MoveOn.org: Edwards Speaks Out on Iraq

You can see John Edwards' comments about Iraq at this transcript taken from the MoveOn.org Virtual Town Hall meetings held across America tonight.

Excerpt:

..this is not the time for political calculation, this is the time for political courage. This is not a game of chicken. This is not about making friends or keeping Joe Lieberman happy. This is about life and death—this about war. We are done letting George Bush manipulate the rhetoric of patriotism, only to use our troops as political pawns. If Bush vetoes funding for the troops, he's the only one standing in the way of the resources they need. Nobody else.

Congress must stand firm. They must not write George Bush another blank check without a timeline for withdrawal—period. If Bush vetoes the funding bill, Congress should send another funding bill to him with a binding plan to bring the troops home. And if he vetoes it again, they should do it again.

The American people are overwhelmingly in favor of ending this war. If our side stands firm, if we show courage now, we can finally bring our troops back home and bring this war to an end.

Press Release: National LGBT Leaders Endorse John Edwards For President


You may also want to check out this Bloomberg article on Edwards and Labor by Heidi Przybyla.

Excerpts:

Edwards, the only 2008 candidate to offer a specific universal health-care plan, is critical of free trade and vows to eradicate poverty. These positions resonate with many union leaders. [..]

[..]On the stump, Edwards ties his emphasis on fighting inequality to his support of unions. ``The greatest anti-poverty movement in American history is the organized-labor movement,'' he said last week at a town-hall meeting in a packed high school gymnasium in Des Moines. ``I've walked picket lines all over this country standing up for health care, for working people, for pension protection.''

[...] Bill Buck, a strategist for the Democratic Party in Nevada, expects Edwards' battle plan to be particularly effective in Iowa and in Nevada, where the bulk of the vote will come out of the union-rich Las Vegas area. ``The race has always been more wide open than the popular opinion,'' Buck said.

Edwards is ``trying to use momentum from early primary and caucus states to roll into what's shaping up to be a national primary,'' said Mike Feldman, former Vice President Al Gore's chief of staff during the 2000 campaign. ``He's not going to get there with muscle. He's going to get there by being opportunistic and strategic.''[..]

See: Democratic Hopefuls Court Activists in 'Virtual Town Hall' - WaPo

In a few informal interviews, members said they were most impressed by Edwards. "He was very clear about getting out of the war. He was emotionally compelling," said Marcia Jansen, a D.C. resident.