Finding Time to "Stand Up" With John Edwards

By Caroline Cooper of "Tigers On The Trail" and in collaboration with HuffPost's OffTheBus. Photos by Ginger Gibson.

"It's time for us to stand up" and that's just what a local Iowan is doing. After hearing Senator Edwards' speech a single mother with no health insurance who was once undecided is now caucusing for Edwards.

The rally started out with Elizabeth Edwards accompanied by Jack and Emma Claire. Elizabeth spoke of the long haul in the near future and joked, "I'm an insomniac which will be helpful on this 36 hour marathon."

Quickly following Elizabeth was Mari Culver, Iowa's first lady. Earlier in the campaign season Culver endorsed Senator Edwards. Culver said Edwards has been battle-tested in his previous run for the presidency and after reading his book, she too "chose to be inspired". With the 200,000 men and women who will sleep under a bridge tonight Culver believes Edwards is the "only candidate with a plan to end poverty in our lifetime".

With the anxious arrival of the senator, the crowd was ecstatic as he entered the room. He was casually dressed wearing jeans, a white button-down and a blazer. He shook hands of supporters and undecided caucus goers. Edwards promptly began speaking of not letting corporate greed eradicate what his parents and grandparents have worked for. He then asked a rhetorical question, "when will it stop?" with an older man in the crowd yelling, "when you're president". Edwards continued with, "we have a responsibility to our children and grandchildren...this is very personal...corporate greed rules with an iron fist and it's not just happening to Independents and Democrats, it's to all of us."

Questions were then taken from the audience, one of them being what is Edwards' stance on immigration. He quickly responded with advice given to him by his wife. "When you walk into Blockbuster a voice says 'Welcome to Blockbuster'. If Blockbuster can figure out when someone comes in, then we should be able to figure out when someone crosses our boarder. And if we can't figure it out then we need to ask Blockbuster."

After answering the question, Edwards was told last question by one of his aids and left the rally goers with some food for thought, "a tide-a-wave of change is sweeping through the country that people can't even imagine and you will be able to say, 'we stood up'."

To read more about Edwards' rally, check out this other "Tigers On The Trail" post.

Comments

[Emmagoldmanbabe]

Again- John and Elizabeth speak truth to power. I am starting to really love the idea of John and Elizabeth Edwards in the White House.

A publicly funded campaign from one of the "Big Three"- wow. Union support all over the place. John Edwards KNOWS working people and our concerns. I'm actually getting excited about voting for him!

If Clinton or Obama are the Dem. candidate in November, I'm voting Green. If Edwards wins the nomination, I may take some time off of work to do some campaigning for him.

[Tellmethetruth]

The fact that the unions support Edwards and he uses public financing rather than corporate financing says alot about how he will represent Americans.

Elizabeth Edwards said it all when she said "It is hard to say no to your banker." Those financed by corporations (Obama and Clinton) are going to have a hard time representing the worker.

It is the children of the worker in America who are fighting the war in Iraq. Let's not forget that.

My respect to Edwards.

[Tellmethetruth]

First choice Biden. Second Choice Edwards or possibly Clinton.

Obama - will probably vote Republican or sit it out. Trust me, I wouldn't be alone on this.

Hope the Democrats can get it together and not act like lemmings headed to the sea.

[LyricalLexicon]

Hopefully the people of Iowa will use their brains and send this man to N.H with a victory