Edwards' campaign swings through New Orleans

[JohnLocke]

Edwards' campaign swings through N.O.
Times-Picayune
November 3, 2007
----
Former Sen. John Edwards, one of the top contenders for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, visited New Orleans on Saturday and got straight to work, strapping on a tool belt to lend a hand to a Habitat for Humanity project in the flood-ravaged 9th Ward.

Edwards arrived at around 1:15 p.m. at The Musicians' Village, a community of 72 single-family homes being built mostly for local musicians displaced by the flood.

Ten months after kicking off his campaign just a few miles away in eastern New Orleans, Edwards toured the construction site, then sat down for a box lunch with volunteers on the raised porch of a home under construction on Bartholomew Street. After the meal, he hung siding and climbed a ladder to install hurricane clips that secure a house's roof to its frame.

The former senator from North Carolina planned to pitch in at the work site until about 3 p.m., then head across town to an industrial section of Mid-City, where he was scheduled to deliver the keynote address a National Day of Climate Action rally sponsored by Step it Up, a national organization devoted to curbing climate change.

According to his campaign, Edwards planned to discuss his initiative to stop global warming.

The Step it Up event was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., at 1001 S. Broad St., outside the headquarters of the Alliance for Affordable Energy under the Broad Street overpass. Speeches by representatives of the Alliance and the Gulf Restoration Network, along with City Councilwoman Shelley Midura and Edwards were slated to start at 3 p.m.

Speakers then planned to lead a march along Broad Street, over Interstate 10, and down onto Poydras Street, where they would proceed about a mile to the Louisiana Superdome. Participants planned to spell out "No New Coal" on the outer deck of the Dome.

Accompanying Edwards were five winners of the "Build with John" contest sponsored by his campaign. Supporters who recently used the Internet to donate money to the candidate automatically were entered for a random drawing. Winners got to accompany Edwards on his trip to New Orleans.

Edwards has called the government response to Katrina a "national shame." He has visited New Orleans several times since Katrina but remains in fourth place in the campaign money race in Louisiana, behind fellow Democrat, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and actor Fred Thompson, both Republicans.

According to an analysis this month by the Center for Responsive Politics, Edwards raised $268,242 from donors in the Pelican State in the first nine months of 2007.

http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/11/edwards_campaign_swings_throug.html

[JohnLocke]

1. Kick (nt).

[2rth2pwr]

2. Hard day at work. Show up at 1:15, walk around, have lunch,

climb a ladder, head over to the 2:00 rally. Wow.

[AtomicKitten]

3. 5th K&R

Anything for NOLA. There are all kinds of projects in the works, finally. America must not forget.