Edwards to go on 8 state tour to highlight poverty in America. Will stop campaigning, fund-raising.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

This is great. It will highlight a key issue that afflicts 37 million Americans on a given day and a larger number over time. Instead of fund-raising with fatcats or campaigning he will take time to highlight poverty in America. This is admirable.

Unfortunately, this was written by Ben Smith so he had to revive the haircut meme at the end of the article. :eyes:

==Edwards to announce poverty tour

Can JRE pull off a JFK, or an RFK (asks Politico chief political writer Mike Allen, who is sharing guestblogging duties while Ben is on vacation)? John Edwards plans to announce Monday that he’ll take a break from fund-raising and campaigning in early-voting states next week for a three-day, eight-state, 12-city “Road to One America” tour aimed at calling attention to poverty in the deep South, the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia and the Rust Belt. The campaign points out that none of the states he’ll visit has an early 2008 primary, and says Edwards won’t be doing rallies.

Instead, TV viewers will see Edwards in coal country, Edwards in a factory, Edwards on a farm, Edwards in a struggling neighborhood, Edwards in a school, Edwards in a health care clinic. “It’s an effort to show the rest of the country how 37 million Americans live their lives in poverty every single day,” an Edwards aide said. “It’s not only their workplaces -- it’s their homes and the places they get health care.”

The photogenic swing is reminiscent of John F. Kennedy’s repeated coal-country campaigning before the West Virginia primary of 1960. His overwhelming victory ended Catholicism as an issue in the campaign and brought national attention to Appalachian poverty. Twenty-eight years later, Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis donned a hard hat and overalls for an hour-long tour of a West Virginia coal mine.

“By telling their stories to the rest of the nation, the tour will attempt to shed light on the new faces of poverty in America,” the Edwards campaign says in an announcement document. The former U.S. senator from North Carolina has a plan for “ending poverty in America within a generation” that includes an increase in the minimum wage, investments in rural community colleges, creation of 1 million short-term “stepping stone” jobs, and a program to encourage responsible fatherhood and fight teen pregnancy.==

Read the rest at http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0707/Edwards_to_announce_poverty_tour.html

[AndyA]

1. If the Dems were smart, they'd make sure that the vast majority of those 37 million

impoverished Americans were registered to vote, and had the means to get to their polling place in 2008. That would put a stop to a lot of this sh!t in short order.

Just because people are poor, doesn't mean they are stupid. Get them out there to vote and we'll see how many Republicans get elected. Give them the facts, get them registered, get them to the polls.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

5. Advocating for the poor hurts fatcat and corporate contributions

That is why some candidates never even mention the 37 million (are they running for President of the United States or President of People Above the Poverty Line?). ;) Such individuals may register the poor but they will not offer anything concrete to truly help them, which is what would get them out to vote in decent numbers, because it will hurt their fund-raising.

[AndyA]

12. I think Edwards is just the guy to change all that.

Personally, I'm sick of living the nightmare corporate America has wrought on us. Dangerous food. Total lack of balance in news media. Outsourcing of good American jobs...the list goes on and on.

We need to break the government/corporate chain. America is not a country of corporations alone, it is a country of the PEOPLE. Said people have been sorely misrepresented recently.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

18. I agree nt

[RufusTFirefly]

2. I applaud this wholeheartedly

Poverty has been kept out of view by politicians for over a generation. Apparently some marketing genius concluded that voters don't like to see images of candidates with shacks or burned-out tenements in the background. Upsets their fragile sensibilities apparently. I respect Edwards immensely for bringing poverty back into the picture.

My only concern is whether any of the corporate media will cover this tour.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

7. I agree. Wasn't RFK the last candidate to talk about poverty?

I am also concerned over whether the CMSM will cover this. Even if they do, they will likely couple it with the haircut meme.

[maximusveritas]

3. They expect us to believe he's not campaigning?

Judging from the trashing he's getting in the comments section there, this will only give his critics more ammunition to call him a phony. It's almost like the right-wingers hate him more than Hillary now.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

8. Politico is supposedly a right-wing site, Those comments do not reflect America

As far as Edwards' image, he has the lowest unfavorables of any Democratic candidate in some polls and in others he is right behind Obama (who is undefined, unlike the 2004 VP nominee, so he unfavorables will only rise) in this category.

[Flarney]

13. I would call it campaigning by leading. nt

[Adelante]

15. The comments on that site are horrible

But trying to call this "not campaigning" is downright silly. This is the kind of spin where Edwards works against himself.

[jsamuel]

17. The campaign didn't say that this doesn't count as campaigning. In fact they say it is.

"Edwards Announces 'Road To One America' Tour As Part Of His Campaign To End Poverty In America"

What they say is that none of the stops will be in Iowa, NH, NV, or SC and that he won't "campaign" by doing rallies and fund raising. Not that they are trying to tell everyone that this has nothing to do with him running for President.

http://www.johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/20070709-tour/

[JANdad]

21. I notice you like to

jump on every JE thread and trash him with your backhanded "some people say" remarks...

Just in the interest of fair play...whom do you support???? Fred, Rudy or John M.?

BTW...your avitar is a another nice backhanded slap at DU Members...

[ripple]

4. Good for Edwards

I hope the media pays attention to the problems he uncovers in those areas, but I'm not holding my breath. Poor people don't make for good ratings, it seems.

[MannyGoldstein]

6. He Can See The Results Of...

...his vote for permanent 'free' trade with China, the first bankruptcy bill, and so forth.

It'll be heartwarming.

[RufusTFirefly]

9. Maybe he will. And maybe that will change him.

All of us make mistakes. Smart people have the capacity for learning and change though.

[jsamuel]

10. He has already changed on those issues.

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Thank you. QED n/t

[demgirlamerica]

14. cool

edwards can write each poor person a check for 5000 bucks!!

[JANdad]

22. And why would he do that?

:shrug:

[draft_mario_cuomo]

23. Demgirlamerica

I have yet to see this new poster do anything other than attack our candidates. ;)

[brentspeak]

24. Here one of his/her latest pro-Democratic posts:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3368857&mesg_id=3369509

She seems real genuine, no? ;)

[bling bling]

16. Good for him. Though I am cynical.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the right wing talking heads use the issue to focus 100% attention on Edwards and the media will play along. The focus on poverty undermined by instead focusing negative attention on Edwards.

But regardless, more normal Americans who aren't ruled by pundit puppet-masters will hopefully be enlightened by Edwards efforts.

It always makes me happy to see people who recognize the unique opportunities they have due to the spotlight shining on them and use that power responsibly by doing the right thing and influencing others to do the same.

[HonorTheConstitution]

19. Good Idea - But will he get the media attention?

And the attention of the average small minded Americans just watching Faux News and never read a daily newspaper??

At the time his campaign starts there will be either a domestic terror alert on all news networks
or a story of a blond American mother (of 2 kids), missing or kidnapped by a latino like male
or breaking news of a new mosque bomb attack in Bagdad

Hopefully he can meet a lot of these poor people on this campaign and convince them to vote Dem in 08.

[BringBigDogBack]

20. This will act as the campaigning, and fund-raising

by hopefully creating a good amount of positive press. At least it should.