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Edwards Rising in South Carolina
By Scott Galindez
t r u t h o u t | Report
Saturday 26 January 2008
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Recent polls in South Carolina show that John Edwards has been closing
the gap ahead of todays South Carolina Primary.
(Photo: Scott Galindez / Truthout)
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Columbia, South Carolina - Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have
been stealing the headlines all week with what John Edwards calls petty bickering.
Edwards is opening his stump speeches in South Carolina by claiming that he
represents the "adult wing of the Democratic Party." According to
the latest polls, more and more voters in South Carolina are agreeing with Edwards.
Edwards is lowering expectations, repeatedly saying that he is the underdog
who is being outspent 2-to-1 by his opponents. Obama still has a huge lead in
the state, but Edwards has risen to within four percentage points of Clinton
and has clearly targeted her over the last few days.
Edwards has criticized Clinton for leaving South Carolina after Monday's debate
and for planning to not be in the Palmetto State on the day of the primary.
"If she won't be in South Carolina on the day of the primary, what does
that say for her commitment to the people of this state? I will always stand
up for South Carolina," said Edwards.
Senator Clinton did return to South Carolina on Thursday, and did campaign
in South Carolina as well on Friday.
John Edwards was born in South Carolina; he is the son of a millworker. Edwards
won the state four years ago, but has been polling third this time around. Many
observers believe Edwards won the debate here on Monday - a debate in which
Senators Clinton and Obama traded accusations against each other while Edwards
asked how many people were going to get health care as a result of their bickering.
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Senator Hillary Clinton sits with Congressman Charlie Rangel at a
campaign event in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday January 26th.
(Photo: Scott Galindez / Truthout)
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At the time, Edwards was polling at around 15 percent in the state. He is now
up to as high as 22 percent in some polls, just four points behind Clinton.
He is still 19 points behind Obama, but let's remember that Obama had a double-digit
lead in New Hampshire and lost.
Four years ago, Edwards was polling fourth in Iowa going in and finished second
to the person who was polling third: John Kerry. Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt
were ahead in the polls, but were also engaged in a nasty campaign that destroyed
them both.
One area where Edwards disagrees with his opponents is on the stimulus package
that was agreed upon Thursday in Washington by Congress and the White House.
"This is another example of Washington deserting working people and the
middle class. They gave $70 billion of tax breaks that do nothing for those
who've lost their jobs. It's a complete disconnect between what's happening
in Washington and what I see happening here in South Carolina and across the
country. We desperately need a modernization of the unemployment insurance law
to cover more poor families and those who have lost their jobs. We also need
to build an infrastructure for the clean energy economy that will create jobs
and fight global warming," Edwards declared.
"George Bush will sign whatever economic stimulus package is sent to him
by the Congress. The Congress needs to stand its ground. They need to insist
on unemployment insurance modernization. Because otherwise we're going to have
thousands and thousands of families across this country who don't get the unemployment
help they need, and they lost their jobs through no fault of their own"
said Edwards.
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A fixture at campaign events for all three candidates in South Carolina
has been activists wearing green hard hats to symbolize "green collar jobs."
(Photo: Scott Galindez / Truthout)
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Edwards's stimulus proposal, which he made last month, included investment
in "Green Collar Jobs" and an extension of unemployment benefits.
He argues that these are long-term reforms that will help more people in the
long run.
In his stump speeches, Edwards focuses on the fact that he was the first to
propose a plan for universal health care and the only candidate to propose a
plan for ending poverty. Edwards says that ending poverty is his life's passion.
Among the three Democratic front runners, he is the only candidate to not accept
money from lobbyists and PACS. He is the only one of the three who has vowed
to have all combat troops out of Iraq within a year.
Financially it will be an uphill fight for Edwards to compete after South Carolina,
but he vows that he is in the race to the end.
Another issue that John Edwards was very vocal on Friday was electronic voting.
South Carolina will be the first state that uses electronic voting on the Democratic
side. South Carolina's Republican presidential primary last weekend raised new
concerns. In Horry County, which includes Myrtle Beach, election workers were
unable to get about 80 percent of the touch-screen machines running on time.
Many voters had to use emergency paper ballots. Also, some were told to come
back later when the supply of paper ballots ran out.
Edwards told reporters on Friday that he supports paper ballots as long as
special provisions are made for the handicapped. He said that as long as assistance
is provided to the handicapped, he would support using paper ballots everywhere
and end the move towards electronic voting.
To view the voting machines being used in South Carolina, go to: http://www.scvotes.org/2008/01/01/how_to_vote.
Edwards's apparent surge may be coming too late, but we have seen crazier things
happen this primary season. The polls close at 7 p.m. today and Truthout will
have live results on our election page: http://www.truthout.org/Election2008.shtml.
Scott Galindez is Truthout's Washington, DC Bureau Chief.
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