JRE Buzz (4)

Update, June 16: JRE is announced as keynote speaker at Gnomedex Convention at Seattle June 29-July 1. Gnomedex is a high technology conference of mainly bloggers and tech enthusiasts. Gamers go to this conference too. Chris Pirillo reports that he is thrilled that JRE has signed on:

Just when you thought Gnomedex couldn’t get any better, Senator John Edwards signs on as our Keynote.

The senator is a long-standing supporter of technology - including podcasting and blogging. Every year, we wonder how we’re going to top ourselves. When conversations started with Senator John Edwards’ office, they were intrigued and enthralled with our approach to content! Sentator Edwards will quickly turn his time over to the Gnomedex audience, fielding questions and fostering discussion over how technology could and should play a role in our world. This is fantastic! I’m sure you’ll agree, no matter your political persuasion. This is a tremendous opportunity to have your voice heard. Does anybody know any political bloggers out there? I don’t know any…

Sounds like JRE is following Elizabeth's footsteps from the PDF.

And..

The National Press Club announced this afternoon: Sen. John Edwards to Deliver Major Policy Address Outlining New Ideas in the Fight Against Poverty at National Press Club, June 22.

Note: JRE bloggers already knew this, but we didn't know what the speech would be about, nor did we know the general public could get in for the luncheon, which starts at 12:30, and only costs $35. I hope a JRE supporter from Northern Virginia, DC, or Maryland can attend and give an event report at OAC or JREG.

JRE stopped in Wilmington today.

Here's the scoop:

WILMINGTON -- Former US Senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards made a stop in downtown Wilmington today. He spoke at a meeting for the tenth district International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Edwards said, "I came today to speak to the IBEW, which is a union my brother is a member of. It's a great union andI am proud to be able to be here to talk to them about what's happening to the working men and women in this country."

Read the rest here.

Other news...

Mark Crispin Miller writes an open letter to Salon on the Huffington Post about RFK's interview in the Rolling Stone concerning the "stolen election" in Ohio. What I didn't know was why Kerry had stayed mum on this. Here's what Crispin Miller wrote:

"Kerry won't discuss the issue frankly on the record, we've been told, because he's worried that the media will smack him for it. ("They're saying that, if I don't concede, they'll call us sore losers!" he reportedly said to a stunned John Edwards just before he called it quits the morning after.) That may be what Kerry, among others, actually believes, but it's absurd, as no amount of public scorn, however withering, could ever be as frightening to a democratic politician as the twilight of democracy itself. "

Yikers..Elizabeth has alluded to this more than once.

More buzz about the Iowa poll: The Pilot
Jacksonville Daily Record
Pittsburgh Tribune Review

More buzz l8tr..

Update (as of 5pmCDT): BIG Buzz

Chris Bowers of MyDD Releases Netroots Survey. Guess who is on top for Potential Presidental Candidates who are Favored at Present...You got it: John Edwards. Here's the graphic.




More about this survey l8tr...

Follow-up from the Hotline Today (June 16), hat-tip to Kos:

National Journal Insiders' Poll: Netroots Help Dems

It's like asking the sharks how the guppies taste, right?

This week's Political Insiders poll from National Journal talked to 71 GOPers and 66 Dems (6/17 issue).

What Impact Will The Netroots Have On 11/06?

                GOP Dem

Help Dems                 14% 69%

Help GOPers               15   0

No significant impact     70  31

Readers, there is so much buzz about JRE and the polls in Iowa, as the anti-Hillary candidate (for now, but I hope that will change) and his work with SEIU. I will update as the day goes on and time allows, so come back and visit for those updates.

Prominent business trade magazine The Economist has an article about Hillary Clinton and Dems who have doubts about her, ranging from Daily Kos polls to the new Iowa poll that put Edwards at the top for potential candidates. JRE hasn 't been mentioned much by the Economist lately.

New York Post columnist Deborah Orin mentions that Hillary too, but as a fence sitter on the war.

"It showed when antiwar activists booed her the other day - and when a shock weekend poll in first presidential test Iowa found her trailing likely 2008 rival John Edwards by 30 to 26 percent."

Context: Sen. Clinton spoke at the Take America Back conference and was booed about her stance on the war, although the attendees liked her overall speech I hear. At the same conference, Sen. Russ Feingold took a shot at Kerry and JRE by saying he didn't need to write an op-ed on his stance; he was always against it.

That's OK, Russ, you're in there fightin' where JRE is fighting the regular folks' battles at the moment.

Speaking of, good news from the SEIU in Miami this afternoon:

MIAMI, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- By an overwhelming majority, janitors who clean the University of Miami elected to form a union with SEIU,according to the American Arbitration Association, which certified and made public today the results of the workers' decision. A nine-week strike by the janitors, who are employed by national cleaning firm Unicoo, drew attention and support from an impressive coalition of religious leaders and community supporters including students and faculty at the University of Miami, elected officials, and the janitors who are employed by the cleaning firm Unicco drew national attention support from an impressive coalition religious leaders community supporters including students and faculty at the University of Miami, elected officials and national figures such as Sen.John Edwards, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, and civil rights leader Charles Steele Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

More buzz l8tr...

Update: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattlepolitics/archives/104308.asp