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WASHINGTON (AP) - Elizabeth Edwards says avoiding the "Made in China" label on toys is not exactly child's play. With millions of recalls rolling in this year because of lead in toys, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards vowed during a debate there would be no Chinese made gifts under his Christmas tree. But, the former North Carolina senator says he immediately had to check with his wife to make sure he was right. The Edwards campaign says the kids will be unwrapping U.S.-made toys, but wouldn't get into the specifics as not to spoil anyone's gifts.

Bow, NH—No longer satisfied with having an upbeat tone, John Edwards is ready to draw blood on the campaign trail, flogging any opponent that gets in his way. During his campaign, he plans to punch harder, especially when addressing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh, and big oil. "Hillary continues to defend a system that does not work, that is broken, that is rigged, and is corrupt," Edwards said. “And if you think I’m going to let an emasculating woman become President of the United States, then you’re out of your mind." Critics say that he...

WASHINGTON — John Edwards on Sunday said he opposes a new program in New York to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, but the Democratic presidential candidate offered much the same plan for establishing a licensing system as his chief rival and party primary frontrunner, Hillary Clinton. The former North Carolina senator, who unequivocally supported issuing driver's licenses to illegals when he was running for vice president in 2004, said that it should be up to the states to decide whether to issue licenses to illegals. However, once a national comprehensive immigration reform plan is passed into law, any illegal...

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is getting the endorsement of two unions, the United Steelworkers and the United Mine Workers of America, on Labor Day. Edwards is scheduled to be in Pittsburgh, home of the Steelworkers' international headquarters, for a Monday rally and will accept the endorsements there. "The members of the Steelworkers Union and the Mine Workers union are some of the country's hardest-working, bravest, most courageous workers," Edwards said. "It is their tireless hard work which has helped build a stronger America that benefits all of us. I honor what they do every day." The former senator from...

In five days most Americans will begin enjoying their long Labor Day weekend - the traditional end of summer - in the usual way: barbecuing, a final trip to the beach and watching sport. A strange group of nearly 20, however, will fan out across Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states in the presidential nominating process. They will trudge through cornfields and scamper from diners to town halls and school gymnasiums. They will lavish praise on their audiences and tell voters in each state - two of the whitest and least populated in America - why they are...

A top adviser for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said Friday that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), the front-runner for her party’s presidential nomination, is obsessed “with what she calls the Republican attack machine.” “I think we need a candidate who is obsessed with unifying this country again,” said Obama adviser David Axelrod. He added that Obama could break “the sort of decades-long battle we’ve had over this jagged divide — red state, blue state, American against American — and try to bring people together and attract disaffected Republicans and attract independent voters so that we could build not just a...

Francois de La Rochefoucauld had a point when he said, in his frequently quoted formulation, that hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue. In the case of John Edwards, however, hypocrisy is simply a way of life. The infamous $400 haircut — actually, some of his hairstyling sessions ran as much as $1,200 all told — wasn’t a freak embarrassment for a candidate so self-righteously devoted to the poor. It was part of a pattern so pervasive that it has become the defining aspect of Edwards’s candidacy. When he lambasted hedge funds for incorporating offshore to avoid or...

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards included Helena-West Helena in his recent eight-state tour focusing on poverty issues. But local leaders feel somewhat slighted. Mayor James Valley says Edwards' brief visit was disappointing. Valley says he had wanted to hear more about what Edwards envisioned for east Arkansas, and he had hoped to pitch to the former senator from North Carolina reasons why there should be more development in the state's struggling Delta region. The Reverend Julious McGruder of the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church said he was glad to have the chance to see a presidential candidate, but said he...

Why does the elegant senator from North Carolina continue his run for the presidency? Washington correspondent Geoff Elliott reports: POOR John Edwards. He follows Barack Obama on the podium at a conference of mostly anti-war Democrats and it's like watching air whistle out of a balloon. Obama, a charismatic candidate for change in the mould of Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy, has just worked the crowd brilliantly. Then Edwards walks in, a little later than scheduled at the Take Back America conference, thanks to an impromptu grab-and-grip show from Obama. Cameras are being pocketed again and seats resumed for...

An online contest could help local supporters of presidential candidate John Edwards bring their man to Humboldt County. While an Edwards visit to this northern reach of California is already possible, it's not locked in stone, said a press release from local Democratic volunteer Shane Brinton. So an effort is under way for the county to compete in an online “Demand and Be Heard” contest. The city that casts the most votes at the Web site www.eventful.com by the July 18 deadline will attract the former senator. ”We might actually have the chance to hear a presidential candidate talk about...

Why are so many pundits enamored of the Republican candidates' manliness -- and so eager to equate "presidential" with "masculine"? How do you decide who gets your vote in the presidential elections? Is it determined by the candidates' physical appearance, by the charisma they radiate or by the emotional strings they manage to tug deep inside you, conjuring childhood yearnings for security and a night-light after dark? And if you do cast your vote on these grounds rather than on the candidates' policies, do you want political pundits to tell you what they think about the looks, smells, and aura...

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is expected to name two activists opposed to the giant retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to senior posts on his campaign staff, a campaign official said on Thursday. Paul Blank, who has worked for Democrat Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign, would take charge of day-to-day Edwards campaign operations, the campaign official said. Chris Kofinis, former adviser to 2004 Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark, would become the Edwards campaign's communications director. The campaign official said a tentative deal was in place and could be finalized within the next few days. The official said Blank and Kofinis would...

For four decades, Joseph Torrenueva has cut the hair of Hollywood celebrities, including Marlon Brando and Bob Barker, so when a friend told him in 2003 that a presidential candidate needed grooming advice, he agreed to help. The Beverly Hills hairstylist, a Democrat, said he hit it off with then-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) at a meeting in Los Angeles that brought several fashion experts together to advise the candidate on his appearance. Since then, Torrenueva has cut Edwards's hair at least 16 times. At first, the haircuts were free. But because Torrenueva often had to fly somewhere on the campaign...

This week, I read that Ann Coulter had said some pretty shocking things about Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards. I wondered why she would say such things. Then, as Paul Harvey might say, I read the rest of the story. Here's the gist: On ABC's "Good Morning America" broadcast, Ann Coulter was asked about some critical language she had used about Edwards. In her response, she recalled something that the often-coarse comedian Bill Maher once said about Vice President Dick Cheney. She said, "… you know, Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed...

"U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and his wife Elizabeth appear on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" with host Jay Leno (R) during a taping of the show at NBC Studios in Burbank, California, June 25. 2007."

Presidential hopeful John Edwards said Monday that Americans should speak out against the war in Iraq this Memorial Day weekend, renewing an anti-war call that has been criticized by the leader of the American Legion. Edwards also said all young people should serve their country, "not just poor kids who get sent to war." The former U.S. senator from North Carolina and 2004 vice presidential nominee said the most patriotic position now is to end the war, and the best way to honor veterans this Memorial Day weekend is to bring the troops home from Iraq. "There's another thing we...