associated Press story detailing the day on teh stump:

Edwards, who narrowly edged Clinton for second place in Iowa, tried to turn the New Hampshire contest into a two-man race.

"There will be two change agents" on the ballot Tuesday and at Saturday's televised debate, said Edwards, dismissing Clinton as a member of the status quo.

Edwards told reporters he is more able than Obama to achieve change because of his years battling corporations as a personal injury lawyer. He said when dealing with oil, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, "I don't think you can nice them to death."

Asked if Obama, a former constitutional law professor, is too nice, Edwards replied: "I'm suggesting we have a battle and a fight on our hands" to improve life for working class families.

Obama responded to critics by arguing that people also said Abraham Lincoln wasn't ready to lead the country and that he understands hope alone isn't a prescription for change.

"I love the word, but lately some folk say, 'Ahh, he's always talking about hope. He's so idealistic. He's a hope-monger,'" he said.

"Hope is not blind optimism. Hope is not ignorance of the roadblocks and hurdles that stand between you and your goals," he continued. "It was hope that allowed slaves and abolitionists to resist that evil system and would allow a new president, who many said wasn't ready to chart out a new course, that would ensure that this nation would not remain half slave and half free."

Cross-posted at Capital Beat.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has been flirting with a run for governor for a good couple months now. The Meck Deck, Charlotte blog of the John Locke Foundation, picked up a hot tip and e-mailed it out (complete with Drudge-report siren) to us scruffy media types:

Interesting rumor du jour is that Mayor Pat McCrory will have a press conference next week in Jamestown, NC.

Why Jamestown - near High Point - of all places? McCrory went to Ragsdale High in Jamestown, where he kicked off his political career by being student body president. Kinda sounds like a set-piece to announce a run for governor, does it not?

Read the whole post here.

Another good reason for McCrory to launch in Jamestown: gets that Charlotte patina off him. From what long-time Republicans tells me, the GOP base is a bit skeptical of the big city mayor coming out to the territories telling folks who it ought to be done. Announcing in Jamestown would play up his connection to the Triad as well as show that he's more than just about Charlotte.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte paper reports McCrory is ramping up his Facebook presence. (Facedook page.) Charlotte also writes that McCrory has been sopping up local support for his run.

I did not hear Barack Obama's victory speech on the night of the Iowa caucus. But every time I've read about it over the past couple days, his delivery and content has been praised in farily glowing terms. So I decided to listen for myself. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

For good measure, here's Huckabee's victory speech, which was pretty good itself. (It's got to be easier to write and deliver happy news to your supporters.)

A quick trip around the local blogiverse yields the following take on the latest fun in the presidential campaign:

• * Apriori Concepts: "As with Obama, I believe firmly that most Americans would do well to explore the candidates directly as opposed to taking the noise machine's word for it.Huckabee appears to have an impressive record of public service."
• * And so I go on Huckabee and Obama: "For either one of these men to be elected to the presidency would be a disaster of major proportions in a time when the world has never been smaller, and needed the most firm leadership from the only country able to give it."
• * Guarino: "Edwards' speech reminded me of "The Music Man", a film that elsewhere has been called the Great American Musical. Those who have seen the movie will recall Professor Harold Hill, the con artist who attempts to sell band instruments to the parents of an entire town. As I watched John Edwards last night, I felt as if I might have been witnessing the reincarnation of Professor Harold Hill."
• * Noteworthy: Since St. Barak has re-emerged as the Dems'/Lefties'/"Progressives'" and the media's darling yet again because of his Iowa victory, it's appropriate to see what he's said about certain issues in the past.

Update: Becuase we can't have Spag going around feeling unloved (see the comments):
Spag: "So tonights real winners are John McCain who is going to come on strong and will likely get large cash infusions in the next few weeks, and Rudy Giuliani who remains untarnished by the Iowa vote, will make a respectable showing in New Hampshire and probably run the table on Super Tuesday in a close fight with McCain."

Update: Click here for Sunday's story on Edwards and the other primaries this month.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I have a story coming for Sunday's paper on John Edwards' chances for the presidential campaign going forward. From his campaign's perspective, it's not terribly upbeat, talk of Seabiscuit or not.

For that story, I talked to folks not only in New Hampshire (where there is a primary Tuesday) but also in Nevada and South Carolina.

Nevada will have a caucus much like Iowa's later this month. It's the first time Nevada has played this meaningful a part in the presidential election, so folks are kind of unsure whether the polling out there is telling them anything meaningful. For caucuses, you not only have to be able to figure out the prevailing opinion but whose likely to show up. The second part of that is what's in doubt.

In Nevada, I talked to Jon Ralston, a long-time journalists turned political analyst. Edwards, he said, ran well early there but fell behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama when the former North Carolina senator redistributed resources to Iowa in an attempt to win there. (No, that didn't work out so much.)

Among the reasons Edwards was expected to do well, Ralston said, was strong support for and from labor unions. But one of the most important unions Las Vegas, the Culinary Workers, have delayed issuing an endorsement that Edwards had lobbied for. That local, the 226, is cool on Edwards despite having pressure from their national organization. Or, more correctly, they seem to want to back a winner and Edwards doesn't seem to be it.

The Associated Press wrote about this at the end of December.

There was some expectation that they may have issued an endorsement this week, following Iowa. The union, however, has delayed again.

Ralston wrote the following in an e-mail sent Saturday:

The question of whether 226 might split off from the international if the parent still inists on going Edwards is interesting. I simply don't see 226 going with Edwards at this point, but the split would be a painful, last resort move. The locals do not want to have to diverge from the parent's endorsement.

Finally, what if Clinton were to win New Hampshire and decisively? That seems unlikely, but what then? Couldn't her team credibly argue that 226 could be the force that changes the course of the presidential race by breaking the tie? The difficulty there is that while she has a formidable organization in Nevada, Obama's is a carbon copy of the one that organized so ferociously in Iowa.

Ralston said he expects the local culinary workers to endorse Obama, especially if he comes out of New Hampshire with the same kind of strength he showed in Iowa. In an interview Friday, he said losing the endorsement would be "crushing" for Edwards in Nevada.

More coming in Sunday's paper.

Impressions of the Republicans debating in New Hampshire Saturday night from around the blogsphere:

• *The Fix: "The second half of the 90-minute debate was dominated by a heated discussion between Romney and McCain over illegal immigration -- the touchstone issue for conservatives not only in New Hampshire but nationwide. McCain defended his support for a comprehensive immigration plan, insisting that he did not provide amnesty to those who are here illegally because they would have to abide by a number of strictures including learning English and paying fines.Not surprisingly, that did not satisfy Romney, who argued that McCain backed amnesty. "I disagree fundamentally with the idea that the 12 million people who came here illegally should be allowed to remain in United States," said Romney."

  *Isaac Hunter's Tavern: "McCain: Solid. Smart, confident, funny, and still statesmanlike. Whatever you think of him, it’s true that when he talks, everyone else shuts up and listens. Which is kind of what you want in a president. Did nothing tonight to hurt his lead, and probably helped it."

  *Guarino: "On the Republican side, Giuliani and Thompson did reasonably well. Huckabee seemed to be less in command than during previous debates. There were repeated verbal barbs given and received by Huckabee, McCain and Romney. Romney appeared strong during certain parts of the debate, and weak during other segments. It is unclear to me whether the negative approach taken by McCain will hurt or help him."

  *New York Times: Transcript of the debate.

Impressions of the Republicans debating in New Hampshire Saturday night from around the blogsphere:

• * The Tavern: "Edwards: Winner, hands down. He was the most passionate, the most articulate, hit the right notes – and he seemed to mean what he said more than anyone else on stage. Obama was cautious, Clinton was testy, Richardson felt like a throwback, but Edwards was, in ESPN-speak, en fuego."

• *The Fix: "The problem for Clinton is that Edwards has decided that his best chance to be one of the last two candidates standing is to knock her out in New Hampshire. Edwards' campaign believes that if he can do that -- perhaps with a close third place finish -- Clinton will be a non-factor and allow him to debate Obama over which man is the true change agent. Edwards repeatedly cited his agreement with Obama and savaged Clinton as a defender of the status quo, making it very difficult -- as we noted earlier -- for Clinton to score a direct hit on Obama. Edwards' argument throughout the debate was that while he and Obama differ over the proper method to bring about change, he and Obama are far more capable to bring about that change than Clinton."

• *Dome: About three dozen supporters from the Hillary Clinton camp face off with the same numbers from the Barack Obama side, alternating chants and hoisting signs like fans at a football game. "Hill-a-ry! Hill-a-ry!" one side chants as TV cameras move in close."O-baaaam-a!" the other side hollers. "O-baaaam-a!"
  John Edwards supporters were nowhere to be seen.

• *New York Times: Transcript of the debate.

From a story in Sunday's paper:

The former North Carolina senator took second place in the Iowa caucuses, edging out the better-funded Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has been able to raise millions of dollars and far outpolls the likes of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson with a populist message that appeals to the party faithful, especially those hurt by a sagging economy.

Yet in New Hampshire and in other early primary states, supporters acknowledge he's having a hard time being heard above the fray. Pundits don't expect him to last until Feb. 5, when 22 states will hold Democratic primaries or caucuses.

Earlier: Edwards in Nevada.

Bubba comments on that earlier post: "Edwards is damaged goods. He offers nothing that Obama and Hillary can't match, and indeed, exceed. His optimism after the Iowa results had little bearing in reality."

I just sent the following to our online folks:

County Commissioner Bruce Davis(PDF) says he will run for the State Senate seat currently held by Sen. Katie Dorsett. Both Davis and Dorsett are Democrats.

“I have the utmost respect for Katie Dorsett, I have much respect for the work that she’s done,” Davis says. “It’s more about me trying to bring about some change. New leadership is good.”
The 28th Senate District runs from southern Greensboro through Pleasant Garden and southern Guilford County into the majority of High Point.

Davis was first appointed to his county commissioner seat in 2002, following the death of Commissioner Donnie Dunovant. That was the same year Dorsett, a former State Secretary of Administration, won her senate seat.

There's a certain regional tension here. Dorsett lives in Greensboro. Davis is from High Point. And Davis made a point of saying that only one of the 10 legislators (four senators, six representatives) who represent High Point live in the city. (The other person is Larua Wiley. Ashville, Wilmington and other smaller cities can claim more representation, as can Fayetteville and Cary, which are the next largest cities on the list.

"At this point here, I think that someone from this particular area should be running for that seat," Davis said.

Davis said key issues for his campaign will include reducing homelessness, improving education and aid for the High Point Furniture Market.

Worth noting: Dorsett is the Majority Whip for the Senate Democrats, a position that makes her responsible for vote counting and makes her part of the chambers top leaders.

This is basically a Democratic primary scuffle. Voter registration is very skewed in the district, making it tough for a Republican to compete there.

UNC-TV this week hosts the first of three forums with the candidates for govenror they will air. Time is 8 p.m. on Thursday night. Both Democrats and Republicans will be featured.

Click here for more info.

I've been trying to run down whether there was anything more firm to be said about Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory's rumored entry into the Republican primary for governor. I had the shortest of conversations with his (mayor) campaign manager, Victoria Smith, which began with "We're not going to making any comments" and ended with "I really can't comment, just stay tuned."

From our friends at the Associated Press:

In Bedford, N.H., Edwards refused to entertain reporters' questions about what he would do if he wins no primaries.

"I reject the premise of that question completely," he said, vowing to carry his campaign to the Democratic National Convention and then win White House.

Meanwhile, over at our Debatables blog, the exchange has been what I've come to expect any time you bring the guy up. A good number of people think he ought to be President, and a like number can't stand the guy. Very few folks who follow politics around here seem to be middle-of-the-roaders when it comes to Edwards.

This slice of the ongoing exchange is typical:

tony sacco said:

John & Dog, sorry you both feel that way about Edwards, I find him a person of passion to help the group of people I saw suffer in the depression, like myself, an orphan at 5 eating out of garbage cans, seperated from my sister in the adaption process and never to see or find again. Edwards mentions the 200,000 Veterens that have to sleep under bridges every night, he cares, that's passion from the gut.

Both of you must be rich, just think about the 35 million people that go hungrey every day, sure, there is Welfare, but they don't want that they want like yourselves to be a protuctive member of society, and Edwards will stand for them, for you and the country.

jaycee said:

The only problem with your logic, Tony, is that Edwards has done NOTHING to solve the problems you mention. All he's done is TALK to self-promote the egotistical little world in which he lives. Heck, I can talk about problems, too...would you elect me?

Edwards's buddy Erskine Bowles set him up with a title-only job at UNC working against "poverty" and then we found out that Edwards stole our tax money from that program to pay for his campaign travels. You talk about greed?? Edwards stole your money to advance his ego-driven boondoggle of a sham campaign while harming the very people he tells you he wants to help. Greed?? Edwards is all about greed. His, not yours.