Edwards Says No More Excuses: End The War, Receives Praise From Carter

The latest public figure joining the high praise for John Edwards was former President Jimmy Carter.

 ”I can say without equivocation that no one who is running for president has presented anywhere near as comprehensive and accurate a prediction of what our country ought to do in the field of environmental quality, in the field of health care for those who are not presently insured, for those who struggle with poverty,” Carter said.

[...]

“I think he is a very appealing candidate, especially for rural voters here,” Carter said, adding that Edwards “has a very good chance to do well” in the 2008 presidential race.

Edwards also spoke out about New Orleans and called for an end to the war in Iraq at the event in Georgia.

“My own view is that we don’t need a surge in Baghdad we need a surge in New Orleans,” he told hundreds of GSSU students. “It’s a national embarrassment.”

On Iraq, he said the Democrat-led Congress should insist that until President Bush agrees to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the war-torn country that lawmakers should be not authorize any war funding bills.

“The Congress will be coming back next week, and I think the American people have seen enough excuses,” Edwards said. “They don’t want excuses anymore. They want to see this war come to an end. They want to see it brought to an end.”

Support John Edwards at Miami Democratic Party Labor Day Picnic

There will be a John Edwards booth at the Miami Democratic Party Labor Day Picnic on Monday. It’s a free event, so let’s all go out and support him!

Event details are listed here and I’ve pasted them below: 

Date & Time

Monday, September 3rd, 11:00 AM to 4:30 PM

Location

Jose Marti Park, 351 SW 4th Street,
Miami FL
33130

Details

The Miami-Dade County Democratic Party
Salutes Labor!

Join Us at the Annual Dante B. Fascell Memorial Labor Day Picnic and help us show your support for Sen. John Edwards.  

Stop by our John Edwards Table, sign up for info and get a bumper sticker.  Join the campaign.  

John Edwards is now leading with an 8 point lead, in Iowa!

Democratic FREE FUN for Kids of All Ages! Monday, September 3, 2007  11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Jose Marti Park
351 SW 4th Street
Miami, FL

Plenty of Food, Children’s Games, Unity, and Friendship.  Come and meet your Democratic Elected Officials, Candidates, Community Activists and Organizations as we honor the hard working men and women who make our country great.

For information on Sponsorship opportunities,
call the DEC office at 305-477-4994 or email dadedec@bellsouth.net  

John Edwards Picks up Two Union Endorsements: Steelworkers, Carpenters

John Edwards has picked up two major union endorsements. The United Steelworkers, the largest union yet to endorse anyone with 1.2 million members, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, with over 500,000 members both endorsed John Edwards for President today.

Here’s some of the great news from the UBCJA:

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Thursday welcomed his first national endorsement from a labor group, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

“I think it’s very encouraging. The carpenters are one of the biggest and most active unions in America, and they’re active in a lot of the early states,” Edwards told The Associated Press during a stop in this early voting state. “They’re a union that I have a lot of respect for, and I’m proud to have their support.”

The union has more than 500,000 members and was friendly with President Bush but stayed out of the 2004 race.

This particular endorsement indicates Edward’s broad support across the nation. He is the only candidate who is performing well among moderates and he consistently wins by the largest margins against the Republican candidates in general election matchups.

Edwards has proposed the most progressive agenda for American workers and that is why he is picking broad support among workers all across America. Workers want a comprehensive health care plan that will provide coverage to every American, not just those who can afford it. Edwards provides that. They want an education agenda that will focus on the middle class, getting more students in college, and making all schools better so students can achieve more. Edwards has already done it with his College For Everyone program, providing the opportunity for students to go to college, cost-free, as long as they volunteer in their communities 10 hours a week. Workers want better and fairer trade deals, with environmental protections that don’t put American jobs at risk because of corporate greed. Most of all, workers just want an end to way things are being done right now. They want an end to our country giving out to corporations on every single issue and they just want everyone to have a chance again, the America that used to stand as a beacon on top of the hill. Edwards has fought corporations his entire life and he will do that in the White House.

Edwards at IAMAW Forum

John Edwards appeared at Disney World Tuesday for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers forum, rousing applause for his support of unions and American-made products. From CNN:

Edwards was clearly popular with the group, several times drawing standing ovations, including once when he said weapons and equipment used by America’s military needs to be made in the United States. He said now tanks and ammunition for M16 rifles are being made in other countries.

“If your tax dollars are being used to produce the products that keep America safe, that provide defense for the American people, those jobs should remain in the United States of America,” Edwards said.

He also said as president he would ask residents to conserve energy and said the nation needs to focus on being a leader in creating alternative energy. He said he wants a national cap on carbon dioxide emissions that is lowered each year.

“We are the worst polluter on the planet. We are 4 percent of the world’s population, we’re putting out 25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas,” Edwards said. “America’s going to have to change.”

[...]

“I have no apologies whatsoever for what I’ve done with my life,” he said to loud cheers. “My entire life has been about the same cause, which is making sure wherever you come from, whatever your family is, whatever the color of your skin, you get a real chance to do something great in this country.”

John Edwards will be a great President for all of the workers of our country. It’s time we have someone as our President who will side with workers, rather than big corporations.

More Upcoming Events

From John at Miami OneCorps: 

On Labor Day, Sept. 3rd, there’s the Dem Labor Day picnic from 11am onward at Jose Marti Park in Little Havana.  Again, let’s be visible and out there.

Finally, expect for John Edwards to be in town on and around September 9th for a Univision debate wth the other Dem candidates at University of Miami…we need people to be visible and active if there’s local events organized by the national people.  

John Edwards Will Be in Orlando

Here is the message I received from the campaign:

John is going to be in Orlando next Tuesday evening to meet with local supporters and he asked that I invite you to join him. Space is limited, so I hope you sign up to reserve your spot right away!

Here are the details:

What: “Small Change for Big Change” grassroots fundraiser with John Edwards
Where: TGI Friday’s Front Row Sports Grill, 8126 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819. (407) 363-1414
When: Tuesday, August 28 at 8:00 PM.

Tickets are $15 and there will be a cash bar at the event

You can get your tickets at the door or RSVP online to reserve your spot at:

www.johnedwards.com/smallchangeforbigchange/20070828b-rsvp

This is an important event, because it’s part of our “Small Change for Big Change” grassroots fundraiser series that John and Elizabeth have been doing around the country.

It’s very expensive to reach out to voters in early primary states and across the nation. But the trouble with the usual fundraisers is that they are only open to those ready to write huge checks – and this campaign is built on reaching out to everyone.

So John asked his campaign to organize this series of grassroots fundraisers for supporters who share our passion but may only be able to spare $25 or $50. In fact, for next Tuesday’s event, tickets are just $15 each.

This campaign is about working together to achieve truly transformational change for our country and our world. We’re about creating a world where every man, woman and child in America has the quality affordable health care they need, where no child here (or anywhere) has to go to bed hungry, where the planet and its people do not have to face the ravages of global warming, and where our men and women in Iraq are swiftly brought home to a hero’s welcome.

Is this all possible? Can we create that world? Yes. But not without you.

If you’d like to join us in this great effort, John would like to meet you next Tuesday evening and talk to you about what’s next. We really hope you’ll be able to make it.

Here’s the link again to RSVP and reserve your spot:

www.johnedwards.com/smallchangeforbigchange/20070828b-rsvp

Thank you,

–David Bonior
  Campaign Manager
  John Edwards for President

Rolling Stone says Edwards is the Progressive Choice

Some highlights from the recent article by Rolling Stone, which makes it clear that Edwards is the clear choice for Progressives and Moderates alike in the next election.

But counting Edwards out would be a big mistake. Flying below the radar, the former vice-presidential candidate is pulling off a feat that Democratic consultants have long considered impossible: staking out the most progressive platform among the viable candidates while preserving an aura of electability. In head-to-head polling against the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, Clinton and Obama have managed to post only modest leads. Edwards, by contrast, not only bests every Republican candidate in the race, he trounces them — by an average of twelve points.

On the Issues:

Take global warming: While Clinton spouts happy talk about ethanol and “clean coal,” and Obama focuses on a technocratic proposal to lower the “carbon intensity” of auto fuel, Edwards has a plan that would make the Union of Concerned Scientists proud. “We need an eighty percent reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2050,” the candidate told Rolling Stone in a wide-ranging interview. “You start by capping carbon emissions in America. Beneath the cap, you auction off the right to emit any greenhouse gases. And you use that money –$30 to $40 billion — to transform the way we use energy.”

Or poverty. Ending deprivation at home — by making it easier for workers to unionize, raising the minimum wage to $9.50, cracking down on predatory lending, and providing matching funds to help low-income Americans save — remains the hallmark of his candidacy. But informed by his travels in Africa, Edwards now proposes spending $5 billion a year to educate 100 million children worldwide, improve drinking water and sanitation in developing countries, and slow the ravages of HIV and AIDS.

On Supporting Unions:

Indeed, no Democrat has made a stronger play for union backing than — Edwards: Since 2004, he has participated in more than 180 labor events — including a hunger strike for immigrant janitors in Miami — for twenty different unions. In 2006, while Clinton was burning through $30 million on her shoo-in re-election campaign in New York, Edwards was campaigning for initiatives to increase the minimum wage in six key states. While other candidates have little time for labor-hall rallies — the PR firm of Clinton’s chief strategist, Mark Penn, has actually engaged in union busting — Edwards has made labor a central element of his anti-poverty campaign. On the stump, he calls collective bargaining the key to “making work pay” and lifting low-wage Americans out of poverty.

“This is a true commitment on his part,” says Anna Burger, chair of the labor federation Change to Win. “He was doing this when there were no cameras watching him. We needed a spotlight on workers, and anything he could do to raise their profile, he was willing to do that. His special relationship with labor is forcing the other candidates to play catch-up.”

All across the board, John Edwards is standing up for workers and moving our country forward on important issues like Universal Health Care, Energy Policy, Education Policy, and Ending the war in Iraq. He is the true Progressive in this race.

Relaunch

I’ve just returned from my study abroad term in Italy. It was a really great experience, but unfortunately I did not have internet access in my room and I was not able to maintain this blog. :( But today is the relaunch of the site and hopefully we can make it much better this time. I am looking for other writers, if you are interesting in joining the Netroots effort here at Florida for Edwards. You can email me at magic_star40 (at) yahoo (dot) com if you are interested.