Welcome to tonight's edition of the Edwards Evening News! Lots of news today as usual, from everyday heroes, to food, to trade and more.
1. Mosaic of Heroes - Add your photo to the mosaic of One America
2. Edwards on the Peru trade deal - more failed trade policy
3. Edwards responds to President Bush on imports - too little and too late
4. Poll Buzz - Edwards moving up, Clinton downtrend?
5. Important notes - things to check out.
1. Mosaic of Heroes - Add your photo to the mosaic of One America
Remember who said this?:
"If you're looking for heroes, don't look to me. Don't look to Elizabeth . We have support. We have health care. We have the American people behind us. Look to them. They are the ones who we speak for. They are the ones that we stand up for. ...It is time for our party, the Democratic Party, to show a little backbone, to have a little guts. To stand up for working men and women. If we are not their voice, they will never have a voice."
You should - and the video where it comes from is a quick giveaway:
A bit from the Edwards website, with the video above in mind:
In a nutshell, that is what John Edwards and his campaign are all about - standing up for working men and women across America and ensuring that we all have an opportunity to achieve the American Dream. Yet, it is something that has become harder to realize and further out of reach for too many people. The establishment in Washington is riddled with corruption and mired in the same old politics of the past, and with each passing day it becomes more broken and leaves even more people behind.
So who are the heroes then? Its everyone fighting to make real change despite the odds being stacked against us. Add your picture to the mosaic of heroes pushing for change now and in 2009; click on the picture below:
And more on how it works:
Here's how it works. Each person who donates at least $15 can submit a picture and, when it is completed on December 31, it will be a mosaic of thousands of photos and images. Combined, these make up one complete picture. A picture that will no doubt represent the hundreds of thousands of people who are fighting for One America.
You can submit a picture of yourself, your family, a pet, a favorite scene - whatever is meaningful to you. It could be a picture of yourself or a picture of your hero. It is really up to you.
Americans from all across the country have already started to build the mosaic. You can see its ongoing growth on our Web site, and you can show your support for America's heroes by joining in and adding your own image to the mosaic.
You can also check out how how its shaping up.
2. Edwards on the Peru trade deal - more failed trade policy
With the House now set to pass the Peru trade deal on Thursday night despite strong opposition, Edwards again asked Congress not to go along with with Bush's trade policies:
"The Peru deal will continue the trade policies that have long failed our workers and cost American workers their jobs. It's time to show some guts and backbone, stand up and oppose this trade deal, and demand trade policies that put families and workers first. I urge members of Congress to vote against this deal today."
and noted that while one of his opponents for the nomination in the Senate had taken a clear stand for the trade deal, one had not taken a stand at all:
"Senator Obama has chosen to support this bad deal. I strongly disagree with his position, but at least he has taken one. Senator Clinton, on the other hand, has refused to take any position. I urge Senator Clinton to publicly announce, today, her opposition and join with me in encouraging members of Congress to vote against the Peru trade deal."
Maybe we'll find out tomorrow? Or mabye once again after the vote.
3. Edwards responds to President Bush on imports - too little and too late
Edwards responded to Bush's weak attempt at getting grip on our imports crisis with a comprehensive plan to protect American consumers and especially the most vulnerable - children. Check out be inspired's excellent diary on this. He also criticized Bush for half-hearted measures that showed Bush doesn't understand the problem and isn't willing to do what it takes to solve it:
"President Bush still doesn’t get it. His approach might work if the problem were a few bad apples, but the reality is far worse. The problem is a broken system in Washington where weak consumer protection regulations and bad trade deals leave our children and families vulnerable to unsafe products. Worst all of all, this is not by accident. Well-connected lobbyists who seek to protect big corporate profits fight basic protections.
"Any serious proposal would include at least three tough reforms. First, the Consumer Product Safety Commission should be run by someone who actually wants to make consumer products safe, not industry lobbyists. Second, the people in charge of keeping us safe should not be allowed to accept gifts and travel from corporations or their lobbyists. And third, we must ban lead in all children’s products because there is no safe level.
"Now more than ever, I believe it’s time for our leaders in Washington to show a little backbone, have some guts, and stand up for the safety of children and regular families, not defend the interests of lobbyists and corporations."
You can also read more here from the Times:
''America is facing a crisis of quality in imported products, food and medicine,'' Edwards said in prepared remarks provided to The Associated Press. ''We can no longer rely on corporations to initiate recall after recall while our government sits on the sidelines and our nation's children and families remain at serious risk.
''Multinational corporations' race to cut costs by off-shoring the production of drugs, toys and other consumer goods has come at the price of quality and safety,'' the former North Carolina senator said.
In New Hampshire today, Edwards also called for the firing of the Bush sycophant currently heading the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Nancy Nord:
"We’ve talked a great deal about the system in Washington being broken and not working for ordinary Americans, being corrupt and rigged," he said. "There is no better example of that than the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the chairman, Nancy Nord, who it turns out has been traveling on trips paid for by the toy industry at the same time that we have millions of dangerous toys in the United States which have created a risk for our children."
She's the one telling Congress on the one hand that her agency doesn't need more authority or money. And on the other hand excusing freebies like free travel and lodging given to her agency by the same companies they regulate due to lack of funding.
4. Poll Buzz - Edwards moving up, Clinton downtrend?
If you haven't yet, check out Progressive America's quick take on the latest Rasmussen numbers.
Which seems to match other polls and the growing consensus that the debate wasn't just a one-night victory for Edwards. Nevada debate is coming on November 15th....
5. Important notes - things to check out.
Some stories to check out if you haven't:
- A Michigan state judge just ruled that Michagan's contraversial January 15th primary law
is unconsitutional. Which seems to have a whole lot of implications including possibly some on New Hampshire's primary date.
- PunditMom makes a
strong anecdotal case on that Edwards supporters aren't showing up on the national radar, but are there. Its a good article - and the comments seem to strongly agree.
- Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and a possible mystery guest
perform for Edwards in Iowa? Sounds like a good time and speculation on the guest is sure to grow.
- A blogger looks at how John Edwards is
"Taking on the War Party" - head on. Impressed by quotes like this where Edwards is laying it all out:
"George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the neocon warmongers used 9/11 to start a war with Iraq and now they're trying to use Iraq to start a war with Iran. And we have to stop them."
And I'll leave you with something to think about from a blogger from the left. who makes the case for John Edwards and a video:
These days I’m leaning towards Edwards because I want other Democrats to see that they will be rewarded with votes and support if they stake out more venturesome progressive positions. If Hillary Clinton wins the primary, it will be clear that she owes her nomination to a ’90s-era network of Democratic establishment types and a sophisticated public relations machine. If Obama gets the nomination he will owe it all to his ideologically confused fan club. Seriously, the Barack Obama camp is so broad it includes everybody, your mom, Chicago New Left radicals, Andrew Sullivan and possibly even David Brooks.
If, on the other hand, John Edwards gets picked (or becomes President), he will owe his victory to progressive bloggers and economic justice voters. In short, it will be interpreted as a victory for the left and a popular mandate for health care reform, anti-poverty programs and a multilateral foreign policy. I have no illusions that Edwards will necessarily deliver on his promises but he will certainly make millions of people angry if he does not. The responsibility for realizing the Edwards platform ultimately rests on those disgruntled masses.
We DO have a choice in this election on which direction we want America to go in and who is willing to take us there: