Edwards brings it home

From The Beaufort Gazette

Edwards 'Brings it Home'
S.C. campaign gets personal on St. Helena Island

By ALEXIS GARROBO
agarrobo@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5539

Reinforcing his support of the middle-class as he vies for the Democratic party's presidential candidacy, John Edwards stopped Friday evening among the Spanish moss in the heart of the Lowcountry.

Edwards said to nearly 200 people packed into the Penn Center on St. Helena Island that he was proud to be back in the state where he was born.

Katrisa Johnson of Bluffton came with her young daughter and husband to hear Edwards discuss his platform firsthand.

"He says he's fighting for the middle-class, and I'm in the middle-class. I wanted to see what he'll do for me and my family," Johnson said.

Johnson said she thinks Edwards is her man after hearing him speak.

Edwards said the state's middle-class crisis was indicative of the rest of America where people are "struggling to survive."

Edwards, a former U.S. senator for N.C., emphasized he will fight to strengthen and grow the middle-class.

"I was taught by my father you never start a fight and you never walk away from one," he said. "This fight is personal for me."

Edwards advised those in attendance to choose a candidate who will support them in the upcoming state primary. This is the second stop on Edward's four-day campaign push in South Carolina before the state's Democratic primary Jan. 26.

"Send somebody into the White House who's willing to fight for you."

Edwards said America has a tradition of working hard to ensure children have a better life than their parents. The torch to keep the middle-class intact was passed to us, he said.

"It's the great moral test of our generation."

Edwards also distinguished himself from other top Democratic hopefuls, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

He said Clinton thinks the system in Washington works and she can work through it for change.

"I think the system in Washington is stacked," Edwards said.

He said Obama, whom he said he respects enormously, approaches change in a more conciliatory manner.

Edwards said standing up to entrenched interests is the way to bring about change.

"If you think you can bring about change by being nice. I'm not your guy."

If elected president, Edwards promised changes, such as closing the Guantanamo Bay military base, stopping illegal spying on American people, forbidding torture, getting rid of No Child Left Behind and creating a national teaching academy.

In the 2004 S.C. primary, John Edwards beat John Kerry by more than 42,000 votes. Beaufort County, however, supported John Kerry.

Eventually, Edwards ran as Kerry's vice presidential candidate. This week, Kerry announced he endorses Obama in the primary.