Posted on 04/07/2006 1:50:37 PM PDT by presidio9
John Edwards is still a rock star. The former U.S. senator was in the nation's capital Thursday to help U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy push for an increase in the federal minimum wage.
The pair, joined by about 100 supporters, held a short rally in a park outside a Senate office building.
Kennedy, a darling of liberal Democrats, seemed nearly an afterthought for many of the supporters. They wanted Edwards to shake their hands, pose for pictures, sign their posters. A nearby rally of parents with autistic children wrapped up (there are a lot of rallies on Capitol Hill), and the moms and kids wandered over to hear the commotion.
Afterwards, the parents pressed Edwards about their cause and asked for more autographs. A contingent from North Carolina yelled for Edwards to run for president.
Oh, he's running. And he's continuing his national travels and appearances.
Thursday afternoon, he taped an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Last night, he planned on giving a speech about the minimum wage.
He is scheduled to be in Georgia today for another speech, then in several Iowa cities over the weekend.
Edwards and Kennedy called on the Senate to take up Kennedy's proposal to raise the wage over two years rom $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.
"In my view, this is the great moral issue of our time," Edwards said. "I think it's an absolute abomination that Republicans in the Senate have fought against Senator Kennedy's bill."
The call for a minimum wage increase touches on an issue dear to the heart of Edwards, who served one term for North Carolina and then became the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2004.
Since leaving the Senate, Edwards has taken on the problems of poor Americans. He is the director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill.
"The point of what I'm doing here today is continuing the fight against poverty," Edwards said after the rally. "We've been lobbying on this thing for a long time."
One place Edwards wasn't planning to be Thursday was in senators' offices, talking about the minimum wage or other issues. Now that he's out of the Senate, he said, he'd rather travel on his pet causes.
But it's tough to get away when you're a star.
One of Edwards' last autographs after the rally Thursday was for a child of about 8, who offered up a poster she had been holding at the nearby autism gathering.
"Will you sign this for me?" she asked.
Edwards gave her his trademark grin. "Sure, sweetheart."
How did his hair look?
He's a favorite in San Francisco.
RUN, JOHNNY! RUN!
Where in GA is he supposed to be today? I have to assume it's either Atlanta, Macon or Athens. Anywhere else and they'd laugh at his preened self.
LOL! John "brown shoes" Edwards as a "rock star.
That's rich...
"Help I'm a rock, help I'm a rock, help I'm a rock!
Ahahahahahahaaa
Help I'm a rock, help I'm a rock, help I'm a rock!
Somebody, please, please!
Help I'm a rock, help I'm a rock...
Wow man, it's a drag being a rock
Help I'm a rock...
I wish I was anything but a rock
Heck, I'd even like to be a policeman
Hey, you know what, you know maybe if I practised, you know
Maybe if I passed my driving test
I could get a gig drivin' that bus and pick some freaks up
In front of Ben Franks, right!"
Although on principle I am against the minimum wage, I would support it if it were a separate bill and not connected at all to the tripwires in the Wagner Act of 1934, which just increase the wages of the thug unions.
It would be worth it just to see Fat Ted's face turn an even deeper shade of red.
100 Supporters????? A ROCK STAR???? BWAAAAHAAAAHAAA!!! 
"Will you sign this for me?" she asked.
Edwards gave her his trademark grin. "Sure, sweetheart."
As opposed to any other politician, who would have told the autistic eight year-old little girl to get bent, right?
Did you know his Daddy worked in a meeeeel?
Shoot, I've spoken to bigger groups than that.
I believe the medical term for that is aneurysm.
Are sure about that headline?
Shouldn't that have read pathetic and not peripatetic?
Really? I think he and Kerry had about the same attendance record and underwhelming legislative production.
Well, I suppose if you're going to elect liberal Democrats, it's best to have those who don't show up and don't write legislation.
The pair, joined by about 100 supporters -100! there were more folks at my 4 year old daughters play!
Punk rock.
Breck Girl might be running in '08, but he's going nowhere fast. The Witch and Algore will destroy him with negative ads before they go after each other and Mark Warner. I see Silky Pony and Ketchup Boy being among the first RATS eliminated in the primaries. Algore will then spontaneously combust in a debate, and that will leave Her Heinousness and Wanker.
See, he's in Athens (also GHW Bush is/was at UGA, maybe that's why we've seen all the military helos in the past few days?)
Former President Bush, Edwards Appearing In Athens Today
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/6-0&fp=443683bd9e69fe4e&ei=e9Y2RMzeCc3caLvI1fYN&url=http%3A//www.wsbtv.com/news/8526387/detail.html&cid=0
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