Knight Ridder :
Bill Clinton's "triangulation" or "third way" between liberals and conservatives dominated the Democratic Party for the past decade. Edwards, however, wants to steer Democrats away from policy nuances and targeting segments of the public - advocating
core beliefs instead of chasing NASCAR dads.
"It's in contrast with people who believe the way the Democratic Party should go in the future is engage in some kind of strategic maneuvering," he said. "I just think that's dead wrong."
C-SPAN carried Edwards speech in New Hampshire this evening live at 8:00 pm EST. It will be rebroadcast later this evening at 11:15 pm EST (C-SPAN schedule is subject to change).
Charlotte Observer :
... Edwards' instincts tell him that tepid politics are exactly what the Democrats' don't need now. "I don't think this is about moderate, conservative, liberal," he says. "Americans are looking for strength, an
idealistic strength. They want to know what we'd do on Day One if we ran the country."
Moral issues matter, Edwards says, but Democrats won't look moral by getting into a bidding war over how often they can invoke the name of God. Instead, Democrats should speak with conviction about an issue that has always animated them: the alleviation of poverty. "I think it is a moral issue, it's something we should be willing to fight about and stand up for," he says.
... OK, OK, it's bound to be said that Edwards is making a shrewd political wager that Democrats have tired of capitulation. The test will be whether he sticks with it. It's a fair bet that someone who talks about a real moral issue for the next four years will at least be easier to listen to than politicians who place all their money on yesterday's focus groups.
Washington Post :
He resisted looking back at the reasons he and Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) lost the election but quibbled with those who have said the Democrats face a values deficit or that Democrats cannot compete in the South and in rural areas. "We
didn't run a campaign in the South," he said. "In the future, it's important for us to compete everywhere in the country."
Democrats, he said, do not need to change their positions to become competitive again. "I just think that trying to figure out how to change our position a little bit on this and a little bit on that is dead wrong," he said. "We ought to stand up for what we believe in, we ought to make clear the country knows what we believe in and what it is we want to do, from Day One."
... On Friday, officials at the University of North Carolina announced that Edwards will head a new Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, a nonpartisan entity that will let him explore the divisions between the nation's rich and poor, a subject that animated his presidential campaign.
Edwards expects to be involved in several foreign policy ventures that will allow him to travel abroad and strengthen his national security credentials. He also has signed on with the Harry Walker Agency for what he said will be paid and unpaid speeches in the United States and abroad. He retains his One America political action committee and is fielding a series of speaking invitations from state Democratic parties.
2/4: Chapel Hill, NC
2/5: Manchester, NH