"johac" <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jhachmann-72CF48.00294830122007@news.giganews.com...

In article <Gd2dnYdzKvLosuvanZ2dnUVZ_qCunZ2d@comcast.com>,
"Michelle Malkin" <hypatiab7@comcast.net> wrote:

Edwards Radicalizes Anti-Corporate Pitch
December 28, 2007 02:59 PM

Marc Cooper

Huffington Post

a.. Dubuque, Iowa - Amid a heavy snow storm Friday afternoon, an
overflow
crowd of several hundred supporters bundled into a meeting hall in this
economically battered town to hear candidate John Edwards escalate his
closing campaign message of opposing "corporate greed" and denounce what
he
called a "small group of profiteers" dominating American life.
"Everything about America is threatened today...this is an epic struggle
for
the future of America," Edwards told the cheering crowd. "Corporate greed
and the very powerful use their money to control Washington and this
corrupting influence is destroying the middle class."

While all of the presidential campaigns have refocused to some degree on
foreign policy in the wake of the murder of Pakistani leader Benazir
Bhutto,
Edwards is keeping his message of economic fairness front and center
during
the final week of campaigning here. "We will defeat greed and fear - and
strike a blow for working people, for those with no voice, for those
Washington has ignored too long." Edwards made no mention of the
Pakistani
crisis in his newly re-tooled stump speech.

While Edwards has consistently campaigned on an economically populist
program, his speech today in Dubuque was marked by a noticeable
ratcheting
up and radicalization of his critique of corporate wealth and power.

"Why on earth would we expect the corporate powers and their lobbyists,
who
make billions by selling out the middle-class, to just give up their
power
because we ask them nicely?" Edwards asked. He made no mention of rivals
Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in today's speech; in the past, he has
slammed Clinton for being too indebted to powerful Washington lobbies.

Edwards is in the midst of a final 38-county push to win next Thursday's
Iowa caucuses. Even his own supporters will concede that taking Iowa is a
do-or-die must for a campaign running third in national polls, but in a
virtual dead heat in the Hawkeye State with rivals Clinton and Obama.

Nestled on the gritty Illinois border, Dubuque has been hit hard by the
collapse in American manufacturing jobs and offers itself as a perfect
venue
for Edwards' message of economic fairness. The local Flexsteel plant has
lost about two-thirds of its 800 jobs over the past decade. Paper maker
Georgia Pacific, another big employer in town, has also been hit hard by
job
exports.

"Iowa has lost twice as many jobs to unfair trade deals than it's won in
the
so-called technological revolution," Edwards adviser Dave "Mudcat"
Saunders
told the HuffPost before today's event started. "What kind of revolution
is
that?" Saunders said Edwards would stay on his message of opposing
"unchecked greed" and that it was a theme that resonated deeply
throughout
the state.

Which is why I am supporting Edwards.

Who, as of today, was ahead of both Clinton
and Obama in Iowa. Of course, the polls
change everyday, but this is the first time he
was ahead of both of them. To quote a
certain green Muppet, "Yay!"