John Edwards: “America wasn’t built on Wall Street”

John Edwards campaign manager David Bonior sent out a message to supporters about the Big News on Labor Day.

Over Labor Day Weekend, John was honored to receive the endorsements of two of the biggest unions in the country – the United Steelworkers and the United Mine Workers of America.

Combined with the support of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, John is now backed by more than 1.8 million union members and retirees – more than any other candidate in the race.

John was introduced by Steve Skvara – a longtime steelworker who is now retired and struggling to afford health care for himself and his wife.

People like Steve are what this campaign is about – John has fought for hard-working people struggling to get by all his life, and now he’s fighting to represent them in the White House.

Check out video from the endorsement rally below: 

John Edwards is the worker’s candidate in this race. He is fighting for every man and every woman and every child in this country, so we can have a stronger middle class and a stronger future in America. He is standing up for workers and families, because he knows it’s all of us who have made America great, not just Wall Street.

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.

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.

Five Actions You Can Take Today

1. Read John Edward’s 2004 Campaign platform and find out why he is so amazing.

2. Join One Corps and start making a difference today.

3. Let John know you and Florida support him by contributing to his campaign today.

4. Watch John Edwards Live on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Wednesday night.

5. If you would like to take part in blogging here, please let me know in this post or email me at pointblankpolitics@yahoo.com

We will need many contributors to make this a great effort to deliver Florida for John Edwards! 

If you would also like to take part in Turning Florida Blue, an effort to turn our state house, state senate, state cabinet, and US Congress seats back to the Democrats, please visit this blog.