Democrats Seek Louder Voice from Edwards

[sr_pacifica]

Part of the article in The New York Times by Randal C. Archibold and Adam Nagourney:

OMEROY, Ohio, Sept. 15 - Don Imus had a question for Senator John Kerry when the senator called in to Mr. Imus's morning televised radio program on Wednesday.

"Where's Edwards?" Mr. Imus demanded, referring to Mr. Kerry's running mate, Senator John Edwards. "I wondered if he was still on the ticket. We haven't heard from him."

...Part of the reason that Mr. Edwards might seem to some Democrats to have faded away is because Mr. Kerry's campaign has dispatched him, for the most part, to rural areas where he is not likely to draw much national attention. His aides say that he has received extensive, and usually glowing, notices from the newspapers and television stations in places where he has appeared.

My question is, why isn't the media following him and reporting on what Edwards says. I know from hearing him speak that he can really make a nice attack on Bush and company.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Why isn't Edwards getting attention from the national media?

Because he's a Democrat.
Because he attracts huge crowds.
Because they don't want anybody to know that a Democrat is attracting huge crowds. It would upset KKKarl.

[Demi_Babe]

2. Edwards: No Military Draft if Dems Win

Edwards: No Military Draft if Dems Win

No Military Draft if Democrats Win, Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards Tells W. Va. Mother

The Associated Press



PARKERSBURG, W.Va. Sept. 15, 2004 — Vice presidential candidate John Edwards promised a West Virginia mother on Wednesday that if the Democratic ticket is elected in November the military draft would not be revived.
During a question-and-answer session, the mother of a 23-year-old who recently graduated from West Virginia University asked Edwards whether the draft would be reinstated.




"There will be no draft when John Kerry is president," Edwards said, a statement that drew a standing ovation.

The current force is all-volunteer, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said he opposes reinstating the draft. But the Pentagon has taken several steps that have drawn criticism.

In June, the Pentagon recalled to active duty 5,674 members of the Individual Ready Reserve, soldiers who have served specified tours of duty but have years remaining in their enlistment contracts.

Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, has complained about the extent of the Bush administration's use of Reserves and National Guardsmen and a device called "stop loss," which prevents soldiers from leaving when typical obligations end. "They have effectively used a stop-loss policy as a backdoor draft," Kerry said.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040915_1707.html

[Moderator]

9. Demi_Babe

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
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Thank you.


DU Moderator

[JI7]

3. Imus is a Democrat ? hahahah

[zulchzulu]

4. Edwards, like Kerry, is not being covered in the "news"

He's been in the swing states doing laps for the past few weeks.

It's just not on the air or in the news.

The only way Edwards will be in the news is if he says something that's off-the-wall, angry or otherwise made into a punching bag by the usual suspects if he attacks too close.

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. I asked the same question

a couple of weeks ago. What we're not seeing is the local media coverage that is getting played. The "mainstream" news is not picking up the soundbytes of Kerry or Edwards unless they are on the attack.

For example, Kerry's speech today that Bush is the 'excuse president' got play all day. It's the first time in days I've seen coverage of Kerry like it has been today! But I'm confident it's been playing locally.

Bush and Cheney's speeches are also covered localy, but they also get the national promotion...regardless.

I live in Illinois--not a swing state. Our local stations do cover both sides of the campaign. Then, when I watch the cable news stations (which is 80% of the time) they are promoting Bush to the point I have to just turn it off. I think that may be a filter that a lot of us are seeing the news coverage through. Not our choice, but it's a reality.

So...Kerry/Edwards ARE out there getting local coverage AD attracting huge crowds. It's the filter that's distorting the view.

[cheshire]

6. The media doen't give Dems much time any how so what's different?

[renoray]

7. Saw Edwards here in Reno this week

Crowd was estimated at 4,000 in a county that leans Republican. He opened all of our local news programs and was the cover of all our newspapers. However there were repug protesters at the rally and they got quite a bit of press, although in many ways they made themselves look stupid. Kerry doesn't need to win our county, he just needs to be somewhat close in most couties and Clark County(Vegas) will give him our state. I think the visit by Edwards helped people in Reno feel like Kerry/Edwards was interested in us. Mrs. Edwards was also here recently. I think he did two stops in Arizona on the same day. Edwards is out there every day, but he doesn't get picked up nationally unless he says something that is somewhat new and fits into a soundbite.

Edwards was in the national news for attacking Cheney almost immediately after Cheney threatened to kill us if we didn't vote for Bush. He also just made news for saying no draft under Kerry. I talked to some folks leaning Kerry today. They hate Bush but they don't have much faith in government in general. I think it is pretty clear that Kerry supporters would dump him if he didn't live up to his commitments after 4 years, which obviously isn't true of Bush supporters.

[Leilani]

8. Please post link to article

Thanks