Reply #42: Back in N.H., Edwards Is Mum on 2008 Run

[MelissaB]

Back in N.H., Edwards Is Mum on 2008 Run

Former Vice Presidential Candidate Says He Is Focusing on His Wife's Health

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer


>>>snip

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."

That theme dominated his speech Saturday evening. "You know all these political experts out there question what you and I and the Democratic Party believe in," he said, according to his prepared text. "They say that we don't believe in anything. . . . We believe in hope over despair, possibilities over problems, optimism over cynicism. We believe in doing what is right, even when others say it can't be done. And we believe in fighting desperately for people who don't have a voice."

Edwards's speech echoed the themes of optimism and populism that fueled his rise in the Democratic primaries a year ago, and the enthusiastic reception he received was a reminder of why many Democrats see him as an attractive potential candidate in 2008. But when asked about another possible run for the White House, Edwards demurred.

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1494-2005Feb5.html

edited to add link