Maybe not: Edwards, Clinton will be formidable
Maybe not: Edwards, Clinton will be formidable
By Beth Fouhy , Associated PressEagle-Tribune
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NEW YORK (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama's entry into the presidential race vaults him into the Democratic top tier, heady company that invites comparisons to two battle-tested veterans - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards.
Clinton remains the prohibitive front-runner, with more than $14 million in the bank, a huge database of supporters and an experienced team of advisers. Among them is her husband, Bill, the former two-term president.
Edwards is the 2004 vice presidential nominee and former North Carolina senator who has polled well in the early voting state of Iowa. A supporter of the 2002 resolution authorizing force in Iraq, he has recanted his vote and recently demanded that his Senate rivals such as Obama and Clinton block funds for President Bush's troop increase.
Unencumbered by the Senate and its votes, Edwards has the time to campaign and the inclination to challenge his Democratic opponents.
"Barack is in a unique category - he's young, fresh, exciting and has the ability to energize the party," said Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic activist who ran Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000. However, she noted, "People admire Edwards for talking about poverty, something that needs to be on the national agenda. And Hillary Clinton is on a first-name basis with everyone in America, and consistently ranks as one of the most admired women in the country."
The former first lady and New York senator also has weathered years of personal scrutiny that Obama has not begun to face.
The war remains the issue in which Edwards has sought to create distance between himself and his rivals while appealing to the Democratic base.
"If you're in Congress, and you know this war is going in the wrong direction, it is no longer enough to study your options and keep your own counsel," Edwards said in a speech last Sunday. "Silence is betrayal ... you have the power to prohibit the president from spending any money to escalate this war. Use it."
The speech effectively targeted both Clinton and Obama, since neither has indicated support for a proposal by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy to withhold funds for the troop buildup.
Even as a leading black presidential candidate, Obama faces competition for black voters. Both Clintons have long enjoyed significant black support, and Edwards has won broad praise for his focus on poverty. He launched his campaign in a New Orleans neighborhood still ravaged by Hurricane Katrina to draw attention to the persistent divide between rich and poor.
At a civil rights conference in New York last week, the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton broadly praised Edwards while offering only measured praise for Obama's likely candidacy.
"All of the beauty contest formations are trivial compared to people who need jobs, job training, drug rehab, and affordable housing," Jackson said. "Whoever has the best plan, will take the most risk and the most sacrifice deserves our support."
http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_021094532?keyword=secondarystory+page=1
By Beth Fouhy , Associated PressEagle-Tribune
(page 1 of 2)View as a single page
NEW YORK (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama's entry into the presidential race vaults him into the Democratic top tier, heady company that invites comparisons to two battle-tested veterans - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards.
Clinton remains the prohibitive front-runner, with more than $14 million in the bank, a huge database of supporters and an experienced team of advisers. Among them is her husband, Bill, the former two-term president.
Edwards is the 2004 vice presidential nominee and former North Carolina senator who has polled well in the early voting state of Iowa. A supporter of the 2002 resolution authorizing force in Iraq, he has recanted his vote and recently demanded that his Senate rivals such as Obama and Clinton block funds for President Bush's troop increase.
Unencumbered by the Senate and its votes, Edwards has the time to campaign and the inclination to challenge his Democratic opponents.
"Barack is in a unique category - he's young, fresh, exciting and has the ability to energize the party," said Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic activist who ran Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000. However, she noted, "People admire Edwards for talking about poverty, something that needs to be on the national agenda. And Hillary Clinton is on a first-name basis with everyone in America, and consistently ranks as one of the most admired women in the country."
The former first lady and New York senator also has weathered years of personal scrutiny that Obama has not begun to face.
The war remains the issue in which Edwards has sought to create distance between himself and his rivals while appealing to the Democratic base.
"If you're in Congress, and you know this war is going in the wrong direction, it is no longer enough to study your options and keep your own counsel," Edwards said in a speech last Sunday. "Silence is betrayal ... you have the power to prohibit the president from spending any money to escalate this war. Use it."
The speech effectively targeted both Clinton and Obama, since neither has indicated support for a proposal by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy to withhold funds for the troop buildup.
Even as a leading black presidential candidate, Obama faces competition for black voters. Both Clintons have long enjoyed significant black support, and Edwards has won broad praise for his focus on poverty. He launched his campaign in a New Orleans neighborhood still ravaged by Hurricane Katrina to draw attention to the persistent divide between rich and poor.
At a civil rights conference in New York last week, the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton broadly praised Edwards while offering only measured praise for Obama's likely candidacy.
"All of the beauty contest formations are trivial compared to people who need jobs, job training, drug rehab, and affordable housing," Jackson said. "Whoever has the best plan, will take the most risk and the most sacrifice deserves our support."
http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_021094532?keyword=secondarystory+page=1
posted by presgore19 at 7:52 AM
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