IA Rep officially endorses Edwards
Posted: Monday, December 03, 2007 3:43 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ’s Tricia MillerWATERLOO, IOWA --
Edwards accepted the endorsement of freshman Rep.
Bruce Braley this morning at Hawkeye Community College. Braley, who represents Waterloo and the Iowa half of the Quad Cities, is the first member of Iowa’s congressional delegation to endorse a presidential candidate.
“John Edwards and I have nothing in common,” Braley began, tongue-in-cheek. “He grew up in the small town of Robbins, N.C., population 1,200. I grew up in Brooklyn, Iowa, population 1,400. His father, as you all know, worked in a mill. My father worked in a grain elevator. His mother worked in a post office. My mother was a schoolteacher. John Edwards worked to put himself through college at North Carolina State, and I worked multiple jobs to put myself through college at Iowa State. John Edwards went to law school at the University of North Carolina.
“I went to law school at the University of Iowa. He’s practiced law for 20 years in North Carolina, fighting for justice for his clients, many times against powerful special interests. I spent 24 years of my life practicing law right here in Waterloo, fighting for justice for the people I represented, oftentimes against powerful special interests. So as you can see, we have nothing in common.”
Braley, a former president of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, won a close race in both his primary and general election to replace Jim Nussle last fall. He said he started following Edwards’ career long before he ran for the Senate and also supported his presidential bid in 2004.
"I can only guarantee [Edwards] one thing,” Braley told reporters after his remarks, “and that is there will be one very passionate, energetic volunteer in Ward 5, Precinct 5 in Waterloo one month from tonight.”
