The Edwards Endorsement According to You

Last week the John Edwards endorsement of Obama, staged in Grand Rapids, Mich., at prime time, drew all the media. There were, of course, a lot of stories tied to that story.

At OffTheBus, the Huffington Post's citizen journalism presidential campaign project, Dawn Teo reported that Joe Trippi foreshadowed the endorsement in a Campaigns And Elections Magazine article. Peter Dreier noted that Edwards had launched a major campaign the day before to "cut the nation's poverty rate in half in the next ten years," a story that only one major daily newspaper covered. Mayhill Fowler, in an essay on Obama's education policy and the working class vote, wrote that Edwards' letter asking for funds to send Greene County high school students to college emailed just minutes before the endorsement was a key to the voting bloc Obama has struggled to win. M.S. Bellows, Jr. weighed the influence John Edwards would have so late in the primary cycle, including the new calculations he introduced on potential Obama running mates. And Michigan native Dan Treul covered the endorsement from the Van Andel arena, noting:

"The beauty (and political genius) of the event lay, appropriately enough, in its sheer audacity. Grand Rapids, but more importantly, West Michigan, is not historically friendly to Democrats. DeVos, Van Andel, and Secchia-- these conservative icons have worked (and spent) tirelessly to earn the region its reputation as a leading GOP and evangelical stronghold in an otherwise consistently bluish-purple state. Monday's announcement, then, that the Obama campaign had rented out "the temple" for the Wednesday evening rally was both audacious and mysterious. How would the young, idealistic Democrat survive in the lions' den? Obama, reinforced by Edwards, delivered his answer to an electric capacity crowd."

Your coverage of the endorsement demonstrates what OffTheBus is capable of doing -- of developing fresh and important angles to the larger story of the campaigns. OffTheBus gives you a voice in its efforts to post stories originating on the ground and beyond the circle of insider campaign coverage. OffTheBus does original research, reporting projects large and small. Join us and become an OffTheBus reporter, researcher, writer, editor.

What would you add to the story of the campaigns today? What questions are being raised in your part of the country and in your corner of the Web? Send your ideas and submissions to OffTheBus at [e-mail].

Comments

[madmaggie57]

Obama gave a recent speech addressing veterans. At the moment, I can't recall where I read the article. But, in any event, Obama addressed the veterans of WWII & the Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. Being the spouse of a VietNam combat-wounded veteran, I asked myself "Why did he not include the Vietnam Vets? Again, just like in the past, the Vietnam vets were excluded. This is a continuing show of disrespect towards so many that fought so bravely for this country. If I took exception to this fact, imagine how the VN vet felt. Is this government ever going to give these guys their fair due? An unpopular war-yes. But this doesn't degrade the service of the men that served. Obama needs to give credit to all that served this country. A potential President must be a bit more careful, so that he doesn't exclude anyone. These men have lived on the edge and have been forgotten for too long.

[62aec]

madmaggie

read the full text of that Obama speech you refer to at

http://www.barackobama.com/2008/05/12/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_56.php.

There you will see that Obama did specifically mention and honor the Vietnam War vets:

"These sons and daughters of America are the best and the bravest among us. They are a part of an unbroken line of heroes who overthrew a King for the sake of an ideal; who freed the slaves and faced down fascism; who fought for freedom in Korea and Vietnam, from Kuwait to the Balkans - who still wake up every day to face down the gravest dangers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and all over the world."

And also:

"many of those who opposed the war in Vietnam chose to blame not only the leaders who ordered the mission, but the young men who simply answered their country's call. Four decades later, the sting of that injustice is a wound that has never fully healed, and one that should never be repeated."

Obama includes and cares about ALL vets and ALL Americans, including but not limited to those who are hard working and White--ALL Americans. Go Obama!

[jvarga]

Why did you exclude Korean war vets from your list of slighted vets?