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...[T]his John Edwards is more seasoned and substantive ... and less sunny. ... Surveys show Edwards ahead in Iowa ... Edwards professes not to worry about his more-celebrated rivals. "What I've learned is it's a long process," he said ... He is no longer the fresh face... He can't claim a long record of political achievement. So he is offering something else, a mix of familiarity and new thinking. Edwards calls for "transformational change, not small baby steps." ... and urges voters — it's us against those durn politicians — to challenge candidates making blue-sky promises: healthcare for all, ending...

"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I — so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards," Ann Coulter said today at CPAC. Her audience seemed to to evince both shock and delight. The Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solomnese was not happy. “To interject this word into American political discourse is a vile and disgusting way to sink the debate to a new, all-time low. Make no doubt about it, these remarks...

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — Presidential hopeful John Edwards, returning to the scene of his only primary victory in his 2004 bid, said Saturday that fellow Democrats should focus on running Congress rather than trying to impeach President Bush. He also disagreed with an audience member who suggested, on the day Saddam Hussein was hanged in Iraq, that Bush should face the same fate.But Edwards said he "unequivocally and without any question" rejected an escalation of the war. "There is no military solution to what is happening in Iraq," he said to cheers from a crowd of 1,800 at Brookland Baptist...

It was a crowd to warm any candidate's heart - even in a New Hampshire winter. Over a year ahead of the nation's first presidential primary, so many voters turned out Friday to hear Democratic hopeful John Edwards' call for a new spirit of American activism on problems ranging from poverty to global warming that hundreds were left standing outside in freezing temperatures. Nearly a quarter of the crowd of more than 800 were unable to squeeze into the elementary school cafeteria where Edwards was to speak. The former North Carolina senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee ended up giving...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Kerry says he deserves a second chance if he decides to take another crack at becoming president. The Massachusetts Democrat, who lost to President Bush in 2004, said it is a basic principle that "Americans give people a second chance. And if you learn something and prove you've learned something, maybe even more so. Now, I don't know what I'm going to do yet. We'll make that decision down the road."

Edwards: Bush Worse than Nixon 2004 Vice Presidential Contender Blasts Bush and Readies to Run Again By ED O'KEEFE May 21, 2006 — - Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., says George W. Bush is the "worst president of our lifetime," and "absolutely" worse than Watergate-tainted President Richard M. Nixon. In an exclusive appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," the former presidential and vice presidential contender said of Bush, "He's done a variety of things -- things which are going to take us forever to recover from. "You have to give Bush and Cheney and gang credit for being good...

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...

Throughout his campaign for president and then vice president in 2004, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina made it clear that the death of his teenage son in a car accident was off-limits, not for discussion in a political context. But now his wife, Elizabeth, has sent an e-mail to supporters voicing a connection she shares with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. As Sheehan was camped near President Bush's Texas ranch, protesting the war, Edwards called on her own family's backers to support Sheehan. And, in a departure from a campaign-trail silence that the...

Sen. John Edwards is drawing a curtain on his U.S. Senate career this week with a tour of the state. He's billed it as a chance to thank Tar Heels and let them know "how honored I was to represent them." It seems a little curious. While Edwards made an earnest run at national office, conventional wisdom suggests that he might have fared better on the national scene than he did had he opted to seek re-election from North Carolina. Edwards is one of the state's best and brightest. He's a very successful lawyer and a gifted politician. His fiery...

MAPLE GROVE, Minn., Oct. 10 - If there was any doubt that Senator John Edwards is trying to raise his profile in the final weeks of the campaign, it should have been put to rest Sunday when he appeared on five news and political talk shows. His television blitz followed appearances last week on the ABC morning talk shows "Regis and Kelly" and "The View." And on Tuesday, on the eve of the final presidential debate, he is a scheduled guest on NBC's "Tonight'' show. It is all a decidedly higher profile for a vice-presidential candidate who until recently had...