John Edwards on Principles & Values Democratic Nominee for Vice President; NC Jr Senator

We shouldn't use the Constitution to divide the country

Halliburton paid millions in fines for false financial data

The Bush administration has flip-flopped on many issues

Halliburton got a $7.5 billion no-bid contract in Iraq

CHENEY: The reason they keep mentioning Halliburton is because they're trying to throw up a smokescreen. They know the charges are false. If you go to factcheck.com, you can get the specific details with respect to Halliburton.

Judge values based upon deeds, not words

Ensure tomorrow will always be better in our one America

Would consider an Edwards-Kerry ticket

EDWARDS: I think an Edwards-Kerry ticket would be powerful.

Q: Are you saying that if you get this nomination, you will ask him to join you?

EDWARDS: He certainly should be considered. He's a very, very good friend.

Q: And where does Edwards stand in your thinking?

KERRY: I want to thank him for the consideration. I appreciate it.

Q: Is he on your list?

KERRY: I don't have a list. I'm running for the nomination.

Q: But do you see any view that would make it impossible?

KERRY: I take nothing for granted in this effort. And if I win the nomination, then I'll sit down and think about who I ought to run with.

Q: What quality-and his hair and smile don't count-does Edwards possess that you wish you had?

KERRY: I think he's a great communicator. He's a charming guy. He's a good friend of mine.

Two Americas: one does the work, the other reaps the reward

2004 is a make-or-break election because we need to create one America again. And that is the one thing George Bush will never do. Dividing us into two Americas - one privileged, the other burdened - has been his agenda all along.

Make America an ownership society

Under my plan, every American will have the chance to be an owner - to buy a home, save for college, or put money aside for a secure retirement. The ownership society should look like American society, not George Bush's secret society.
1. We'll give struggling families a chance to realize the American dream, with a $5,000 tax credit toward the down payment on their first home. There is no better way to build a strong, secure nest egg, and get ahead for the long haul than owning a home.
2. I want to make college affordable with my College for Everyone plan. For those young people who are willing to work 10 hours a week and can get into a university-you'll go tuition free for the first year.
3. We need to reward family. We can start by offering a family leave newborn child tax credit of up to $2,500.
4. When the time comes for Americans to retire, I want to help families who can't afford to put money away now by giving them a helping hand, a match of up to $1 for every $1 they save.

Democrats should address values of `guns, God, and gays'

Although Edwards has expressed strong support for gay civil rights issues, his latest comments could be seen as a coded message, distancing himself from gay rights as the campaign approaches the Southern primaries.

Mill-town job persuaded him to get college education

The weaving room was massive, with great throbbing looms and a big system of ducts that pulled as much dust as possible out of the generally foul air. The noise was deafening, the ducts poorly lit, and the lint that stuck to them was black and wet. I was sixteen, and my job was to clean those ducts. At night I would come home caked with sweat and covered with some obscure residue, and my mother's face would always grow tense as she opened the door and I walked into her clean house. "Now you see," my dad would say, "why you need to go to college."

On birth of 1st son, thanked wife for what he always wanted

While the anesthesiologist hovered over Elizabeth, she strained to listen to her obstetrician and heard him say, "It's dead." The stillborn baby [from a previous pregnancy] fresh on her mind, she was frantic. Elizabeth did not know that they were talking about the cauterizing machine, which had lost power. It was nearly midnight on July 18 before she was finally relieved by the sight of our son, alive, healthy, and loud.

When they brought him to me, fresh from delivery, he was discolored and bruised. He was also the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. All I could say to Elizabeth was "Thank you for giving me what I always wanted."

Makes most speeches from notes, not a prepared text

Lawyers help people, lawmakers help many people

Unfortunately, the insurance company also did what many powerful businesses do, lobbied the state legislature. Soon a bill was passed disallowing punitive damage awards against a company as a result of an employee's actions, unless that particular action was specifically ratified by corporate officers.

Yes, our lawsuit had sent a message, and that message ultimately was: if you don't like the law, change it. The message to me was: If you can't help enough people being a lawyer, consider being a lawmaker.

Climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with his teenage son

By the fifth night, before the six-hour push to reach the summit by dawn, I was feeling as helpless as a child. When a harsh chill set in around midnight, I simply couldn't go on. [My climbing partner] asked, "What do you want out of this trip?" I said weakly, "for Wade to make it to the top." And so we agreed: the other three would go on, while I would stay behind with one of the porters.

They made the summit just after dawn. My son said, "I never would have thought I would have been able to do something so hard." The three began the 14-hour journey downhill. Just then, a battered sight came into view. It was me--numb toes, pounding headache, and all. They joined me for the short ascent to the summit.

It took months for two of my toes to regain their feeling. But that wasn't what mattered. That trip to Africa with my son is worth a book in itself. It was worth everything.

Lost teenage son in a traffic accident

I cannot tell you why such care was not enough that afternoon. I can only say that there are crosswinds on certain stretches of that interstate, and one of them swept my boy off the road. Tyler walked away. Wade was dead.

My son Wade remains as alive in my heart today as he was alive in my heart then. Nothing in my life ever hit me and stripped everything away like my son's death.

At the funeral service, our house was filled with friends and family. Then it was not. For many weeks, we felt nothing in that house but Wade's absence.

But we were not about to let go of our son, and it was that determination that brought us out from the paralysis of grief. Elizabeth and I formed the nonprofit Wade Edwards Foundation.

Every person should get opportunity they're entitled to

Favorite song: John Cougar Mellencamp, "Small Town"

This is for the Gen X crowd, and it's very personal. What's your favorite song?
• MOSELEY BRAUN: What's my favorite song? "You Gotta Be."
• SHARPTON: My favorite song is James Brown's song on the Republican Party, "Talking Loud, Saying Nothing."
• KERRY: Bruce Springsteen, "No Surrender."
• DEAN: One you've never heard of, Wycliffe Jean, "Jaspora" [Creole for "Diaspora"]
• LIEBERMAN: Well, you know, like a good politician, I'm going to take two. Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, remember that one? And the classic Frank Sinatra, "My Way." We're going to do it our way in 2004.
• KUCINICH: John Lennon, "Imagine," as in imagine a new America.
• GEPHARDT: Bruce Springsteen, "Born In The USA."
• GRAHAM: Jimmy Buffet, "Changes In Attitude, Changes In Latitudes." We're going to change some attitudes and latitudes.

Son of a mill worker can beat son of a president

Will not seek Senate re-election, to focus on presidency

The decision appears to end an issue that had become an albatross on Edwards's presidential bid at a time when his campaign is looking to break away from the middle of the pack of nine candidates. Edwards's refusal to state his plans for the seat had fed an impression among some party leaders and voters that he was not in the race for the long haul. Some national Democratic leaders have said they believe that Edwards, 50, a political novice who was elected in 1998, should sit out this presidential race because of the importance of keeping his Senate seat in Democratic hands.

Government should honor values that built America

Never hesitate to question Bush about any issue

A: The Intelligence Committee, on which I serve, has begun an investigation into the intelligence surrounding the war in Iraq. The bill Bush signed allows the income of corporations not to be taxed at all because of tax shelters in places like Bermuda. It wasn't about double taxation-it was about shifting the tax burden away from the wealth of the wealthy. We need to have the courage and backbone to stand up to Bush.

Fight for values of people and workers over privilege

This is going to be a debate about values, Mr. President. It's going to be a debate about the future of America and the kind of country we want. They, the Republicans and George Bush, they honor wealth. We honor the work that produces wealth. They fight to expand special privileges fore special interests. We fight for opportunity for everybody. We believe in taking responsibility. They believe in passing the buck to somebody else.

This is a fight for the working people of America. It is a fight for our values, and it is a fight we will win.

Fight for values of people and workers over privilege

This is going to be a debate about values, Mr. President. It's going to be a debate about the future of America and the kind of country we want. They, the Republicans and George Bush, they honor wealth. We honor the work that produces wealth. They fight to expand special privileges fore special interests. We fight for opportunity for everybody. We believe in taking responsibility. They believe in passing the buck to somebody else.

This is a fight for the working people of America. It is a fight for our values, and it is a fight we will win.

Career spent fighting for the working people

EDWARDS: First, what people are looking for in a president is someone who has the qualities of leadership: strength, character, conviction, good judgment. I'm happy to have people judge me on that basis.

Second, they want somebody who understands their lives. I come from a family where my dad worked in a mill. My mother worked in the post office. I was the first in my family to go to college, and I spent almost 20 years after I worked my way through college and then law school fighting for the same people that I had grown up with.

This is what I have done my entire life, fight for working people, the people I've known all my life. I did it first for 20 years as a lawyer and an advocate, and I've been doing it in the US Senate, and I will be a champion for those very same people in the White House. And the American people want somebody who will stand up for them and stand up to big corporate America.

Give this White House back to the American people.

I believe we can build a better life for our families, families like the family I grew up with. But it has to be based on the values of hard work and responsibility, not accounting tricks and corporate greed. I want to bring your values, the values of main street America to Wall street and then to Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to give this White House back to the American people.

Religious affiliation: Methodist.

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Member of Democratic Leadership Council.

Mission

Who We Are

Since its inception, the DLC has championed policies from spurring private sector economic growth, fiscal discipline and community policing to work based welfare reform, expanded international trade, and national service. Throughout the 90’s, innovative, New Democrat policies implemented by former DLC Chairman President Bill Clinton have helped produce the longest period of sustained economic growth in our history, the lowest unemployment in a generation, 22 million new jobs, cut the welfare rolls in half, reduced the crime rate for seven straight years, balanced the budget and streamlined the federal bureaucracy to its smallest size since the Kennedy administration.

Now, the DLC is promoting new ideas -- such as a second generation of environmental protection and new economy and technology development strategies -- that is distinctly different from traditional liberalism and conservatism to build the next generation of America’s leaders.

New Democrat: "Third Way" instead of left-right debate.

America and the world have changed dramatically in the closing decades of the 20th century. The industrial order of the 20th century is rapidly yielding to the networked “New Economy” of the 21st century. Our political and governing systems, however, have lagged behind the rest of society in adapting to these seismic shifts. They remain stuck in the left-right debates and the top-down bureaucracies of the industrial past.

The Democratic Leadership Council, and its affiliated think tank the Progressive Policy Institute, have been catalysts for modernizing politics and government. The core principles and ideas of this “Third Way” movement [began with] Bill Clinton’s Presidential campaign in 1992, Tony Blair’s Labour Party in Britain in 1997, and Gerhard Shroeder’s Social Democrats in Germany in 1998.

The Third Way philosophy seeks to adapt enduring progressive values to the new challenges of he information age. It rests on three cornerstones:
1. the idea that government should promote equal opportunity for all while granting special privilege for none;
2. an ethic of mutual responsibility that equally rejects the politics of entitlement and the politics of social abandonment;
3. and, a new approach to governing that empowers citizens to act for themselves.

Member of the Senate New Democrat Coalition.

The Senate New Democrat Coalition (SNDC) [is analogous to] the New Democrat Coalition (NDC) in the House. Members of both groups are moderate Democrats who advocate a new centrist, progressive approach to governing and who often reach across party lines to get things done.

Established in 1997, the House New Democrat Coalition (NDC) grew to 64 members between 1998 and 2000, making it the largest caucus in the House. With the success of NDN’s top House candidates on Election Day, the NDC has grown to 72 members in the 107th Congress. The Senate New Democrat Coalition (SNDC), established in 2000, is already 20 members.

In announcing the establishment of the SNDC in February 2000, Sen. Landrieu stated, “The American people are tired of the same old proposals and are demanding that we work together in a more creative way on the many problems facing our nation. Too often here in Washington, the loudest voices are the ones on the far left and far right. That is why this group was formed, to give voice to those in the sensible center.” The SNDC has already made its voice heard on critical issues ranging from education to trade to health care and, with the Senate evenly divided, the Senate New Dems are increasingly determining the balance of power.