Edwards
John Edwards
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
In a conference call with reporters, former Edwards campaign manager David Bonior announced his decision to endorse Obama -- citing the Illinois senator's ability to bring change and to inspire, to defend himself against attacks, his dedication in helping working families, and his opposition to the war in Iraq.
Bonior called 2008 a "watershed year in politics" and said this could be a big year for change, like 1932, 1960, or 1980. "The American people want a new direction and want some fundamental change -- big change I think," he said.
In addition, Bonior said Edwards' campaign had been about putting people first and that Obama had proven he could bring the necessary change to Washington and would improve the lives of working families by standing up to Wall Street lobbyists and special interests.
The former Michigan congressman also cited Obama's work as a community organizer in Chicago. He said the Illinois senator had inspired a movement of people, brought them into politics, and into the system. "He's the first candidate that has brought a movement with him," Bonior said, adding that this election could be "transformational" and "history-making." He also said Obama had shown courage in opposing the war in Iraq.
Bonior waited until now to endorse because he was "waiting for Sen. Obama to show me the fight that I wanted to see because it's gonna be a difficult" campaign with McCain.
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From NBC/NJ’s Athena JonesRALEIGH, N.C. -- As his rival for the nomination did earlier in the night,
Obama praised John and Elizabeth
Edwards at a Democratic Party dinner in their state Friday night.
"I want to make sure that I say a special thanks to John and Elizabeth Edwards," he began. "Because they really set the tone for this president race with their courage, with their ideas, with their passion and their commitment to working people and to making sure that we focus our attention on not just the haves, not even the have littles and want mores but the have nots in America, and I'm so grateful for their contribution, and I am looking forward to working with them in the next administration to make sure that we are doing everything we can to deliver on the full promise of America."
Both Democrats have courted Edwards' endorsement, but he is not expected to declare his support before Tuesday's election.
The Illinois senator also echoed
Clinton's remarks about the party being unified in November.
"If Hillary Clinton were the nominee, I would support her in a heartbeat," he said. "And I know that if I am the nominee then she will support me, and the reason is because, although we are campaigning vigorously, and we have serious differences in both policy and approach -- one thing that I can say, is that our differences pale in comparison to our differences with the other party."
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From MSNBC’s Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo
With the North Carolina Democratic primary a week away, Elizabeth Edwards tells MSNBC she'd be "surprised" if either her or her husband endorsed either Obama or Clinton before the contest. But she quickly left the door open for a change of heart saying, "You never say never" -- given that there are big news events that can impact the race.
"My inclination is not to say more than I have said," noting that she has only gone so far as to endorse Clinton's health-care proposal for universal health care coverage.
She also said the Edwards family is on vacation in Orlando, Fla. When asked about a New York Times report suggesting the possibility that she would endorse Clinton and her husband would endorse Obama, she responded, "We're more concerned about whether we're going to stand in line for Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain next."
From NBC/NJ’s Adam Aigner-Treworgy
The Center for American progress held a conference call responding to McCain’s health-care roundtable this morning and the impending rollout of his health-care proposal tomorrow. On the call, Elizabeth Edwards responded to the public back-and-forth between her and McCain on whether McCain’s plan would cover people like them -- cancer survivors -- and whether McCain’s Naval health-care coverage has put him out of touch with the trials of the open healthcare market.
On ABC’s “This Week” last Sunday McCain said he would establish a “special Medicaid trust fund set up to help take care for those people who are -- have preexisting conditions.” He then referenced that five chronic diseases account for more than 70 percent of the health-care costs in America, but it was unclear if the special “trust fund” McCain referred to would be intended to address those costs.
If so, Edwards said on the center’s call this afternoon that the costs associated with such a program would be “enormous.”
“If he’s talking about expanding Medicaid to cover chronic conditions…he is talking about the most radical expansion of government health care that has been proposed -- that I know of,” Edwards said.
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From NBC's Mark Murray
First Read has learned that Obama and Edwards finally had their meeting this morning in Chapel Hill, NC.
The Obama campaign confirmed the meeting but would not provide any other details.
From NBC's Mark MurrayPer the
Obama campaign, the reason behind the cancellation of tonight's Obama-Edwards meeting is purely a scheduling conflict -- and that both camps are working to reschedule.
From NBC's Mark Hudspeth and Mark Murray
When asked about the AP report that Obama and Edwards meeting is not happening today, the Obama campaign told us to talk to the Edwards camp. However, when pressed, they said it wouldn't be inaccurate to report that the meeting will not happen today or tomorrow.
A source close to Edwards confirms that the meeting has been canceled. But the source doesn’t know the reason behind it; it could be something as simple as a scheduling conflict.
From NBC/NJ's Tricia Miller
As John Edwards was fond of saying, after we cast our votes in November, he will be fine. So will Barack and Hillary. But will America be fine?
As Edwards ended his presidential bid in New Orleans last Wednesday, it seemed the first would be true. He packed up after three days of large rallies at union halls in Feb. 5 states, his campaign still bringing in donations weeks after his hope for success dimmed. His family, apparently as healthy as ever, provided a solemn backdrop for his announcement. They would return together to their big Chapel Hill home, once the source of so much grief, now a haven from lingering questions about what went wrong. Meanwhile, Edwards' rivals began praising his campaign and rumors circulated that he would be offered a position in either of their administrations.
As a member of Edwards’ traveling press corps for five months (I’m only the silver medalist -- one reporter had been traveling with him full-time for longer), I saw the two-time presidential candidate on good days and bad. In his last days, Edwards finally got the cold that had already made its way through his traveling press corps. (When I got it in South Carolina, my counterpart from Fox handed me a pack of throat lozenges she had gotten from the New York Times reporter.) The cold was a late consequence for the long days we had all experienced. Even before the first 36-hour campaign swing in Iowa, we were exhausted. No one can say that the former North Carolina senator didn’t give the race his all.
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Our friends over at Hotline's On Call have Clinton's remarks on Edwards' exit.
"Well, Sen. Edwards is a friend of mine, he was a colleague in the Senate, and I have the highest regard for him, and I’m really admiring of what he has done to make sure that poverty was on the agenda here in America," she said in an interview with WBRC. "He encouraged all of us in his passion and advocacy, and I hope he will continue that work because it is really important that we stay focused on what we’re going to do to help people."
"You know, I’m out here talking about making the economy work for everybody. And it needs to work for the middle class, working people, it needs to give a life line to poor people like we did in the 1990s, so in any way that I can be part of this effort to try to target poverty I am going to be."
From NBC's Mark Murray
Obama is the first out of the gate to issue a statement on Edwards' exit. "John Edwards has spent a lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn't popular to do or covered in the news. At a time when our politics is too focused on who's up and who's down, he made a nation focus again on who matters - the New Orleans child without a home, the West Virginia miner without a job, the families who live in that other America that is not seen or heard or talked about by our leaders in Washington."
Obama added, "John and Elizabeth Edwards have always believed deeply that we can change this - that two Americans can become one, and that our country can rally around this common purpose. So while his campaign may end today, the cause of their lives endures for all of us who still believe that we can achieve that dream of one America."
