JRE Buzz (13)

There's definitely some buzz to report on for this weekend edition.

Earlier this week, JRE and Jack Kemp posted an op-ed, We Need to Be Tough with Russia, in International Herald Tribune. It's similar to the piece in the NYT back in December when they just about done with their TF report for the Council on Foreign Affairs.

JRE was in Atlanta on Wednesday to co-podcast with President Jimmy Carter about Carter's book, Our Endangered Values. That was the OAC book club choice this spring, and thus, we should see the bookcast sometime next week. I love this picture...two of my favorite leaders. I voted for Carter in 1980; wasn't quite old enough to have voted for him in 1976, but I would have. Lucky TO got to meet him. Very cool. (photo credit: TO of OAC)

Philgoblue blogs about JRE and Acorn at the Daily Kos. It's a great piece.

JRE is interviewed by Facing South about poverty, and has been picked up by several blogs.

Here's a snip:

We recently asked Senator Edwards via e-mail about poverty in the South, some of the causes and effects, and what we can do about it. He was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions, and here is what he had to say.

R. Neal, for Facing South: A recent "Kids Count" study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that several Southern states fare poorly in a number of categories such as infant mortality, children's wellbeing, high-school dropout rates, and others. One common theme expressed by state officials and activists was poverty. What are some of the consequences of poverty for families and society in general that maybe aren't so obvious and that people should be more aware of?

Sen. John Edwards: We often hear skeptics talk about how costly it would be to make the investments necessary to end poverty. What you don’t hear as much about is how expensive it is for America to have so many citizens mired in poverty. We all pay a price when young people who could someday find the cure for AIDS or make a fuel cell work are unemployed or stuck in low-wage jobs because they didn’t get the education they need.

We all pay a price when our people turn to crime because they have no other hope. A Harvard professor estimates that growing incarceration costs and unemployment of ex-offenders costs 4 percent of our economy, each and every year. And we all pay a steep price when the American dream no longer seems attainable to every citizen.

Read the rest by clicking the Facing South link above.

Meanbone II posted a really nice diary at Daily Kos about how "GOP is Afraid of John Edwards" at the Daily Kos. Meanbone found that Instalawyer.com was the hat-tip about the Instapundit link to the Forward South piece, and was to inspired to write the DK diary. Woot!

What else...

Chris Pirillo, the co-organizer of Gnomedex, posted the mp3 of JRE's engagement at the conference. I call it engagement as a double entondre: engagement is a consulting or lawyer's term for project, case, etc., and he did engage the bloggers in meaningful dialog.

Resonance Partnership Blog really appreciates John Edwards. He's been mentioned at least 3 times since Gnomedex, I believe. Here's today's snip, albeit it's really more about Ned Lamont. Yep, I posted a comment there.

Pressing the Flesh's Road to Washington Weekly places JRE as number one contender for this week and includes clip of his speech to National Press Club last month.

"John Edwards has shown in the last few weeks the advantage of having run as the Vice Presidential candidate in 2004, and not having a current Senate seat. He enjoys the name and face recognition of a national politician, while not having any of the current responsibilities of a politician in office. As such, Edwards has climbed to the top spot on our ranking this week due to the sheer volume of work he's done as of late. Keep in mind - all of the following activity has taken place since our last ranking."

Jim Pederson, Democratic opponent of Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, just hired JRE's old campaign manager, Sky Gallegos. This is the second candidate I am aware of hired from JRE's old campaign staff, the other managing Chet Culver's campaign for Governor in Iowa. JRE was in Tuscon and Phoenix Monday, so perhaps Pederson got to see JRE while he was there, but I don't have a confirmation on that.

The Nation's blog kindly mentions JRE's rockin' speech at the NPC.

On the national level, John Edwards stands out for making poverty a moral and political issue. He recently delivered an inspiring speech to the National Press Club where he called poverty "the great moral issue of our time" and issued a challenge to cut it by one-third in a decade, and end it within 30 years. Edwards called for raising the minimum wage, overhauling housing policy, strengthening education, cutting taxes for low-income workers and families, and helping Americans save for the future.

BBC News has an piece about Putin and Bush's strained relationship (no longer soul mates), and got a quote by (or from) JRE:

John Edwards - the former Democratic vice-presidential candidate - says the remarks did "great damage" to America and its relationship with Russia because the White House was then too slow to recognise Moscow's move away from democracy.

Mr Edwards has accused Mr Bush of being much too soft on Mr Putin.

This just in...

Joe Turner of The News Tribune in Tacoma reports that JRE is going to make a guest appearance at the Washington Democratic Senate Campaign Committee next week. Looks like it's going to be on Tuesday, July 18th at 6 pm at the Westin Hotel in Seattle. BW readers from Seattle need more info? Call 202-528-4653. Lucky Maria Cantrell. She's gonna need all of the help she can get for her re-election bid.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer mentions that American Trial Lawyers Association is considering changing their name to American Association for Justice--vote is this week. JRE is mentioned in the article about how his 2004 campaign spotlighted his more famous personal injury cases. Ah-hah--that may explain JRE's stump at the Washington DSCC. Wonder what JRE thinks about the name change?


Other than some snarks (such as David Weigel at Reason magazine) I've been debunking...that's it for now.

Oh, BW had a surprise visitor last week to comment. Didn't know it until Thursday morning. What a treat: Elizabeth Edwards.

More buzz l8tr..

Tags: JRE, John Edwards, Jimmy Carter, podcasts, book casts, Elizabeth Edwards, Thread Opener, Ryan Montoya, Maria Cantrell, Jim Pederson, Philgoblue, Facing South, Jack Kemp, Council on Foreign Affairs, Pressing the Flesh blog, Chris Pirillo Show, Resonance Partnership Blog, The Nation, BBC News, Joe Turner, Meanbone II, News Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Benny's World