[John Edwards] calls for new fight against poverty

from The Burlington Free Press

By Molly Walsh
Free Press Staff Writer

Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards told a packed crowd Wednesday at the University of Vermont that his rise from uneducated mill worker's son to successful lawyer and politician is not proof that hard work alone will push people out of poverty. To escape poverty, he said, people need help from government and their fellow citizens.

"I did not get here by myself," Edwards proclaimed at Ira Allen Chapel.

Edwards credited taxpayer-supported college and graduate school programs, "heroic" public school teachers, his family and his home state -- North Carolina -- for helping him succeed. He urged the audience to fight a war on poverty with renewed vigor.

"In a country of our wealth and our prosperity to have 37 million people that live in poverty is wrong," Edwards said. "All of us have a moral responsibility to do something about it."

The Democrat and former U.S. senator visited Burlington to deliver the keynote speech at a United Against Poverty conference that drew more than 300 registrants to the University of Vermont campus. Edwards was also scheduled to attend a Democratic Party fundraiser Wednesday evening.

Wearing a crisp blue suit, maroon tie and a light tan, Edwards appeared relaxed and comfortable before the crowd of students, professors, anti-poverty workers and Democratic politicians who included former ambassador and governor Madeleine Kunin, Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle and Sen. Matt Dunne, D-Windsor, who introduced Edwards.

Edwards began by explaining that his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, who was diagnosed with breast cancer the day after he and 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry lost the election, is recovering. "The good news is that Elizabeth's doing great," Edwards said. "She's doing very, very well. She finished her breast cancer treatment last summer, in June, and we had a bunch of tests done just before Christmas. And she's doing terrific."

Edwards then launched into an oratory about what he called a great moral issue: reducing poverty. He called for a higher minimum wage and expanded tax credits for the poor. He called for a new approach to affordable housing that integrates neighborhoods rather than clustering and isolating low-income people. He said new laws are needed to give workers a better chance to organize labor unions that are too often being blocked by corporate lawyers.

During the past year Edwards has visited many cities to research anti-poverty programs and talk with low-income Americans. Many of the people he's met at poverty centers are women -- single mothers who work two or three jobs and have no benefits, Edwards said. It's startling that these women have never had a champion, Edwards told the crowd.

"They have no idea what it's like to have somebody speak up for them and they so desperately need somebody to speak up for them," Edwards said. "And I'm not talking about me, by the way. I'm talking about us. All of us."

The audience gave Edwards a standing ovation at the end of his speech. It was "fantastic" said Kayla Davis, a senior at Castleton State College. "It's nice to hear a politician offer solutions rather than just state what the problems are."

Crystal Layton, also a senior at Castleton, liked Edwards' ideas for expanding college scholarships. She'll be graduating with a $40,000 in debt. "If there's some way to reduce the student loan amount, that would be a big help," Layton said.

At a news conference after the speech, Edwards said he's undecided about a run for president in 2008. He has set no deadline for making the decision, and one of the factors he will be evaluating is his wife's health. Although Edwards is not officially running for anything, he didn't hold back when it came to Republicans and President Bush.

Edwards called Bush the worst president of his lifetime and tore into Bush tax policies, saying they help the rich at the expense of the poor.

Democrats have work to do, too, he said. To capture the presidency the party needs not only to criticize, but also offer solutions and stand firm on positions.

"I want to see some backbone," Edwards said. "That's what our party needs."