Edwards says he gives voters what they want

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By Charlotte Eby | Tuesday, January 1, 2008 8:40 PM CST | () comments

AMES — Democrat John Edwards predicted he will do well in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses on Thursday night because caucus-goers are responding to his message of ending corporate greed, strengthening the middle class and standing up for American jobs.

(See below for Edwards’ campaign schedule beginning at 12:01 a.m., Wednesday.)

“That’s what they want,” Edwards said in an interview with the Quad-City Times Tuesday. “They want a president who will do those things, and I am the candidate and the president who will do them.”

In Ames on New Year’s Day, Edwards kicked off a 36-hour tour of Iowa that his campaign is calling the “Marathon for the Middle Class.”

Each hour of the tour will be a chance to highlight one of Edwards’ ideas to strengthen the middle class.

A Des Moines Register poll released Tuesday showed Edwards in third place in Iowa with support from 24 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers. He was behind Barack Obama, who led with 32 percent, and Hillary Clinton who registered at 25 percent.

But Edwards also pointed to a poll by Lee Enterprises released Friday that showed him gaining support to tie with Obama for first place.

“I think these polls altogether mean it’s a very close race. We’re in a dead heat. I think virtually every poll, and my own experience on the ground, though, shows me moving up daily,” Edwards said.

Criticism from Clinton and Obama, who has sharpened his attacks on Edwards in recent days, comes in response to his growing support, Edwards said.

“They see the momentum. They see me moving every single night. They know it. Their campaigns know it,” he said.

Edwards said his organization to turn out voters is unmatched by other campaigns in Iowa. But he said the organization can only get people to the caucuses when people respond to what a candidate stands for.

He argued Iowans are looking for a fighter who will stand up for the middle class and understands their problems.

“They get that in me. It is not political; it’s personal and passionate,” he said.

Obama’s campaign has complained recently of Edwards’ support from a group funded by unions and other sources that is running ads on behalf of Edwards in Iowa. The campaign accused Edwards of getting help from what they referred to as special interests.

Edwards fired back Tuesday.

“I’m proud to have the support of all the unions who support me. They stand up and fight for middle class and working families. This is exactly what my campaign’s about,” Edwards said.

Debra Thompson, a voter from McCallsburg, braved the bitter cold winds on New Year’s Day to catch Edwards’ speech in Ames.

She ticked off several of Edwards’ policy positions on agriculture, education, the economy and withdrawing troops from Iraq as the reason she’s supporting him. Thompson caucused for Edwards in 2004 and will stick with him this year.

“He’s seen it firsthand what corporate greed can do to the small people. He was a small person. He came from that background,” Thompson said. “I feel that he can adequately represent me because I’m a small person.”

Charlotte Eby can be reached at

(515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

Beginning at midnight, Edwards campaigns across Iowa Wednesday.

Details: 12:01 a.m., the home of Denise O’Brien, 2006 Democratic Nominee for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, 59624 Chicago Road, Atlantic; 2:15 a.m., the home of Union County co-coordinator and precinct captain Jan Knock, 906 W. Montgomery St., Creston; 5:15 a.m., the home of Deb Kury, staging location for Get-Out-The-Caucus activities, 502 S. 12th St., Centerville; 7 a.m., John Edwards for President Ottumwa office, 609 Church St., Ottumwa; 8:30 a.m., 2nd Street Café, 107 E. 2nd St., Fairfield; 9:45 a.m., home of Bob Petrezelka, 609 E. Monroe St., Mount Pleasant; 11:30 a.m., Ivy Bake Shoppe, 622 7th St., Fort Madison; 1 p.m., John Edwards for President Burlington office, 2700 Mount Pleasant St., Burlington; 3:30 p.m., Capanna Coffee Co., 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City; 5 p.m., Marriott Cedar Rapids Hickory Room, 1200 Collins Road NE, Cedar Rapids; 7:35 p.m., Saints Rest Coffee House, 919 Broad St., Grinnell; 9 p.m., singer-songwriter John Mellencamp will perform at the event before Senator Edwards speaks, Val Air Ballroom, 301 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines.