Elizabeth Edwards's First Public Appearance in Iowa since 2004

benny05

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Thu Jul-27-06 09:58 PM
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Elizabeth Edwards's First Public Appearance in Iowa since 2004

Elizabeth Edwards in Des Moines

Today, I was present at an event in Iowa where Elizabeth Edwards was scheduled to speak: Iowa Democratic Women, sponsored by the Polk County Dems.

Elizabeth looked fantastic. Another OAC blogger and I waved to her, and she waved back at us. When it was her time to speak, she told the group that her plane had been late for an hour and had to sit in a plane on a hot tarmack without AC.

But that delay certainly never affected her grace and sense of humor. She was very funny at times, sprinking some great quotes throughout her speech that engaged the audience.

Some comments (paraphrased) that struck me and the audience:

When talking about the tipping point for change, using the 60's as historical time period, she mentioned shopping at Target and people would stop her at the checkout, and ask her if she were Elizabeth Edwards. She would say, "yes" and she said so many apologized for their vote in 2004.

Regarding what makes a great Dem, she did have something to say about Joe Lieberman. She mentioned what had been reported that if he does not win his primary, he will run as an independent.

Her comment: "Let me be clear: we cannot have this."

She went on (paraphrasing): What kind of Democrat is that won't support his own party if he doesn't win his primary. Then she gave the example of the unity event in Iowa of Blouin and Fallon getting giving Chet Culver their support after their primary.

About Iraq: "We need to get out of Iraq."

We need to do it not only for our men and women in uniform want a future for themselves instead of just fighting, but also to teach the Iraqis to fend for themselves and to grow their democracy. She gave a wonderful analogy of teaching one of her daughters how to make a bed, and one of the things a mom does is to show her how to make one, but not (as the mom) make it herself. Takeaway: the current Administration has made the bed many times and has not tried to teach them anything, so they have no incentive to learn. If we said, "we are leaving" and when, they will be motivated. Also, the war is expensive, and going towards a trillion and more in cost. Republicans are borrowing our children's lunch money to pay this awful debt, and is strangling our budget where we cannot spend it on other things we need.

In her view, polls should not drive policy. While she doesn't care much polls, she admitted that she kinda like the results of one that the DMR did in June (it showed John Edwards ahead of all, including HRC).

Telling truths: no one in Washington admits we have a health care crisis. When your child needs to be in the hospital to be treated, and no coverage, that is a crisis for the individual. She said she was tired of watered down words pols in the Beltway had, such as "Access to healthcare." What does that mean, she asked. We've been talking about this issue for a long time. Too many tomorrows have come and gone. We need to stand for Universal Healthcare.

Language used by the Republicans: Murdering the blastocysts (spelling), in the way it was explained in defending Bush's first and only veto. How is that murder by using them for stem cell research? Either we discard, or should they not be used to do something to make life better such as finding cures or more medicines in treating ALS, etc. It's also good for our economy to explore new technologies. Either we can first or allow another country to do so, but we should do it.

Another misnyomer: the use of the word terror. The current administration invoked it in order to justifying spying on protesters outside of Halliburton about their practices (and lack of accountability) when they handed out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to workers when they left their shifts to embark home. Does a P/J sandwich really invoke "terror"?

We can do sacrifices as necessary. We do it all of the time, but our current administration won't ask the wealthy to sacrifice. Instead, they get more tax cuts that won't grow the economy. Economy needs to be grown from the bottom up.

That led to raising the minimum wage and how Wal-Mart is opposed to it. She found an interesting press release by a Wal-Mart spokesperson when the city of Chicago required retailers to offer better wages and benefits. Well, there may not a Sam's in Chicago, but there can be a Costco, a good blue company who offers decent wages and benefits.

I liked it when she spoke about having an authentic voice, and that when you lead with your heart, the voice becomes more authentic, and more people will pay attention to that voice--regarding transparency, and how it is SO important for today's leaders. Obviously, she was not talking about *.

I could go on and on. Yes, she has emerged with grace. She slayed the cancer dragon. And as John Edwards' partner, she laid out a foundation of ideas to solve problems, not just complain. That's our One America.