Edwards 2008 Bid To Push Plight of Poor

[Marnie]

A former senator from North Carolina, John Edwards, is set to enter the race for the Democratic presidential nomination this morning, emphasizing the plight of the underclass by launching his campaign from a blighted New Orleans neighborhood hard hit in Hurricane Katrina.

By focusing on social justice and the poor, Mr. Edwards, 53, hopes to court Democratic Party activists and pose a challenge from the left to other likely presidential contenders, such as Senator Clinton.

"I don't think there's any question that by talking about labor, the minimum wage, and poverty, his strategy has been to run as the progressive alternative," a Democratic operative and lobbyist, Steven Elmendorf, said in an interview.

Mr. Edwards, who sought the Democratic nomination in 2004 and later became the party's vice presidential nominee, scores well in opinion polls, particularly in the early caucus state of Iowa. However, his hopes of becoming the alternative to Mrs. Clinton have been set back by a relatively new entrant on the political scene, Senator Obama of Illinois, who is also mulling a presidential bid.

Mr. Elmendorf said a run by Mr. Obama would "take quite a bit of air out" of Mr. Edwards's campaign. "He has a problem running as the new guy," the strategist said. " Obama takes up a lot of political space."

Democratic strategists said Mr. Edwards has made good use of his time since leaving the Senate in 2004. "He has done some very smart things over the past couple of years to position himself differently from the rest of the field," a Democratic consultant, Christopher Lehane, said.

In addition to staking out the poverty issue and boosting his foreign affairs resume with international travel, Mr. Edwards, who was a trial lawyer before being elected to the Senate, has moved aggressively to win the support of labor unions, particularly those for service workers.

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[kat8585]

It's the same old Democrat strategy, and an excuse to take our tax cuts away from us., now that I'm finally getting ahead from Bush's tax cuts.

[Arthur Durnan]

Edwards running in 08? But who wants to return to the 19th-century? May I lovingly suggest his campaign motto? Edwards For President: Of The AFL-CIO! Hail, Capitaine Congenial! Forward To YesterYear!

http://arthurdurnan.freeyellow.com