Edwards Rally in Iowa City

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John Edwards in Iowa City yesterday.

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Before
Edwards spoke, the usual array of hopeful local candidates had their
say. Jim Larew, an attorney and a Johnson County Democrat talked about
John Edwards’ integrity and the fact that “his feet touched the
ground.” He described “stalking” him during the caucuses.



Dave Franker,
candidate for Congress in Iowa District 2, noted that we “only have 12
more days to go,” and added, “If you want change, you have to vote for
change.” Since Franker is running neck and neck against the vulnerable
Republican Jim Leach, he took the opportunity to point out that Leach
would be backing Dick Cheney. The contrast between Cheney and Edwards
could hardly be more pronounced. Which one of these guys do we want a
heartbeat away from the Presidency? Especially since they may have to
use the paddles on Cheney at any minute!



The Bush
rally Gestapo forces recently arrested and strip-searched five
Southeastern Iowa Community College students who showed up to
peacefully demonstrate at a Republican rally, charging them with
“interfering with official acts.”  Tom Woodruff of SEIU, where
Edwards had spoken on Tuesday night, fairly oozed outrage as he told
the crowd this anecdote.



Woodruff
went on to say, “We’re on the wrong track. 36 million living in
poverty….4 million more since this pResident took office. Eighty
million United States citizens with no health care. That’s a disgrace;
that’s the wrong track.”



Humorously,
Woodruff noted that Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest men, got
a $374 million tax cut under Bush’s tax cuts for the richest 1% of the
population. Woodruff said that he had heard Buffett comment, during a
television interview, “I didn’t ask for it. I don’t need it. I don’t
want it.”  



So, said
Woodruff, “I wrote Warren Buffett a letter telling him to send it my
way and I’d spread it around. It’s been over a year ago. I go to the
mailbox every morning and the check is still not in the mail.” Woodruff
also noted, “How in the world are you safer (under Bush?) We went all
around the world pissing off everybody in the world! That’s not the way
to make us safer! Our children….our grandchildren….they won’t have the
education, the job opportunities, or the chance at Social Security
because of this. Throw out these greedy sons-of-****. You can do it!
You can do it! You can do it!”



This emotional outburst was followed by music (“Summer in the City,” “Walkin’ on Sunshine” and “I Won’t Back Down”).



[*The
music at the Democratic rallies is always guaranteed to be far, far
superior to the music at the Republican rallies. Republicans are lucky
to get C&W music by a local beer band. Ted Nugent likes Bush
“because he’s a Christian.” When Nugent was asked to name the 10
Commandments, however, he said, “Well, I couldn’t rip them off right
now, but give me a few days.”



The rest
of the Nugent rant on this is pure fiction, but there is a rumor that
Nugent thinks one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou Shalt Not Barbecue
on Sunday” and that another is “Thou Shalt Not Shoot An Animal in the
Crotch.” (This makes me wonder if hitting a deer with your side-view
mirror, as I did while driving to the Kerry rally on Tuesday night,
would be Commandment Number Three: “Thou Shalt Not Stun a Drunken Deer
Who Wanders Into Your Car With Your Side-View Mirror.”]



When
Edwards took the stage, surrounded by signs like “Eleven Days to Change
the World,” “Hippies love John,” “Jews for Kerry,” “John + John = Good
Thing” and “Peace, Love and Edwards,” the crowd was hugely
enthusiastic. The crowd numbered in the thousands and was backed up
waaaay past the porta-potties. They were in a great mood, dancing,
schmoozing. The weather was mild and the warm-up comments were
passionate.



Only the NBC Traveling Press guy, cynic that he may be, was wearing a button that said, “I’m not deaf; I’m ignoring you.”



Edwards
first noted that George Bush asked a very relevant question in the
second debate: “Is my time up yet?” Obviously, Edwards and Kerry feel
that it is. Said Edwards of “W’s” inability to think of a single
mistake he might have made, (when asked this question during the
debates): “After November 2nd we’re gonna give him the rest of his life
to think about his mistakes. He is out of touch with America.”



Edwards
commented on the many, many Bush officials who are now campaigning
nationwide for the beleaguered Republican ticket…everyone from Bush and
Cheney to Tommy Thompson. His question: “Who’s minding the store?”
(Who, indeed!)



A
refrain that we heard at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds Rally and
heard again in Iowa City was this one: “Eleven hundred men and women
lost in Iraq, and yet the Administration says things are going well
there. Bush and Cheney are the last two people in America who think
things are going well in Iraq.” Edwards added, “We are going to
aggressively keep this country safe.”



Moving
on to economic issues, Edwards only needed the statistics: 5 million
who have lost health care, 4 million who have sunk in to poverty under
Bush. And he cited this one, “George W. Bush is the first pResident in
70 years, Democrat or Republican, war-time or peace-time, to lose jobs
on his watch.”



Edwards
commented that Bush and Cheney “think that outsourcing jobs would be
good for our economy,” following this with the comment, “What would be
good for our economy would be to outsource George Bush and Dick
Cheney!” while noting that the cost of Medicare is up +17%.



Commenting
on this nation’s dependence on oil, Edwards stated the obvious: “an
Administration with deep and long ties to the Saudis (*See Craig
Unger’s “House of Bush and Saud”) is not going to try to move America
away from oil dependence.” However, since we sit on only 3% of the oil
reserves (as noted by Kerry in Waterloo on Wednesday), we need to “make
fuel efficient cars of the future, and they should be built right here
in the United States of America.” (Applause)



“You
cannot stand with the American people and stand with big oil, and big
corporations, and big HMOs and the big drug companies. You deserve a
President who will fight for you every day.”



On a
light-hearted note, Edwards said that he would like to see the big drug
companies have some truth-in-advertising in their television spots.
“Right now, you watch TV and think that if you take this drug, tonight,
you and your spouse will be skipping through fields of flowers.”
(Laughter).



Edwards
came out squarely in favor of stem cell research, drawing huge
applause. Bush opposes stem cell research for all but the least
promising lines of stem cells, based on his Christian fundamentalist
beliefs, which all of us are expected to embrace, like it or not. (Not,
in my case.)



Edwards
cited the fact that the typical American’s paycheck dropped by $1500
under George W. Bush and that he had cut 84,000 students off Pell
Grants to aid in paying for their college educations. Edwards said that
he and Kerry would propose a program whereby a student who promised to
give 2 years of service to the country after graduation would receive a
4-year college education, free of charge, in return. Edwards noted, “If
you drive by the polling places on election day and see long lines of
young people voting, you will know that we have won.” He echoed
Democrat Mary Mosher who said, “This election means so much to all of
us. Johnson County must deliver.”



Edwards
called Jessica Mangler to the platform, noting that she had personally
taken 47 people to register to vote early. A television commentator…(a
large man who constantly wandered into my still shots just as I was
taking them and stood in front of  both of us blocking our view
50% of the time)….was heard saying, on camera, that the Johnson County
Auditor’s office has set up early voting sites in the basement of the
Iowa Memorial Union.



Echoing
my own thoughts about this election, and the debate topic into the wee
hours of the night in Waterloo with three other members of the
traveling professional press, Edwards stated, “This is the most
important election of our lifetime. We’re fighting for you. We’re
fighting for the America we all believe in.  The reason this
election is so important is that John Kerry and I believe we should
never look down on anyone. We should lift people up.”



Amen to
that! U-2’s “It’s a Beautiful Day” – which it was – ended the rally.
Even my $15 parking ticket couldn’t dampen my spirits.