JRE (John Edwards)Buzz: In Repugs' Face Edition

John Edwards continues to get in the news and gathers invites to events. Elizabeth Edwards does too. Here's a quick diary of what's to come.

EENR's "Lady" was on the hot seat on the Colbert Report last night. It was on the Comedy Channel at 11:30 ET, with a repeat at 1:30a ET and 8:30a ET on today. Stephen Colbert, the master of "Papa Bear" antics, tried to get into Elizabeth Edwards' face about health care and supporting Obama, but, she kicked his arse, as anyone would expect. (video to come)

Stephen Colbert and EE

(courtesy of NcDem and the Colbert Nation)

Meantime, John Edwards has accepted more invitations for speaking engagements. He will be in SF on Sunday at the Momentum Tides 08 convention (for progressive activists) as a part of a conversation with David Brancaccio of PBS NOW. (Link is to buy tickets for that event, substantially cheaper than going to Conference). One of the EENR diarists (not editors) is going to this keynote, and we hope she will report on it when she returns.

Of course, Edwards is likely to speak at the DNC Convention, but details haven't been released as to when.Marc Ambinder believes JRE may be vetted privately as VP for an Obama ticket.

Perhaps there's a good reason for it, although Ambinder doesn't say:

On the opening day of the Republican National Convention, the Service Employees International Union will sponsor a festival on St. Paul's Harriet Island to celebrate workers' achievements and "promote a New Vision for the 21st Century," organizers said.

The festival will run from noon to 7 p.m. on Sept. 1, Labor Day, at Harriet Island Regional Park in the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul. The Republican National Convention, which runs from Sept. 1 to 4 at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, is expected to draw 45,000 attendees and equal numbers of protesters.

The festival will feature musicians Steve Earle, Allison Moorer and Tom Morello and speakers will include former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, SEIU President Andy Stern and Change to Win Chair Anna Burger.

We didn't see Al Franken's name as one of the speakers for the event, but we do know that via Chris Cillizza's The Fix the Franken campaign hired Eric Schultz, JRE's spokesperson, to be Deputy Campaign manager.

If anyone thought Edwards was not an effective attack-dog in 2004, he has toughened up and he is definitely in the Republicans' face with this engagement. But again, Edwards would probably do this regardless of being a VP candidate or not.

I'm concluding with a great vlog by Refinish69 who is at Netroots Nation as we speak:



More buzz l8tr...

John and Elizabeth Edwards to Join Forces with Moveon.org for Recession/ Iraq Initiative

John Nichols from the Nation Reports that JRE and EE will be on a conference call with Moveon.org and SEIU to launch a get out of Iraq initiative.

The multi-million-dollar Iraq/Recession Campaign, which launches Monday, seeks to remind voters, in the words of organizers, that, "As economic concerns weigh heavily on the minds of Americans, opposition to President Bush's reckless war in Iraq continues to grow. The massive cost of the war in Iraq – hurtling toward one trillion dollars – has increased demand for a strategy to bring U.S. troops home. The Iraq/Recession Campaign will highlight the majority of Americans who want to see leadership on investing in critical priorities at home and establishing real security throughout the world."

( h/t NCDem Amy at Daily Kos)

Now BW readers, you may recall that John Edwards predicted some time ago that McCain was likely to be the Republican front runner and nominee. When Bush announced the surge in late 2006 and McCain supported it, JRE called it "the McCain Doctrine".



JRE at Riverside Church last year, talking about the McCain Doctrine. He could not be silent on the surge.

I also found this piece at HuffPo. More l8tr...

But don't expect any candidate endorsements from the Edwards at this time: just causes.

The New Apostles for John Edwards

Tonight I found out via MSNBC that the SEIU NH Chapter also endorsed John Edwards for POTUS.

Let's look at the quick note by the reporter NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan:

After weeks of intense lobbying by the top three Democratic presidential candidates, Edwards has come away with the endorsement of the New Hampshire SEIU.

The endorsement will help Edwards considerably, providing him with financial resources and volunteers in the Granite state. It will also prevent other state chapters from sending volunteers to New Hampshire to campaign for either Obama or Clinton.

This is the 12th state SEIU endorsement Edwards has won; the others include Iowa and California.

Onward to the Dem Debate tonight.

SEIU's Most Promised Land Candidate: John Edwards

JRE got ten endorsements from 10 chapters of the SEIU in the past 2 days. Means a lot, but at least they (the leaders) recognize that he had walked in more picket lines for them, campaigned in 6 states to raise the minimum wage, and they knew him to be a Mill/Postal Worker's Son.

Let's count them: IA, CA, WA, WVA, OH, ID, MT, OR, MI, MN

John Deeth liveblogged the Iowa endorsement. Here's the video of Bruce Springsteen's song "The Promised Land" , in which the music was played at the event. Springsteen is JRE's favorite artist.

Ten, count 'em 10 endorsements by the SEIU and more than half the membership across the country.

Great Monday for JRE and his supporters; hope it translates into knocking on doors and votes!

Want to see some Rural Dems talking about what needs to get done? Read Mudcat Saunders at the HuffPo.

Summer of Love, John Edwards Edition 2007

Excellent video by Refinish69. Shows videos from working in NOLA, helping a family winterize their home, meeting with the hotel workers in LA and standing with the SEIU in Miami.

This is a "summer of love" redo video as we approach the 40th anniversary of the celebration and the release of Sargent Pepper by the Beatles. Geez, I was 8 years old.

Edwards Works Shift to Raise Awareness for Health Services Workers

Yes, that's John Edwards on the right.

Dressed in jeans and a blue work shirt, Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee,

helped awaken Irving Zywoto and tried to explain to the 83-year old resident who he was.

Later, Edwards donned rubber gloves to rub moisturizer on Zywoto's legs and gave him his morning shave.


From the AP:

His visit was part of the "Work a Day in My Shoes" program sponsored by the influential Service Employees International Union, where presidential candidates spend time with health care workers to understand the challenges of their jobs. Edwards was paired with certified nursing assistant Elaine Ellis, an 18-year employee of the Sarah Neuman Nursing Home who escorted him on her early morning rounds.

This is what Ellis had to say about John Edwards, the candidate, after working with him on her shift:

Every day I bathe, dress, feed and care for nine patients before many people are awake. Now that he’s cared for patients with me, I think Senator Edwards has a better understanding of what it’s like to work in a nursing home. I also think he has a deeper appreciation for what people like me go through to give our families a future.”

"I think all politicians should take a page from his book," she told reporters.

Health care service was a natural fit for Edwards in which in he wanted to do a day's work in shadowing and helping. This was his comment afterwards:

It's important for the president of the United States to understand how difficult these jobs are, and how important they are," he said. He also touted his proposed health care plan, which he said would help cover the cost of long-term care at nursing homes.

More pics here.

Edwards comfort level with all ages and willingness to work to promote awareness for our health services workers really impresses me. But he's just like that.