Although we missed our goal, our campaign to create one America is recieving the funding it needs. This today from the Edwards campaign:
As a sign of John Edwards' growing grassroots support across the country, today the Edwards campaign announced that it has raised more than $3 million online during the first 25 days of the quarter - more than it raised during the whole 4th quarter of last year. Just yesterday, the campaign had one of its best fundraising days, taking in more than $230,000 in contributions. The vast majority of online contributions will be doubled by federal matching funds.
"First, we want to thank everyone who has contributed," said senior advisor Joe Trippi. "More and more Americans want to get involved in our campaign because they recognize that John Edwards is the only candidate in this race with the backbone to say we are in a fight for the middle class and we can't negotiate or take money from powerful entrenched interests if we are going to have change - we have to take them on. Our campaign relies on the support of regular Americans, and with their support we can bring real change to America."
http://www.johnedwards.com/...
So, Edwards supporters have nothing to be ashamed of. Our campaign was a smashing success and will help give Edwards the resources to fight on to the convention. I suggest that we need to organize another day next week to all contribute again, and this time set our goal at $750,000. Anyone else game?
This was not the only good news from today. Union membership was up in 2007, and Edwards commented on this promising development:
"I salute the courage, tenacity, and success of the men and women who have joined the labor movement in historic numbers over the past year, and in doing so, have helped strengthen the middle class in America. I have stood on countless picket lines and in the trenches of organizing campaigns across this country with strong men and women who simply seek fair pay, decent benefits, and a voice on their jobs. But I know too well the ongoing harassment that these Americans face for seeking unionization, and as we struggle with difficult economic times, I will fight even harder to make it easier for more workers to join unions through passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, by calling on employers to be responsible and law abiding, and by continuing to stand with workers in their campaigns."
http://www.johnedwards.com/...
Tomorrow is the SC primary!! Polls are showing an Edwards surge, and we are hoping for a huge upset. I know most of the African-American vote is projected to go to Hillary or Obama, but I hope my fellow Democrats in South Carolina who are African-American will consider Edwards record on fighting poverty and for equality for all Americans:
I have had such incredible opportunities in my life. I was blessed to be the first person in my family to go to college. I worked my way through, and I had opportunities beyond my wildest dreams. And the heart of this campaign - your campaign, our campaign - is to make sure all Americans have exactly the same kind opportunities that I had no matter where you live, no matter who your family is, no matter what the color of your skin is. This is the America we believe in.
Source: Acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention Jul 28, 2004
I saw the ugly face of segregation and discrimination. I saw young, African-American kids being sent upstairs in movie theaters. I saw "white only" signs on restaurant doors and luncheon counters. I've heard discussions about where and in front of who we ought to talk about race and equality and civil rights. I have an answer to those questions: Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. This is not an African-American issue, not a Latino issue, not an Asian-American issue. This is an American issue.
Source: Acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention Jul 28, 2004
I support affirmative action.
Source: 2004 Presidential National Political Awareness Test Mar 3, 2004
The things I have seen growing up -- segregation, discrimination -- are a part of everything I am today. We still live in two Americas, and we should be willing to tell the American people that. We have two economies. We have two tax systems. Until we have economic and educational equality in America, we're never going to be able to do things we need to do for African-Americans.
Source: Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum Jan 11, 2004
Q: What will you do to assure elections officials that the federal government is committed to making the Help America Vote Act work as Congress intended?
A: What I'll do as president is, first of all, fund the legislation, and second, make sure that every single person in America gets a chance to be on a voter registration roll and that they get a chance to vote no matter what the level of the community that they live in. We need to make sure everybody gets an opportunity to both register and vote.
Source: Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum Jan 11, 2004
Q: Do you believe the Confederate flag should be displayed at state government buildings?
A: South Carolina, as a matter of compromise, displays the Confederate flag on a flagpole in front of the state capitol. Because I grew up in the South and believe that the Confederate flag is a very divisive symbol I have stated publicly a number of times that I believe that South Carolina should remove the flag from the state capital grounds.
Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A Nov 7, 2003
EDWARDS [to Graham]: You and I are both from the South. I believe it's really important for people from the South to lead, not follow, on Civil Rights, that I think it's important for us to have judges that we know will enforce our civil rights laws. I believe the president is wrong about [opposing] the Affirmative Action program at the University of Michigan. What do you believe we as Southerners can do to lift up and embrace people who today, not 40 years ago, today, still suffer the effects of discrimination every minute of their lives?
GRAHAM: One of the things that I would do, is to see that we put the Civil War behind us. Frankly, we Southerners have allowed the most extreme groups within our society to steal the images of the Confederacy and then use them as sources of division and hatred within our population.
Source: [X-ref to Graham] Democratic Debate in Columbia SC May 3, 2003
http://www.issues2000.org/...
And lets not forget what Martin Luther King III said in a letter to Edwards:
January 20, 2008
Martin Luther King, III
President and CEO
The Honorable John E. Edwards
410 Market Street
Suite 400
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Dear Senator Edwards:
It was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father's legacy.
On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up with a personal note.
There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father's legacy. It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.
I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.
You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system. They don't have lobbyists in Washington and they don't get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing to do.
I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic justice has received during this campaign. I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America.
From our conversation yesterday, I know this is personal for you. I know you know what it means to come from nothing. I know you know what it means to get the opportunities you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the same opportunities you had.
I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes. My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society. He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives.
So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father's words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.
Sincerely,
Martin L. King, III
http://blog.johnedwards.com/...
John Edwards is determined to bring racial justice and equality to our country and will never stop fighting until it is done. As any Edwards supporter can tell you it is the CENTRAL THEME to building One America for us all. Please consider the work Edwards has done all his life in insuring that African-Americans recieve fair treatment. From New Orleans, to Jena, Louisiana, to Washington, he will never leave you behind.
Besides, he is the grown up candidate in this race!!:
Please remember that this is not about us personally, it is about what we are trying to do for this country!! Please join us in this fight that even his own son says would make MLK proud!!
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