Edwards Wins 10,000 Iowa Pledges

[SA210]

Edwards' Endorsement Is Sweet


By AMY LORENTZEN – 23 hours ago

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — John Edwards' latest endorsement was sweet.

Caucus4Priorities, a group headed by Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, backed the Democratic presidential candidate on Friday. The group, dedicated to cutting wasteful Pentagon spending, says it has 10,000 Iowa members who promise to vote for Edwards in the Jan. 3 caucuses.

Cohen, chairman of the Iowa organization and founder of the national Priorities Action Fund, joined Edwards at a news conference to announce his endorsement.

He said the next president needs to cast off "obsolete weapons from a bygone era that do nothing to protect us from today's threats."

"Our politicians in Washington have neither the spine nor the whit to make these choices, and the people who end up paying the price are our kids," Cohen said. "Well, the jig is up, and Iowa is leading the change."

Edwards will do whatever it takes to keep the country safe, but he won't do it at the expense of other priorities, Cohen said.

If elected, Edwards said he would examine the nation's missile defense system and the F-22 fighter jet.

"The idea that America, over the long-term, can control the spread of nuclear weapons — and just look at what's happening in Pakistan as a perfect example of this — is a fantasy, it will not happen," he said.

Cohen said nearly all of the Democratic candidates had courted support from the group. Members of the organization have become a fixture at campaign events, where they hand out brightly colored pens, frosted cookies and stickers, all featuring a pie chart that details Washington spending.

Peggy Huppert, Caucus4Priorities director, said that over the past two years the group's staff and volunteers attended 550 campaign events and asked more than 250 questions of the candidates.

"Now we plan to turn our persuasion and education efforts toward making caucus night a victory for John Edwards," she said. "10,000 caucus-goers can tip the scales in a tight contest."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ij0KK_dcO2rVztqra3Jv7c8ucR1QD8SQD6T00

[SA210]

Edwards Picked Over Obama as 'The Un-Hillary' Former North Carolina Senator Nabs Coveted Iowa Endorsement




DES MOINES, IA -- Caucus4Priorities, a group seeking to redirect spending from the Pentagon to domestic needs, plans to endorse John Edwards Friday in Des Moines.

The decision to endorse Edwards over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama came down to "courage versus caution," according to the group's executive director.
"There's a rhetoric gap with Obama," executive director Peggy Huppert told ABC News. "He told me personally: 'Trust me. Ideologically, I'm with you.' But people have told him to be afraid of being pushed too far to the left. He doesn't bring up [cuts in Pentagon spending] on his own. He doesn't incorporate it into his speeches. He skirts around it. He talks around the edges. He never gets to the heart of it in strong, bold language."

Edwards, by contrast, won over the group with his harder edge.

He impressed the group on Oct. 26 when he demonstrated during an Iowa town-hall meeting that he would not back down in the face of Republican attacks. The day before, during an interview with a conservative talk-show host, Giuliani said that Democratic support for lower Pentagon spending showed a lack of concern for what Giuliani calls "the terrorists' war on us."

"Edwards gave an excellent answer," said Huppert. "He said we have to stop buying into their frame which equates spending money on the Pentagon with keeping us safe. He also said we can't have a Democratic candidate who cowers and runs away from this issue."

"For whatever reason," she said, "John Edwards has decided he is going to take this on and he has staked out the position quite convincingly of being the un-Hillary."

Although Clinton filled out the group's detailed policy questionnaire, she was not among the final two candidates under consideration for the endorsement.

"She didn't answer any questions 'yes' or 'no,'" said Huppert. "She has a refusal to commit to anything."

The Edwards endorsement is a blow to Bill Richardson.

The New Mexico governor has gone further than Edwards in backing specific Pentagon cuts ($57.5 billion vs. $31 billion); he is alone among the major candidates in promising "no residual forces" in Iraq, and he wore the group's pin and touted its work during an AARP forum held in September.

But in the end, Richardson, who lags in state polls, was snubbed because he is not viewed by the group as having a realistic chance of winning the Iowa caucuses.

The overriding goal of Caucus4Priorities, a group whose logo is a pie chart showing how Pentagon spending dwarfs domestic discretionary spending, is to redirect $60 billion in federal funds away from the Pentagon and toward education, health care, energy independence, job training and deficit reduction.

Its endorsement was coveted by the Democratic presidential hopefuls, all of who filled out the group's questionnaire, because it has found 10,000 Iowans who have signed a nonbinding pledge to caucus on behalf of the candidate endorsed by the organization.
"We're not going to change people's minds," said Huppert, referring to people who have decided to support someone other than Edwards since filling out a Caucus4Priorities pledge card. "But we hope to shore up support for Edwards and to be a tipping point for people who are still undecided."

The names given by 28 percent of the 10,000 "pledgers" are exact matches with Iowans who have participated in previous Democratic caucuses.

Due to the organization's legal status, Caucus4Priorities is not permitted to provide its list of pledgers to the Edwards campaign. But the group plans to communicate with its pledgers by phone and possibly by mail about the decision to endorse Edwards.

The way Huppert sees it, both Edwards and Obama want to be "the un-Hillary," but they are approaching that task with radically different approaches: While Obama is promoting consensus and reconciliation, Edwards is selling confrontation and a day of reckoning.

Asked if she is looking for a fight, Huppert shot back, "I think it's going to take a fight."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3840606&page=1

[SA210]

I think I'm gonna buy some Ben & Jerry's today. :hungry:


http://www.newconsumer.com/images/the_mag/BenJerry_main.jpg

[SA210]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4rqysXGj0o

[xrayzebra]

I think I'm gonna buy some Ben & Jerry's today. :hungry:


http://www.newconsumer.com/images/the_mag/BenJerry_main.jpg

Why am I not surprised on the makers of your ice cream.
Two of the most wonderful liberals in the world make it.

Got to say one thing for you. You like me, leave no doubts
on your politics.

[SA210]

Why am I not surprised on the makers of your ice cream.
Two of the most wonderful liberals in the world make it.

Got to say one thing for you. You like me, leave no doubts
on your politics.
:toast Why thank you xray!

[101A]

Why am I not surprised on the makers of your ice cream.
Two of the most wonderful liberals in the world make it.

Got to say one thing for you. You like me, leave no doubts
on your politics.Hypocritical liberals:


"No one in this company will make more than 10 times what anybody else makes - EVER".

until our company gets really succesfull, and we REALLY want raises.

[101A]

John Edwards has run the most left-pandering campaign thus far. His views today are WAY askew of those he had when he was a senator.

Not a surprise that they are falling for it.

As a conservative, at least for me, he is the scariest of the candidates.

[SA210]

John Edwards has run the most left-pandering campaign thus far. His views today are WAY askew of those he had when he was a senator.

Not a surprise that they are falling for it.

As a conservative, at least for me, he is the scariest of the candidates.
I think this is true for many conservatives.

[boutons_]

Lots of industry people/observers, including compensation experts, agree that exec compensation

1) has gotten totally out of hand under the prextext of 'incentivazation"

2) even when the company+stock performs poorly, the exec still get their money, so their is no incentive to make the company better, only to win the nasty, dirty, back-stabbing political fights to get personally to the top.

But your gratuitous demonization of "liberals" is as expected as it is useless and ridiculous, certainly in the context of how horrendously the devilish Repug conservatives have fucked up these last 7 years.

[101A]

Lots of industry people/observers, including compensation experts, agree that exec compensation

1) has gotten totally out of hand under the prextext of 'incentivazation"

2) even when the company+stock performs poorly, the exec still get their money, so their is no incentive to make the company better, only to win the nasty, dirty, back-stabbing political fights to get personally to the top.

But your gratuitous demonization of "liberals" is as expected as it is useless and ridiculous, certainly in the context of how horrendously the devilish Repug conservatives have fucked up these last 7 years.I would highly doubt that his pandering, self-serving ass is going to go too tough on the execs.

Now, upper middle class folks (100 - 250K) will get raped.

Also, we haven't had a Republican Conservative in office.

[Walter Craparita]

I love how he talks about "personal responsibility."

Only could a dem talking about global warming ever utter these words.

If I have to hear one more millionaire tell me how I should spend my money to go green...I may just go burn a tire.

BRB.