Sen. Edwards Announces White House Run

AP | 1/02/03 | REBECCA MILLER

[kattracks]

RALEIGH, N.C., Jan 02, 2003 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Democratic Sen. John Edwards will run for president in 2004, telling guests at a party at his home Wednesday he will form an exploratory committee.

The first-term senator from North Carolina told about 200 friends he will announce his plans publicly Thursday, said Walter Dellinger, a former U.S. solicitor general who attended the New Year's Day party.

Edwards' guests gathered in his back yard while the senator thanked them for their support during his time in the Senate and in "what I'm going to do next."

As he spoke, a loud cheer went up.

"John was talking about where he wants to lead the country," Ed Turlington, a former state Democratic party executive director, said afterward in describing the announcement. "He asked for our support. Our answer was yes."

Edwards' announcement gives him the jump on several of his colleagues in Congress who are also expected to join the Democratic field in 2004.

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry are already running, and associates expect Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt to announce he's running within the next week.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is leaning toward a run, though he hasn't set a timetable for his decision. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is still talking with supporters with a plan to decide by mid-January, and Florida Sen. Bob Graham has said he will decide this month.

Edwards, 49, a millionaire former trial lawyer, has spent months making the rounds at Democratic functions in Iowa, New Hampshire and elsewhere.

Standing with his youngest children, 2-year-old son Jack and 4-year-old Emma Claire, Edwards said before the party started that his family was uppermost in his mind as he considered whether to run.

"I've been thinking about North Carolina and the nation and what effect it's going to have on my family," he said.

He is scheduled to appear on NBC's "Today" show Thursday morning to make his announcement official. He also has two fund-raisers scheduled for Saturday in Raleigh.

Edwards would be up for Senate re-election in 2004, a factor that had to be weighed in making a decision on the presidential race.

Edwards' move toward a run has drawn a lot of attention. He was an early hit with Democratic activists who saw him as telegenic and able to connect with voters.

The last three Democratic presidents - Lyndon Johnson of Texas, Jimmy Carter of Georgia and Bill Clinton of Arkansas - have been from the South.

Edwards grew up as the son of a textile mill employee, born in South Carolina but spending his teenage years in Robbins, N.C. He became a successful trial lawyer in Raleigh, winning personal injury cases against big companies and amassing a fortune of $14 million.

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Associated Press writers Ron Fournier in Washington and Scott Mooneyham in Raleigh contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Edwards' Senate Web site: http://edwards.senate.gov

By REBECCA MILLER Associated Press Writer

Copyright 2003 Associated Press, All rights reserved

[Tom Pain]

Well, Rush just made a comment about regularity(and using the toilet). Wonder if he read my comments at #116?

[Mo1]

Well, my thinking was Hillary will run in 2004 .. however, if she doesn't .. it will be Edwards the Clinton's will back

Looks to me they are trying to bring back Bobby Kennedy ..

Remember this has nothing to do with who is president .. but who has the power .. and with the Dems it all about the Party .. they will do anything to get it

[AlwaysLurking]

ROTFLMAO!!!!!

Thanks for that post!!!! It is great!
Shocking how similar they are!

[Neenah]

Just a suggestion John-Boy

[twigs]

I'm very puzzled about Edwards' run. Just why does anyone think this man is ready for the White House? He's only been a Senator for less than one term and he is a lightweight if I've ever seen one. Yes, he's got the looks, but that image is shattered as soon as he opens his mouth. And he's a trial lawyer! Who wants one of them in the WH? Is there someone backing him that we don't know about? Why? I just don't get this one.

[Constitution Day]

Unbelievable!

[AlwaysLurking]

He is a liberal but plays as a moderate, he is pretty, he has boat loads of money and support of trial lawyers everywhere, he is from the south, he has no baggage.....

You are correct, there is no earthly reason that anyone should take this yahoo seriously, but they will and the dims/media are desparate to get someone who can win and Edwards may be the one.....

The NC GOP is still in shock that he won over Faircloth....do not take him lightly....

[wbill]

Would you take the chance with her as a running mate??

LOL....Hell no! Personal opinions aside, I wouldn't want to end up as a Headline...

"President WBill dies in freak car accident. The now-deceased Republican was backed over eight times by a Chevy Suburban. 'Purely coincidental', says the coroner, 'Death by Natural Causes'.

'I am (giggle) grieving at this horrible (smirk) tragedy', states now-president Clinton. "I am fit, however (smile) to assume the role of president. I AM in CHARGE HERE! Buahahahaha!"

Denizens at the now-outlawed Free Republic were not able to comment.

[Mo1]

Who wants one of them in the WH? Is there someone backing him that we don't know about? Why? I just don't get this one.

Well the Dems did try to bring back Mondale and Lautenberg .. maybe they are trying to bring back the look of Bobby Kennedy.

[AlwaysLurking]

Good one!!!! Since we now know that JFK was a total drug head, it may be safer to bring back RFK!!!

[chimera]

I'm very puzzled about Edwards' run. Just why does anyone think this man is ready for the White House? He's only been a Senator for less than one term and he is a lightweight if I've ever seen one. Yes, he's got the looks, but that image is shattered as soon as he opens his mouth. And he's a trial lawyer! Who wants one of them in the WH? Is there someone backing him that we don't know about? Why? I just don't get this one.

You're right to be puzzled because it is just this paradox that makes him dangerous. He's a liberal Rat trial lawyer and for those who know, this is a bad thing. But in Clintonian America this is a positive.

Back in '92 an empty-suit, pretty-boy made-by-TV womanizer came out of a backwater southern state and the idiot sheeple bought his schtick to the point of kicking out a man who was at least more honest and had a real record of achievement. Remember, we're living in an age where accomplishment and achievement and personal integrity seems to be looked down on as somehow "unfair", "mean-spirited", or being obtained not by honest work but through taking advantage of someone else, the old you-built-your-success-on-the-backs-of-the-poor class warfare gambit. My guess is that the Rats and the media will spin Edwards' lack of experience and accomplishment, except as a trial lawyer suing the life out of "evil corporations", as admirable attributes, ones we should want in a President.

[AlwaysLurking]

January 2, 2003, 10:45 a.m.

Just a Regular Guy

Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina makes it official.

By John Hood

RALEIGH, N.C. ‹ It's a new year, and as of Thursday morning we now have a new presidential candidate: first-term senator John Edwards of North Carolina. Appearing with his wife and Matt Lauer this morning on NBC's Today Show, Edwards announced that he was setting up the obligatory exploratory committee and that he would seek to be "a champion for regular people in the Oval Office every day."


Just a regular guy, is Johnny Edwards. This image, of humble beginnings in the rural Carolinas and a young family man here in the capital city of Raleigh, has long been his trademark.

Actually, "long" isn't quite the right word. In 1998, he came out of political nowheresville sporting a button-down, a big smile, a pretty haircut, and a bulging bankroll, and defeated University of North Carolina lobbyist D. G. Martin, the choice of party leaders, for the Democratic nomination for Senate. In the general election, Edwards turned up the regular-guy charm some more, spending a lot of his money on TV ads in which he simply looked into the camera and talked about how regular people live and what they care about. There were virtually no campaign events, no big addresses, no hot-button issues. He talked about a Patient's Bill of Rights, for example, but neither he nor his opponent, incumbent Republican Sen. Lauch Faircloth, spent much time debating the details. It was about proving that he cared about you and me, that he "got it."

Faircloth, who until he ran for Senate in 1992 was a Democratic powerbroker himself, made the mistake that many Republicans and conservatives appear poised to repeat today: He wrote Johnny Edwards off as a trial lawyer easy to lampoon and demonize. Folks, there's a reason why so many primetime TV shows and blockbuster movies depict heroic trial lawyers instead of heroic corporate moguls or entrepreneurs (Faircloth is a multimillionaire owner and investor in a variety of business enterprises, including hog farms and processing plants). Americans may resent their lawsuit culture, but they are attracted to its practitioners, especially those attorneys who stand up for us regular people against the big, bad businesses or big, bad governments (Faircloth had also served as a state secretary of commerce and as head of the state's highway commission). Given the tear-jerking nature of some of his most-celebrated cases, involving maimed children and swindled adults, Edwards's background as a plaintiff's attorney is a political asset, not a liability.

Edwards was sorely underestimated in 1998, too. I remember hearing from numerous Faircloth operatives about how easy it would be to expose him as a sham, as vapid and glib, as fast-talking Johnny Edwards on the make. One Republican ad showed Edwards's nose growing like Pinocchio's as he told his latest whopper. Another ad featured footage from Edwards speaking to a group of fellow lawyers, and counseling them to take a particularly eye-popping piece of evidence and "blow it up" for the jury. The attacks were desperate, and they showed it. Ironically, the situation didn't merit Faircloth's desperation. Edwards ended up winning by only a slender 51- to 47-percent margin. Faircloth told me later that he had made a tactical error in emphasizing Edwards's personal background, which helped rather than hurt the Democrat, instead of more forcefully pushing him on the substantive issues where Faircloth was more in tune with swing voters. That and a very strong post-impeachment turnout among black North Carolinians cost him a close race.

Democrats underestimated Edwards, too. Primary opponent D. G. Martin told me later that while he was convinced that Edwards's bank account and speaking skills poised a major threat, many of Martin's Democratic supporters had dismissed Edwards as a lightweight and, literally, a Johnny-come-lately. It was just a couple of weeks before the primary election that it began to dawn on statewide Democrats that sentimental favorite D.G. Martin was in danger.

I say all this just to encourage a more serious consideration of John Edwards as a presidential contender. At this point, he has about as much experience in electoral office as George W. Bush had in 1999 when he began the early stages of his presidential run. He has already spent much of the past two years, since being Al Gore's second choice for vice president in 2000, as a frequent traveler to New York, California, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, and other places where key Democratic donors and political activists reside. Like Richard Gephardt and Tom Daschle in Iowa and John Kerry in New Hampshire, Edwards has an early primary state next door (South Carolina, where he was born and spent his early childhood). He's got personal wealth. And he's still got the teeth and the hair.

Being the only southerner in the Democratic field (I'm not convinced of the seriousness of the reported candidacy of Florida Sen. Bob Graham) will be an advantage, as hackneyed as this sounds. There are legions of Democrats who strongly believe that history and demographics show their party can't win without a southerner who can cut into the Republicans' mostly solid south. Many of these are key Democratic donors, political consultants, and commentators with no hint of a drawl themselves. Their case is reasonable. While the deep south is probably lost for a generation, Democrats can plausibly claim to be competitive not just in Florida (which hardly counts as a southern state any more) but in the peripheral south and border states such as North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, and Arkansas. The general-election voters in play here are far more likely to respond to someone who sounds like them ‹ you known, like regular people ‹ then they are to the likes of Kerry or Joe Lieberman.

On the question of Edwards's ideology, he has so far managed the best of both worlds. He has cultivated an image as a southern moderate that has some reporters lumping him in with the likes of Graham, Lieberman, John Breaux of Louisiana, and Zell Miller of Georgia. Yet in actual voting behavior Edwards is surprisingly orthodox, with a 95-percent rating from Americans for Democratic Action and an 100-percent rating from the government employees' union. Somehow, with his grin and his telegeneity and his southern charm, Edwards has confounded attempts by his adversaries to paint him as a liberal tool of the special interests. At least Bill Clinton did had some moderate moments in his gubernatorial reign in Arkansas.

Both his regional origins and his vague ideology may well boost Edwards outside of the south. Remember that many states now have open primaries in which independent voters can choose either a Democratic or a Republican ballot on primary day. Assuming that Bush is breezing through the GOP race, these voters will grab a Democratic ballot. Many of them may respond well to a youthful, attractive candidate who doesn't sound stuffy or scary.

Here's some advice for Kerry, Lieberman, and other Democratic aspirants this year: Take John Edwards seriously. Don't think you can beat him on his personality or his trial-lawyer past. Your party has been fully Clintonized, and many of its activists and voters are now primed to value youth, energy, and charm above anything else. Don't try to contrast your hard-luck life with his. (Edwards's son Wade was killed in a traffic accident some years ago, and he and his wife commendably sought to honor him with charitable works around Raleigh.) Do challenge him on the issues, where Edwards does indeed appear shallow and inexperienced.

And above all, try to be a "regular guy" yourself. If Johnny Edwards can do it, so can you.

‹ John Hood is chairman and president of the John Locke Foundation and author of Investor Politics.

[pepsionice]

I would not totally misjudge Edwards.

He is a democrat but he is very central to most government policies. He does a good talk and can carry on a good debate. He has a cleaner background than Billy Boy...although we can admit he is a pure ambulance chaser...100 percent. Based on what I see...unless the Hilda beast comes out, which is not likely...he is number one. And I think he could easily carry both Carolinas easily and rack up some real good numbers thoughout the south (except Texas). And that probably is his major problem...he is not nationally known and his comments so far (all centralist) would lead one to think he is not pro-environment or pro-taxation which counts out most of the west coast being welling to vote for the guy. Bush can beat the guy...if the economy continues to go his way and no problems with the Iraq business occur.

[null and void]

No way will sinator hillary! let ANY demonrat occupy the WH before she has her shot. No way.

This way: She has promised not to run for president in 2004, she keeps this promise by running as VP.

The president dies in office after two years and one day.

Hillary!™ becomes president, and under the 22nd Amendment, is still eligble to run for office in 2008 and 2012, giving us the Hillary!™ decade.

Of course in 2016, the will be a major crisis requiring the "temporary" suspension of that year's elections...

He who votes doesn't count; he who counts the votes, counts - Joesph Stalin

[Lee'sGhost]

Today's headlines:

UPDATE: Chimp amazes scientists with own 'words'...

Sen. John Edwards announces presidential run

Coincidence? I think not!

[Constitution Day]

I believe credit for this graphic goes to FReeper Paul Atreides. Heh heh!

[null and void]

Hey Nully .. care to share your theory on this??

Done, Thanks!

[maxwell]

Who the hell is Edwards?

[null and void]

Hillary as VP.....are you suggesting that her co-president would commit Arkancide? :-)

Yes. Exactly :^(

[null and void]

Hillary will second-fiddle to noone.

Don't bet you life or country on that.