Edwards Radicalizes Anti-Corporate Pitch

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.

Check out the rest of HuffPost's Iowa coverage.

Comments

[tjmax116]

Let us not forget,the Clintons gave us NAFTA. At least John Edwards made his money defending the little guy against the corporation.

[degjack]

Edwards is THE ONE!

Hair or no, lawyer or not...

This man is THE ONE!!!

[andyboy]

I give a resounding yes to Alex P. Keaton.

There is a reason they had Michael J. Fox play Alex P. Keaton.

The sad thing about Alex P. Keaton er John Edwards is his message doesn't resonate. Money is God in America. To pretend otherwise is to expose oneself as an idealistic mope.

This is what causes Edwards to be perceived as John Kennedy without the intelligence, breeding or charisma. You never heard Kennedy pooh-poohing money. It's unAmerican.

[williamg]

Let me get this straight, he was a trial lawyer taking his 35 percent off the top. During his one term in the Senate he was voting for China trade, Iraq war and bankruptcy reform bill. Just 3 years ago he said America can't afford universal healthcare. He worked for a hedge fund the fucked over poor people in New Orleans. He charges $55,000 to give a speech about poverty? Are you friggin kidding me? He lives in a 28,000 square ft house complete with 2 stages and a squash court. He preaches that the rich have too much and the poor have too little; who NEEDS a 28,000 sq. ft. house?

[hannabanana]

Marc, get a dictionary. You obviously don't know what "radicalize" means. Such is the sorry state of journalism today when a hard hitting but middle of the road speech against corporate profiteering is labeled "radical". I can just imagine the way Teddy Roosevelt would be described were he around today.

Sheesh!

[Ginzaman]

It's interesting that telling the truth is "radicalizing". The how would you explain the MSM censoring Kucinich who's been telling the truth (radicalizing) for a long time as well? Oh I forgot. He's a short dorky looking-dude. And that's not allowed in the White House.

[dax49]

three cheers for john edwards

[GoLeftGoDeep]

corporations need to have their "natural persons" status removed ... the framers never intended corporations to be "natural persons"

[2Truthy]

Whose middle class are you talking about here? I would say this is encouraging but has Edwards ever NAMED exactly who these "small group of profiteers" dominating American life are? This article mentions lost manufacturing jobs but what about millions of white collar jobs? ALL the candidates are oddly silent on companies throwing white collar jobs to cheap labor at the expense of our own citizens.

Any candidate (Edwards included, Kucinich not) who visited Google headquarters (Gore on board of advisors and also on board of a green $$$ vc firm) and took the "Google" pledge to raise and eliminate the H-1b cap to import more cheap workers to replace upper middle class jobs here (when there is already a shortage of well paid tech and financial sector jobs here) will not bit the hand that feeds them.

Until journalists and candidates name these corporate greedsters and commit to tax and hiring reform legislation, little will be done to stop them from eradicating our country's educated middle class as part of their plan to appease the tech Indian lobby (Hillary is THE biggest go-to): they take our jobs and drive down wages here while over 50 million plus middle class Americans go broke with their newly graduated kids pitching pup tents with them in places like East L.A. But of the Dem fronturnners, Edwards is clearly laying out the message.

[nagamaki]

Question: name the last time a President won the US election going against the candidate backed by corporate America - aka big energy, banks, Wall St, Military Complex?

If you answered JFK you would be right, and look what happened to JFK. The conservative corporate fascists play for keeps. Election 2000 stolen! Election 2004 stolen!

Edwards is absolutely right, it's the lobbyists stupid! The conservative right has no ideas other than greed, that's why they fear monger, tax monger, and every time they take office they fuck up the entire country and world with their imperialist crusading wars. It's outrageous that a small minority of neocons are allowed to run the country. Wake the fuck up America! The dollar wnet down 25% in value under King Ronny and another 25% under King Bush II, and the deficit sky rocketed, ohhhhhh, but the important thing is the wealth became more and more concentrated in the hands of the few.

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.­"
Unknown, Often attributed to Abraham Lincoln

[rh654]

I like Edwards for the most part.

Part - I really do laugh when I see him talking about the "greed" of others - when the man goes home a $6 MILLION, 28,000 (let me repeat that) a 28,000 square foot home.

And he spends hundreds of dollars to get his haircut.

Now don't get me wrong - I love making money, and want to one day be just as rich as Edwards - but please don't slam others about money when you live in a house that is large enough for a heaven only knows how many middle class families - let alone poor families.

It just doesn't add up - which is one of the reasons why Edwards just won't win.

[DatelessNerd]

Without a doubt, Edwards was the better half of the 2004 Democratic ticket.

Many of America's problems are rooted in our ridiculously-skewed distribution of wealth, and the unchecked power we give to corporations. Of the top three Democratic candidates, only Edwards has consistently raised these issues.

An Edwards win in Iowa would be the best thing that could happen to this country, because at a minimum, it would force other candidates to begin addressing our nation's core problems.

[outnow]

There are several themes that emerge from some of the comments on this post.

A corporation is a business organization. Corporate greed is some thing else which evolves from the Supreme Court decision granting the right to corporations to participate in the political process. Corporate America is organized capital. It is not always a force for good.

Again and again, Corporate America has corruptly marketed harmful products and corruptly promoted politicians who would pass legislation or take executive action for the special interest.

Money is not bad. In fact, I have some in my wallet right now. Corporations are not bad, in fact I am incorporating my business. But the business community has abused the corporate rights and privileges to evade responsibility while escaping liability and responsibility.

Corporations cannot vote in elections but they have bought ever one they can. John Edwards realizes this fact. You will recognize evil by its results. We are seeing the evils of outsourcing jobs to sweatshops in foreign countries, the pollution generated by greedy corporations trying to squeeze every nickel of profit for themselves.

There are getting to be two classes of people One is very small. It includes the very richest. The other is everyone else. These are the two Americas. It is class warfare being conducted against the poor and the middle class by the wealthy elites. Edwards knows this. Obama doesn't care because he's bought and sold by the same interests. Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton passed NAFTA and nothing has changed for them and their rich investment banker and Wall Street supporters.

I urge all of you to recognize that we have this chance to make changes in the tax codes and turn back the ill effects of so-called free trade. This is the method used by the very wealthy to transfer wealth upwards. That and expanding defense spending at the expense of social services and infrastructure development.

What have you benefited from the war in Iraq compared to Halliburton?

[Vexed]

Radicalizes?!? It appears Huffpro has a candidate in mind for the Presidency and it ain't Edwards... What with the "radicaliz­ing"... I believe Edwards is absolutely right-on regarding the power that money america exerts on politician­s... So what is radical about that? It's only radical when you are either a fat-cat who successfully exerts the pressure to get what you want or a liberal website that wants someone other than Edwards to be President.­..

[DMSmith]

Until we get corporate money out of politics and limit corporate lobbying, we'll get what we deserve.

Edwards, if he is not President needs to be Attorney General!! I'd love to see that.