Edwards Hopes Good Works Will Give Him The Ticker

John Edwards's fireworks grabbed the attention of YearlyKos attendees, and it is probably not an accident that his next production, a lavishly-planned week-long "smart trade" message roll out, coincides with the summer meeting of the AFL-CIO.

There is a presidential forum on Tuesday at Soldier Field, but Edwards is aiming at a slightly smaller audience: perhaps the executive committee of the AFL-CIO, which meets Wednesday to decide whether to move forward on a joint presidential endorsement.

Except -- they're not _really_ the intended audience, either. It's unlikely the AFL-CIO will muster a consensus for an endorsement. The target this week is individual unions. Some of them are flirting with Sen. Barack Obama and others with Sen. Hillary Clinton. By making such an aggressive case for his labor bona fides, Edwards wants to make sure that these other unions think very carefully before deciding to endorse someone else. His campaign hopes to persuade these unions not to make endorsements; they hope that enough of these unions' rank and file will pressure their leaders to stay on the sidelines.

This week, Edwards will outline what he calls a "smart and safe" trade policy that, in the words of a campaign aide, "will improve our economy and build One America where each person has the chance to work hard and get ahead."

Watch for Edwards to press Democrats to refuse to take contributions from lobbyists, an encore performance from YearlyKos.

Comments

Edwards challenge in the Saturday debate was the first time all year that anyone has drawn blood on Senator Clinton during a debate.

Posted by Petey | August 6, 2007 8:00 AM

John Edwards is the man! Its very clear during the last one year that he is leading from the front on almost all the issues that really matter to us all. In addition to his fearless stance on most of the issues, he is also very charismatic and thats what helps even more. I will vote for any democrat that gets nominated after the fiasco of the last six years but John Edwards is the one who stands out. John Edwards just needs to ignore nay-sayers and MSM since they are always behind the curve. Look at any public opinion poll that includes Edwards for general election matchups and its clear that he is the one who beats any republican with widest margins. The Rasmussen poll showed that he beats Rudy, Thomson, Romney with widest of margins.

Posted by Matt | August 6, 2007 8:53 AM

Why any Union would consider endorsing Hillary Clinton who lives and breathes NAFTA is insane, and obviously an attempt to either suck up to or not anger the Clintons, who they still see holding the power in the Democratic Party.

If the Unions dislike NAFTA so much, how in the world can they even possibly be interested in endorsing Hillary Clinton? Money? Fear?

And what about Obama? Are their potential endorsements for him just based on the fact that he's the media-coronated #1 challenger?

So, John Edwards is going to talk about a "smart and safe" trade policy? Well, I wish these unions would make a smart decision about who they endorse instead of just what they consider to be a "safe" one. They think it's "safe" to endorse Clinton or Obama, because the media says they are at the top, but would it be smart?

Posted by OEST | August 6, 2007 9:13 AM

I can't believe Hillary said "lobbyists represent real americans"

someone tell me how I can contact my lobbyist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyj9KJWGWMA

Posted by Washington DC Lobbyist | August 6, 2007 9:56 AM

Just a quick clarification: It's "Soldier Field", not "Soldier's Field".

It's a common enough mistake; the same thing happened on "Knight Rider" when they had a Chicago-based episode.

Posted by Alan | August 6, 2007 11:51 AM