Posted on 01/01/2003 11:16:22 PM PST by 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
Why? Do you want to serenade him with his new campaign theme song?
/sarcasm
Good Lord, man. You have my sympathies.
That is an intriguing thought. Does he have one? If not, I'm sure we can Freep one out for him. Suggestions?
That will NEVER happen, PJ.
The Raleigh News and Observer (a.k.a. "Views and Distorter", etc.) is NC's self-anointed 'paper of record'.
It's like our New York Slimes.
Not too be too much of a New Year curmudgeon, but you know we said this about Clinton back in '92. Remember that Bush I looked "unbeatable" early on, then the sheeple flocked (42% of them - enough to win a three-way) to the scumbag and we had to deal with eight long, weary years of nothing but lies and deceit and attacks on the Constitution that we still have yet to recover from.
All it will take for Bush II to go down is another year or 18 months of the economy in the tank, and the pressitutues beating the drums (like they did in '92) about how this President Bush, like his father, "doesn't care" about domestic issues, or "the little guy", meanwhile flashing images of the "youthful and charismatic Senator from NC" and his telegenic family, about how he's a "trial lawyer with a heart" who "cares about and fights for the little guy", and is a "moderate Democrat from a Southern state". The Rats are masters of manipulation, and "care" and "caring" have become potent political buzzwords, eliciting a flood of emotions from the sucker moms and various assorted intellectually vapid sheeple, generally sympathetic to the Rats.
I really, truly hope that I am wrong, but my fear is that '04 is shaping up as a '92 replay, deju vu all over again, especially if a wacko third party goofball jumps in and siphons off enough support from the 'Pub candidate to drop him below 45% or so. God help us if we get stuck with President Edwards for eight years. Goodbye doctors, manufacturers, inventors, and anyone who produces or does anything useful, and get ready for Lawyer Nation and its faithful partner, Government Regulator.
Check out Reply #22 on this thread for the John Edwards Campaign Theme Song.
Excuse me for a minute...
That pained smile on her face reflected little enthusiasm for Johnny Boy's White House run.
Check out Reply #22 on this thread. You can be even more creative by singing the John Edwards Campaign Theme Song. However, it will take a bit of practice so I suggest printing it out for rehearsals.
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