John Edwards made the kind of speech in Missoula, Montana on Tuesday that can put Montana back on the list of possible Democratic pick-ups for the 2008 US Presidential Race.
As a native born Montanan who worked extensively on Jon Tester's successful US Senate campaign last year, I believe that Edwards brings just the right balance of down home, straight-shooting talk with the (in our case Prairie and Rocky Mountain Populism) that even conservative Montanans respect and respond to. Edwards offers the same brand of Democratic/Farm/Labor politics that made the Midwest and the Rockies a strong area for Democrats until twenty-five years ago. That’s about the time that the Democratic Party abandoned the West's agricultural workers--farmers, woods workers, tourist packers and fishing guides--in favor of East- and West- Coast environmental elites who somehow don't believe that farm and wood products need to be produced--or that forests and farmlands can regrow and continue to sustain new life and new carbon sequestration for millennia to come.
More on this later, but first the report from Edwards's stunningly successful Missoula visit.
I was at John's rally in Missoula on Tuesday and he was passionate, articulate, pulled no punches (I particularly liked the line, "I listen to George Bush as little as possible...), and brought tears to my eyes and many others with his call to be patriotic about the good America can do and not just about war.
Here's my summary I sent out yesterday to other Montanans who couldn't get to the rally:
John Edwards came to Missoula, Montana yesterday, in one of the first stops on his efforts to bring the US Presidential campaign to rural America, and he was smashing! He called for 80% CO2 cuts by 2050, for work/study college grants for all willing American students and for guaranteed health care for all Americans. Edwards said that lobbyists are keeping America from being the moral force in the world that it needs to be and have kept us from both universal health care and from a strong approach to global warming. He said his first act as president would be to shut down Guantanmo Bay and that the US must never engage in torture or the use of secret prisons again and said it was amazing and a sign of how far we have fallen that a US presidential candidate should have to call for such cessations. He has not and will not take donations from lobbyists and is running a rural America campaign that will take him to many of the smaller parts of America. The Missoulian article and article from New West.com as well as media and video links are below. The Missoulian article is a particularly good summary of the event. See below:
Here are some links:
Video of Entire Speech:
http://www.missoulian.com/...
http://leftinthewest.com/...
http://www.newwest.net/...
http://www.blueridgenow.com/...
Top Story
Hitting the trail / John Edwards brings his presidential campaign to Missoula
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian
"Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards made a stop at the University of Montana on Tuesday afternoon, telling a packed house at the UC Ballroom: "Your voice needs to be heard."
"A forceful John Edwards wowed Democrats in Missoula on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war in Iraq, the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay and free college for students who want to go and are willing to work. MORE below.
http://missoulian.com/...
Video of entire speech: http://www.missoulian.com/...
"Edwards, the former North Carolina senator whom Sen. John Kerry chose as his running mate for his unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2004, also urged Missoulians to take back their government from the powerful Washington lobbyists who represent insurance and drug companies and the oil and gas industry.
"Those people, Edwards said, are in part responsible for our "dysfunctional" health care system and the looming disaster that is global warming...."
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John Edwards Sweeps Into Missoula
By Greg Lemon, 9-04-07
http://www.newwest.net/...
"John Edwards came to Missoula with a message:
"I think the system in Washington is rigged," he told a packed, cheering room of supporters in the University Ballroom at the University of Montana Tuesday evening.
America doesn’t have universal health care, Edwards said, because lobbyists for the drug and insurance companies are convincing lawmakers it’s not any good.
"Health care in America should not be a privilege for the privileged," he said to a near constant refrain of cheers. "We have a dysfunctional health care system in America. It does not work."
America hasn’t made any significant change in addressing environmental concerns because lobbyists for the oil and gas companies are telling Congress global warming is a myth.
As president, Edwards said he would ask Americans to conserve in their homes, offices and cars. For other countries in the world, like China and India, to commit to real environmental change, America must set the example, he said. The crowded cheered again. During the entire speech Edwards’ words and ideas were drowned by applause."
" Edwards has pledged not to take any PAC money during his campaign and pledge that pleased (Montana Governor Brian) Schweitzer, who is well know for his disdain of lobbyists.
"John Edwards is a guy who told the K Street lobbyists they can keep their money," Schweitzer said. "He understands the Constitution and he knows there’s no fourth branch of government."
Edwards’ appearance was brief, but pointed. He criticized President Bush for wrecking America’s international image.
"George Bush hasn’t damaged America’s leadership in the world, he’s destroyed it," he said.
John Edwards stops in Montana, touts rural America background
By SUSAN GALLAGHER
Associated Press Writer
http://www.blueridgenow.com/...
"Presidential hopeful John Edwards said Democrats need someone like him, "somebody who grew up in rural America and has a strong connection with states like" Montana, to carry the traditionally conservative Rocky Mountain West in next year's election."
And the numbers support it. Although they are now dated, Survey USA polls from June of 2006 show Edwards with a far better chance against a number of potential Republican opponents.
Also, Survey USA's numbers from June 2006 show Edwards as by far the strongest Democrat in Montana, with him leading Huckabee and Romney, trailing Giuliani by 8, and (this was before the McCain implosion) trailing McCain by 17.
Here are those numbers:
Dem Romney Difference
John Edwards 49% 32% +17%
Hillary Clinton 40% 50% -10%
Barack Obama NA NA NA
Dem Giuliani Diff
John Edwards 41% 49% -8%
Hillary Clinton 35% 56% -21%
Barack Obama 31% 56% -25%
Dem McCain Diff
John Edwards 34% 51% -17%
Hillary Clinton 30% 57% -27%
Barack Obama 29% 59% -30%
Dem Huckabee Diff
John Edwards 46% 31% 15%
Hillary Clinton 41% 43% -3%
Barack Obama NA NA NA
Dem Rice Diff
John Edwards 47% 44% +3%
Hillary Clinton 44% 50% -6%
Barack Obama 33% 50% -17%
As a native born Montana who worked extensively on Jon Tester's successful US Senate campaign last year, I believe that Edwards brings just the right balance of down home, straight-shooting talk with the (in our case Prairie and Rocky Mountain Populism) that even conservative Montanans respect and respond to. Edwards's is the same brand of Democratic/Farm/Labor politics that made the Midwest and the Rockies such a strong area for Democratic support until twenty-five years ago. That’s about the time that the Democratic Party abandoned farmers, woods workers, hunters and fishermen in favor of East- and West- Coast environmental elites who somehow don't believe that farm and wood products need to be produced--or that forests and farmlands can regrow and continue to sustain new life and new carbon sequestration for millennia to come.
(Note to Chris Dodd supporters: If you want Democrats to lose every Western state, just follow Dodd's US House proposal to put every roadless area in Montana, Idaho Washington and Oregon in wilderness areas. It’s the old Clinton/Gore "we know what’s best for the West" and its inherent arrogance is met with anger and derision by the large majority of the population out here.) And, oh by the way, if you want to make sure that almost ALL of the old growth timber is gone within twenty or thirty years, make sure you put it all in wilderness areas, since the US Forest Service no longer fights fires in wilderness areas. The huge difference is that the average major fire in the West now lasts for 37 days instead of the seven days it lasted for thirty years ago.
http://www.livingstonweekly.com/...
So, without a very active stewardship that preserves national park like areas of open old-growth trees, with the younger competing trees and understory removed to prevent fires, most of our old growth is going to be burned into atmospheric carbon dioxide and just add to the reinforcing cycle of global warming. For the roadless advocates, they might be heartened to know that the younger growth and understory can now be removed by rubber tired skidders and rubber tired log trucks that don’t require the massive building of new roads.
Also, in the Montana, where we try to get along with out neighbors, rather than vilify them, several wonderful coalitions of wilderness advocates, conservationists, hunters, fisherpeople, grazing advocates and forestry industry members have come together to find mutual solutions to how we can use and preserve our national forests. Their conclusions almost always favor a balanced mixture of new wilderness areas, national parks, multi-use areas for the public and a percentage of national lands to be used for logging and reforestation.
http://blackfootclearwater.org/...
http://www.redlodgeclearinghouse.org...
http://www.redlodgeclearinghouse.org...
http://www.redlodgeclearinghouse.org...
http://www.montanaforum.com/...
So, the combination of populism, straight talk, fiery rhetoric and a call for a return to morality worked its wonders on the Montana crowd. Combined that passion for people with a better understanding of how people live on the land and preserve it from generation to generation while still making a living from it should bring the Rockies strongly back into play for John Edwards and for the new Democratic/Farm/Labor Alliance.