Edwards from 'grown-up wing'?
Posted: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:22 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ’s Tricia Miller
CONWAY, S.C. -- Edwards was focused on two things today: his performance at last night’s debate and the economy.
“You know, between all the allegations of Hillary serving on the Wal-Mart board and Sen. Obama working for a slumlord, I was proud to represent the grown-up wing of the Democratic party last night,” he told a crowd of people seated in a peanut warehouse here.
On the economy in the short-term, Edwards suggested transitioning toward a green economy, modernizing unemployment insurance laws, creating a national home rescue fund, allowing the courts to restructure home loans and establishing a national predatory lending law. Over the long term, he said the twin goals of strengthening the middle class and lifting people out of poverty would build up the economy from its foundation. His economic stimulation plan would cost $100 billion, he said. A related issue that he said he brought up in the debate was trade.
“I don’t think you can give George Bush a new trade deal," Edwards said. "That guy’s no more going to enforce anybody else’s trade obligations than the man in the moon. He does these trade deals for one reason: because he knows his big corporate friends are gonna make more money. It’s just that simple."
Edwards also pointed out his parents in the crowd to his left, and a couple minutes later, he reminded the audience that the fight to strengthen the middle class is personal for him.
“When the fight gets tough it matters whether it’s inside you because if it’s inside you you will never stop," he said. "You will keep fighting. I mean, this is very, very personal for me because I’m like all of you. I watched my dad get up and go to that mill every day for 36 years. I watched him work and sacrifice.”
In a conference call with reporters following the town hall, Edwards accepted the endorsement of the South Carolina council of the Communication Workers of America, which has 2,200 active and 1,700 retired members. The union’s executive board chose not to endorse a candidate in November, instead releasing locals to make their own endorsements.
The Conway town hall was Edwards' only public appearance today because he's flying to New York for an interview that will air tonight on The Late Show with David Letterman. He'll start again in South Carolina tomorrow in Bennettsville.
