Edwards - Poverty is not America's only problem. You won't make it as a one trick pony.

Sounds like a bumper sticker tour.

Coming into a poor town like a bunch of tourists and flapping their gums for 2 hours and doing nothing about it is just what this tour really is about!  

"He gives his testimony/It's the principle source of his revenue"   Paul Simon-one trick pony

I like the challenge to the press from Edwards......sounds like a job for Mr. Todd.  Edwards is the only candidate with any ideas to solve the problems that Bush has given us.

Edwards would do so much better if he would immigrant and gay-bash, cut taxes on the Rich, demand an end to public education and call for immediate War with Iran and North Korea.

An intelligent, hopeful and purposeful guy like this will never get elected President of such a messed up nation.

'Its outrageous to line your pockets off the misery of the poor"-"Outrageous"-Paul Simon

"Coming into a poor town like a bunch of tourists and flapping their gums for 2 hours and doing nothing about it is just what this tour really is about" ...  Jerry you finally have George Bush and the GOP figured out ..there is hope for you...  

Some of you people just amaze me.  Like David in Chattanooga -- "the problems Bush gave us".  HA!  If Bush created them, why has the "Battle on Poverty" existed far longer than his term, in some cases longer than he has been alive?  We would not have needed MLK or JFK or Bobby Kennedy or LBJ -- who all focused on this issue.  All you people ever do is re-inforce the ridiculous notion that your hatred of Bush has spread to ridiculous levels -- to the point that every single thing is "his fault".  Everytime you do that you exonerate the real people at fault -- most of the time the Democrats who want to pay lip service to everything and tell everyone how much they are going to do for you.  Grow up already.

I wonder if they have asked Ann Coulter to go along so they actually get some publicity?

Someone should hang a banner on his Bus, We can do FOR you what we did TO the people of New Orleans. Just give us 60 years of uninterrupted democrat control.

JIrby, Colorado / edwards has plenty of legitimate idea's concerning issues other than poverty, the media has chosen to keep them out of the spotlight so they can chase the "in" candidates that the lobbyists have bought, it would be worth your time to find out what edwards is really about

why would we listen to the pundits - they were the ones that chose Kerry over Edwards in 2004. Why is it detrimental to be successful? Has anyone looked at the cases Edwards tried? Believe me - they love him in New Orleans - something to think about if he is such a phoney - not much gets past the Big Easy any more.

He makes it, look so easy
Look so clean
He moves like God's immaculate machine---Paul Simon

Dave, you forget.  Louisiana democratic control is what got the city of new orleans slaughtered.  With the moves that nancy Pelosi and and the democratic congress have made, New orleans is just ripe for the taking.

Ricardo--I wasn't talking about the GOP and President Bush

Irritated, the poverty rate declined by 1/2 during the years from 1960-2000 and has increased every year of the GWB presidency.  Tell me how the Great Society was a dismal failure.

Will Mr. Edwards be flying his stylist in? Can't go help those po' folk without one of those 400 dollar haircuts....

Bruce, Las Vegas

If that haircut is the only thing you can remember about John Edwards, than you either have a very limited memory, or think you are cute. Get a life. I'd like to see Romney's 'stylist' bills - I'll bet he wouldn't go to Huckabee's $12 barber -- what do you think? there is a whole lot more to Edwards than how he combs, cuts or wear his hair.  How clever to reduce every issue to a remark about hair. I notice you can't state any of his policies -- too many big words?

John B--please enlighten us on how it was such a big success!  Actually John Edwards paid $1250 for those haircuts, they had an interview with the guy last week.  Edwards better just stop at one of them barber shops with the sports magazines and playboy magazines and get himself a $10 haircut.

Don't kill the messenger because he is wealthy. The media (owned by people with an agenda) have done such a hack job on Edwards. All of the candidates have more money than anyone I know and they all get help from stylists, etc. to improve their image. Since the media can't find any real "dirt" on Edwards, they try to create it. The man has a real story and if you would do the work of researching his story, you would appreciate what he is truly trying to do.  I heard him speak during the last election. I am sold on the man and what he stands for.  He really cares about people and he has worked to make things happen.  We have so many really powerful issues out there that we should be hearing about from the media. These range from the issues of poverty and health care to the war and the economy.  We should all be skeptical of the media and use our own brains to figure out what Edwards ia all about. He has been very clear about where he stands on many issues, just check out his website.  He also has been the first to take a stand on many issues.  So I repeat, don't kill the messenger because he is wealty!

I completely support Candidate Edward’s fight against poverty.  I think it is one of the most important and fundamental problems in the world today.  According to the Borgen Project, whose goal is to fight world poverty and hunger, it only takes $19 billion dollars annually to end world hunger and poverty.  The war in Iraq alone has cost the American people $340 billion dollars.  It is time for this country to have a new president that cares about these issues and is willing to lead America in this global fight.  

"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God"-Jesus Christ

Irritated in DC......Wow! get a life.  Bush is our worst nightmare. Or better yet get away from the beltway and find out for yourself.

I remember when they were going to have the Beatles re-unite for world hunger and they said $100 million was it was going to take to end world hunger and poverty.  It never happened and the number to end world hunger and poverty goes up every year.  You can just donate your entire years pay and hopefully the world will live togather as one and the birds will sing and free love will return and Gas will be one dollar a gallon and Saturday morning cartoons will return and Television will be just three channels again.  YEAH RIGHT!  Anybody who believes that world hunger will end by sending $19 billion a year is either out of his/her silly little mind, in dire need of a good stiff drink or a good J.  The best anyone can due to get out of poverty is to WORK!

[sarcasm]  John Edwards is rich.  Surely he can't be sincere about helping the poor.  [/sarcasm]

I mean, the Kennedy family's wealth makes John Edwards look like he lives in the slums of New Delhi.  In his time, the wealth of FDR puts Edwards to shame, but no one questions the sincerity of the Kennedys or FDR, and they were born rich.  

However, today's wealthy pundits want to call John Edwards a phony, when he was actually born poor and worked as a young man and then earned his money while representing regular Americans against wealthy interests in courtrooms, instead of representing corporations against people they had injured.  

The hypocrites of today follow in the footsteps of the hypocrites who criticized Jesus Christ for eating with the poor.  How dare he eat with the poor if he claims to be the Son of God.  How dare John Edwards talk about helping the poor when he's rich?

How shortsighted and simpleminded is the media in this country?  How gullable are those Americans who fall for this crap?  Of course you can be rich and care about the poor.  Can you be charitable without being the one receiving the charity?  Could anyone donate to help the tsunami victims without being tsunami victims?  Could anyone raise money for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina without being displaced themselves?

Well, how in the world can someone like John Edwards not care about helping the poor just because he isn't poor?

The critical thinking skills of some people apparently doesn't extend beyond that which is needed to understand why 1+1=2.

OK Jerry, you don't consider a 50% reduction in poverty rate to be a success.  How does Bush's increasing poverty rate during an expanding economy measure up?

"Edwards is the only candidate with any ideas to solve the problems that Bush has given us. "

Oh, that is real true.  That Edwards guy is so smart.  He could sue the terrorists and have them tied up in the courts there for years.  They won't be trying to blow anyone up while the trial is going on. And, if things got real tough, Edwards could bring out his wife Liz.  She's one woman you do not want to mess with. Look what she did to the Ann Coulter lady.  Ann used to weigh over 250 pounds.  She'd jump in the air, and would get stuck.  But that Liz yelled at Ann, and scared her so much that she lost over 125 pounds.  Can you believe that?  Woman is skinny as a rail now.

Can't make a poor man rich by making a rich man poor.
Who is going to pay for his plans?

I'm not sure what to think of this tour. From the purely pragmatic perspective of doing what you have to do for viability, I don't think it helps. And I always have suspicions when a candidate says he/she is going to take a break from fundraising, thinking its a nice way of saying the campaign feels its starting to tap out its list of supporters, and wants to give it some time before going back to them with another fundraising plea.

I also think its basically a good thing to be better in touch with the less affluent areas and issues of the nation. Its good to take those blinders off every once in a while and realize everyone isn't like - well, in my case, my manicured suburban stomping grounds. And if a candidate is going to do something like this, Edwards is picking a good time. I think we're entering a bit of a lull. I hesitate to call it the summer lull, because that usually refers to what will happen next July, during election year. I kind of get the feeling all the campaigns are saying, whoa, maybe we started too early. So taking a productive breather maybe will work in Edwards favor more than just slipping below the radar for a few weeks.

I think if I was a campaign manager/handler, I'd be watching for signs of candidate burn-out. Don't know how any of these candidates can stay fresh for so long. I'd be more inclined to suggest time off rather than time trotting around in front of cameras, touring impoverished areas. (Of course, I should note none of them are recruiting me to take on a top position in their campaigns, lol.)

Hopefully when Edwards kicks off his tour in New Orleans, it will focus the mainstream media attention that needs to be focussed on the problems still existing in that city and help Katrina recovery find the place it needs to have as a valid campaign issue. Per jerry "Louisiana democratic control is what got New Orleans slaughtered"--that's exactly what the Bush Administration and its minions would want you to believe. They want to "CYA" for their continued inattention to New Orleans, keep it out of the news, and keep it from becoming a campaign issue that would work against the GOP.

And here's some substantive news First Read missed: Hillary Clinton's appearance last Friday at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, where per the Times-Picayune she bashed Bush over the pace of the recovery efforts.

At the Convention Center which became famous during Katrina, she said, "Too many people have become invisible to the president of the United States. He doesn't even see them. Thousands of people still living in trailers here in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast--they're invisible." She added, "I pledge to you that I will certainly do everything I can to help New Orleans. I believe it is an American responsibility to rebuild New Orleans."

She blamed the Bush Administration for spending hundreds of billions of dollars on overseas military campaigns while nickel-and-diming Louisiana parishes, an approach she said has exacerbated the difficult recovery and contributed to the chicken-and-egg dilemma of neighborhood restoration. "You can't get the people back unless you have the services, but you can't get their services back unless you have the people to use the services," she said, laying out a complex New Orleans problem that rarely is brought up outside the region.

Why has First Read, which usually covers "all things Hillary," no matter how trivial, such as her appearance before the Steelworkers' Union, not covered the substantive news of her appearance in New Orleans? Ditto for Obama's appearance at the Essence Music Festival. I noticed approximately 3 posts on what he said to the NEA, but nothing at all on his stop in New Orleans. Maybe this is because unlike the Steelworkers' Union and the NEA which are powerful, well-oiled, well-moneyed interest groups, the poor, powerless Katrina survivors of New Orleans and the rest of the storm zone have no voice of their own and no special interest groups to call attention to their plight. So to First Read they're invisible.

Olivia, I hate to keep harping on an old issue, but until they get the levees fixed and make sure what happened last time doesn't happen again, there cannot be any more money spent on New Orleans.  The article I am referring to comes from the Citizens against Goverment waste.  $100.327,000, which was a 56% increase for Louisiana.  Senator Mary Landrieu takes a big chunk of the credit for that money.  However, the majority of the money does nothing to aid the repairs of levees or flood control.  This is spent more on waterways that barges go on, like the J Bennett Johnston waterway, which only 4% of commercial traffic uses.  I googled Louisiana pork spending and found a story in the Washington post that you will find very interesting about how the liberals in Louisiana screwed up big time with the money President Bush gave them.

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