Sebastian White :: John Edwards a Show-Stopper in Boston

NEWS

John Edwards a Show-Stopper in Boston

The Alfred Sun | July 29, 2004
By Sebastian White

BOSTON, July 28—Vice presidential candidate John Edwards proved Wednesday evening to be a captivating and engaging show-stopper whose attraction is more than skin-deep as he introduced himself for the first time to millions of Americans by promoting a multipoint plan to “bring the world together,” and encouraging Americans to look toward the future because “hope is on the way.”

A polished speaker, Mr. Edwards offered up a winsome and impassioned oratory contrasting the current administration's record at home and abroad with what Democrats believe can—and should—be a renewed and more equitable America.

He effectively appealed to the his audience with his Southern charm and good looks (When asked to describe her husband’s running mate, Teresa Heinz Kerry said simply, “I have to say that John Edwards is beautiful.”), his fresh, down-home style and a type of political panache that supporters hope will boost the Kerry-Edwards ticket and somehow make up for John Kerry’s much-criticized and possibly detracting lack of electricity.

Mr. Edwards’ message was largely one of restoring faith in America through moderating its expanding social inequity, the growing gap between rich and poor, rural and urban, even the insurance haves and have-nots. He also committed the Kerry White House to raising the minimum wage, rolling back the Bush administration's tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans, and ultimately to fostering an America that will “reward work, not just play.”

Most significantly, he proudly expounded on his campaign's focus of what he perceives to be an American class divide. “We must build one America. We must be one America,” he said. “We still live in a country where they are two different Americas.”

Using his North Carolina upbringing and his prestigious education to juxtapose the struggles of the working class with the promises of the American dream, Mr. Edwards said that a vote for Sen. Kerry would ensure that “all Americans have exactly the same kinds of opportunities I had.”

He touched on the issue of defense, taking a roundabout jibe at President Bush’s contested record of military service by subtly referencing Mr. Kerry's Vietnam record. Mr. Edwards said servicemen and women “deserve a president who understands their experience on the most personal level.” Praising their commitment to America and the world, Mr. Edwards told the audience, “They are the best. They are the greatest. They will never be left behind.”

The senator was introduced by his wife, Elizabeth, who put forth an image of him as a compassionate optimist with a record of “fighting for those who could not fight for themselves.” Mrs. Edwards said her husband is a man of unwavering “intellect and eloquence,” well positioned to “end the injustice of two Americas.” And although the Bush campaign has used Mr. Edwards’ inexperience in Washington as campaign fodder, she let it be known that candidate Edwards actually “called attention to the threat of terrorism before September 11th.”

Before Mr. Edwards’ address to the nation—and to a watching world, really—political spectators were saying he needed to use his Wednesday evening address to change the tone and subject of the convention, diverting attention away from the kickoff sessions' overplayed message that John Kerry is qualified and prepared to tackle national security and international affairs issues, and instead refocus attention on the appeal of Mr. Edwards' working class, Southern roots.

Mr. Edwards capped an evening of addresses by political heavyweights including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Gen. John Shalikashvili. In his typically animated and energizing fashion, Rev. Jackson extolled the virtues of a down-to-earth Edwards, casting him as a “man of the people,” a trial lawyer whose experience shows him to be an individual “whose journey is the best of American folklore.”

The former presidential candidate characterized Mr. Edwards as someone “embodying hope and inspiration. He dares to stand in the gap between rich and poor, black and white, urban and rural," and brings to the ticket “a vision for a new America.”