Two Karita Hummer's Silver Pen Awards in a row for DonVila

Well DonVila just hit two homeruns in a row. Congratulations, DonVila for sharing the enthusiasm and spirit of the John Edwards' campaign for president.


Two Time Winner of Karita Hummer's Silver Pen Award



Two gorgeous days in New Hampshire

user icon DonVila in Quick Posts Feed of
9/27/2007 at 9:41 PM EST

Reposted from John Edwards Blog

http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/9/27/164658/711

This is the Thursday post on my local blog Progressives, South Bend which summarizes the arc of energy behind the Campaign To Change America.

Today and yesterday in New Hampshire have been gorgeous for The Campaign To Change America.

I was contacted early in the week to be involved in a conference call ahead of Wednesday's debate with John Edward's campaign strategists. It wasn't just them and me to be sure - but I gather there were less than 200 of us across the country on this call. How did I rate this special treatment? Not for much, I would say. I am a captain in our local One Corps chapter - along with Dustin Blythe. He and I have certainly put effort into the campaign. But I think we were invited because we identified ourselves as wanting to make a difference. That really seems to be enough.

In the interest of full disclosure: I am a political junkie, and this is the first campaign I have been absolutely fired up about. I now understand evangelism. So...

The call was so cool. We didn't hear from unknown operatives. Instead, the first speaker was none other than David Bonior, the campaign chair. I'm sure most of you know the Hon. David Bonior, former House Majority Whip from Michigan as a tireless supporter of progressive causes for decades. What you may not know is that he holds his position with the Edwards campaign (unpaid), despite his determination to retire from politics. The mood that surrounds this campaign is that it's finally time to do something!

We got a real clear idea of the strategy and our assets in the first four states. A couple things that stood out was that although Senators Clinton and Obama have spent over 4 million dollars on television ads in Iowa recently, our lead in the polls had not diminished. The second thing that caught my attention was that Senator Edwards had quietly accumulated more African American elected official endorsements in South Carolina than Clinton and Obama combined.

So, John Edwards has real strength in three of the four early states - strong union support in Nevada - but New Hampshire seems challenging. Enter two gorgeous days.

In the debate at Dartmouth, he looked like The President. He was calm, clear and unflappable. No analyst I heard claimed anything less than a fantastic outing for him. None.

So, how do you follow that? Today, he was at the University of New Hampshire for a MySpace/MTV dialogue. There was a large audience on site, but many people - including me - watched online. The online viewers were offered the opportunity to rate his responses to individual questions and eventually his overall responses.

He did pretty well. In the end, the overall favorable vote was roughly 93%.

I love the smell of democracy - it smells like victory.


Don Wheeler

"Video: John Edwards at the Sizzling Hot Harkin Steak Fry!" by NCDem Amy receives Karita Hummer's Silver Pen Award

Karita Hummer's Silver Pen Award

user icon NCDem Amy in Quick Posts Feed of
9/16/2007 at 10:56 PM EST

Reposted from John Edwards blog

Video: John Edwards at the Sizzling Hot Harkin Steak Fry!

Over 12,000 Iowa Democrats from across the state gathered to meet the Democratic Presidential candidates. The Harkin Steak Fry is a historic event that both people on the ground and netrooters participate in. John Deeth of the Iowa Independent offers an interesting look at previous Steak Frys noting some of the most memborable moments.

Watch Senator Edwards' Speech here:

Part 1 http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/9/16/225628/952

Part 2 http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/9/16/225628/952

John Edwards Fires Up the Crowd!

The event kicked off with Senator Tom Harkin delivering the introductory remarks, stating that we need "bold plans" to end the war in Iraq, end global warming, create universal healthcare and stated that, "we will have a Democratic President in the White House!"

John Edwards, the Presidential candidate who is leading in the polls in Iowa, was welcomed by a huge crowd of supporters. Thousands of Iowa voters filled out the "Change Coin" form and entered a contest being held by the Edwards for President campaign whereby the winner will have the opportunity to meet one on one with Elizabeth Edwards. The first edition of the "Edwards Extra" which was distributed to Iowans, provided some real meat and substance on the issues.

Edwards spoke passionately about how our country needs "big change." Edwards addressed a number of issues, including his plan to end the war in Iraq, end global warming, create truly Universal Health Care for All Americans and ending ecomomic disparity in the U.S.


On the Iraq war, Edwards stated that "a mandate has been issued by the American people, to force this president to change course in Iraq, hold his feet to the fire." He went on to demand that "Every single funding bill should have a timetable for withdrawl. If he [Bush] vetoes then send him another..."

Edwards talked about his plan to end global warming which includes capping greenhouse gas pollution starting in 2010 with a cap-and-trade system, and reducing it by 15 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.

On Univeral Health Care, Edwards laid out how an Edwards Administration would fund health care for all, explaining that he'd roll back Bush's tax cuts for those who earn over $200,000. A supporter in the crowd shouted, “Power to the People!” as Edwards talked about how we cannot negotiate with the corporate lobbyists, those who are preventing us from having Universal HealthCare stating, “I don’t want to replace corporate Republicans with corporate Democrats.”

Edwards, who currently holds the largest bloc of union members' endorsements of any candidate, stated that we must strengthen the right of unions to organize and referred to the labor movement as the "greatest anti- poverty movement."

Edwards closed his speech with a moving account of how he and Elizabeth came to the decision to commit to what he called, “the cause of our lives” asking the voters in Iowa, “When you make that decision, trust your heart.