by Rick Pearson
DES MOINES — Democratic candidate John Edwards kicked off an eight-day Iowa bus tour today by telling caucus-goers that by living in the nation's leadoff presidential state, they have a great deal of responsibility in choosing a contender.
Unlike Iowans, Edwards said, "most of America will see the presidential candidates in 30-60 second sound bites on television." Iowans, he said, "are the guardians of what kind of human being we'll have as the next president of the United States."
"What I ask caucus-goers here in Iowa to do on behalf of our country is to make sure you caucus for somebody who can restore that trust relationship, somebody whom you believe is honest, who is sincere, who is trustworthy, 'cause you're going to be in a place to evaluate that that most of America is not," Edwards said.
"And so, not on my behalf, but on behalf of our country, I ask you to judge us, everyone of us, up or down, because we must have a president of the United States that can restore trust between the American people and the president," he said.
Edwards challenged the crowd of a couple of hundred people at the Polk County Convention Center in downtown Des Moines to consider whether they are looking "for careful, cautious political calculation, or are we going to be looking for bold, strong specific leadership."
Edwards remarks came as he stood in front of his campaign bus, dubbed the "Main Street Express," with the motto "America Belongs to Us" emblazed on the side.
Edwards later told reporters that the Democratic contest for the Jan. 3 caucuses "feels like a dead heat to me" among himself and Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.
"I think among the three of us, it's very close," the former North Carolina senator said. "I think it's impossible for anybody to predict with certainty what's going to happen between now and the caucus."
Four years ago, Edwards finished second in Iowa behind eventual nominee Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) after both were down in the pack for much of the early 2004 campaign.
"What happened last time, the last three weeks, there was a dramatic rise by me and, I think, Sen. Kerry, and you've gotta believe there's going to be some movement in these last three weeks," Edwards said.
• 
• 
• 
• 
Comments
Desperate Panderer, starring John Edwards.
Posted by: John D | December 10, 2007 6:15 PM
John Edwards...The Grand Prize winner for wanting to raise our taxes and lead this nation towards socialism.
Thankfully, he has no chance.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | December 10, 2007 6:39 PM
For desperate panderer I don't know how you beat Mitt Romney.
Posted by: Doug Zook | December 10, 2007 6:53 PM
This is absolutely asinine.
Why should a few states, all with small populations, have such a HUGE impact on who is chosen to be the Democratic and Republican candidates?
We should have all of the primaries on one day.
Posted by: dogjudge | December 10, 2007 7:25 PM
dogjudge,
The problem with your idea is that only rich candidates can compete everywhere at the same time. Can you imagine what a media buy in California alone costs?
That's why the DNC & RNC put the calendar together that they did. They added South Carolina and Nevada to try to put some race and regional balance into the mix.
Room for improvement? You betcha.
Posted by: Doug Zook | December 10, 2007 8:03 PM
edwards is the only sensible candidate. America is not ready for barack and Hillary is not going to win in the general election. Have you seen the bumper stickers "anybody but clinton" It's as easy as ABC
Posted by: NOBOBYS_FOOL | December 10, 2007 8:08 PM
Edwards is a champion of the people.
I pray Hillary does not manage to acquire the nomination. It would be a disaster for the democratic party and America.
Please DON'T do it!
Posted by: Oscar | December 10, 2007 8:17 PM
Paulo,
It isn't socialism, it is americanism. It is the way we have done business for a great while, and it is the best possible way.
And, just how rich are you, because unless you are pretty wealthy I don't think you have to worry about John hiking your taxes much.
John Edwards will be elected and he will be the next FDR. He is exactly what our nation needs right now. I wish Barack was because I like him, but he just doesn't have it.
Posted by: Aaron B. Martin | December 10, 2007 9:28 PM
John Edwards...The Grand Prize winner for wanting to raise our taxes and lead this nation towards socialism.
Thankfully, he has no chance.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | December 10, 2007 6:39 PM
Paolo,
Yeah, it's not like we need to raise money to pay off our record budget deficit under the Repuglicans.
China will take care of us...I mean our "booming Bush economy" will take care of us, no worries her, nosiree. Paolo!
http://photobucket.com/mediadetail/?media=http%3A%2F%2Fi28.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc241%2Ftsamshara%2Falbum4%2F657e.jpg&searchTerm=deficit&pageOffset=8
Halliburton/Cheney/Bush and oil companies are making record profits since we pre-emptively invaded Iraq, yet oil is going at a near record high price of almost 90$ per barrel?
Do we still have enough time left to impeach the Repuglican crooks in the White House?
Posted by: Billy Zoom | December 10, 2007 10:44 PM
IOWA is overated. They have chosen the wrong President in two elections. How can they be the guardian of Democracy? Get real, there's 49 other States and 199 million other voters. Reality is that the Blue States will remain blue. And, the Red States wil remain red.
Posted by: Lou | December 10, 2007 11:44 PM
ARE THEY? ARE THEY WILLING TO LOOK OFF INTO THEIR FARMS AND HAVE THE CAUSE FOR AMERICANS TO TRUST THEM? LOOK AT CONGRESS AND HOW THEY HAVE TREATED THE AVERAGE FARMER. LOOK HOW THEY HAVE COMPROMISED THEIR VOTE.
SO I DON'T KNOW IOWA, ARE YOU READY TO BRING US BACK TO THE DINNER TABLE, WHERE FAMILY BELONGS!
AMERICANS WANT TO KNOW! SEE YOU AT THE VOTING BOOTH.
Posted by: Roger Morris | December 11, 2007 12:36 AM