Edwards tries to gain traction in Tennessee

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080129/NEWS0206/801290378/1022/NEWS05

By COLBY SLEDGE • Staff Writer • January 29, 2008

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards took the stage at the United Steelworkers office in Nashville on Monday afternoon, bringing his populist message to a mixed crowd of about 500 union workers and first-time voters.

Edwards' stop here was part of a barnstorming tour through Tennessee as he tries to shore up his campaign after finishing third in his home state of South Carolina over the weekend. He visited Chattanooga earlier in the day, and a campaign spokeswoman said he would be back in the state before the Feb. 5 primary.

In Nashville, he delivered a 20-minute speech touching on union-friendly issues such as limiting worker outsourcing and universal health care.

"You ought to be able to take your health care from job to job," Edwards said, ticking off a list of projections that say the U.S. could lose up to 30 million jobs in the coming years.

His biggest applause, however, came when he addressed the Iraq war in a thinly disguised reference to President Bush.

"I want to be the president that asks Americans to be patriotic about something other than war," Edwards said.

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