Sunday, August 22, 2004
Edwards gets big Roanoke welcome
The vice presidential candidate drew a large crowd Saturday at Lucy Addison Middle School.
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roanoke.com/politics
John Edwards greeted his boisterous audience like neighbors when he stepped onto the stage at Roanoke's Lucy Addison Middle School on Saturday morning.
"I'm proud to be here in Southwest Virginia, a place where people talk a little bit like I do," the North Carolina senator said in his now-familiar drawl.
Edwards swept through this part of the state in February as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. He returned Saturday as the running mate - and chief defender - of the man who claimed the prize, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
In a town hall-style meeting in the school's auditorium, Edwards mixed familiar rhetorical riffs about the woes of low- and middle-income families with a forceful denunciation of new television ads that attack Kerry's military record. He also fielded questions from a predominantly partisan crowd that was excited to have Edwards stumping in a state that no national Democratic ticket has carried in 40 years.
About 500 people jammed into the school's auditorium and dozens more watched on television in the school's library. Gov. Mark Warner, who has helped fuel Virginia Democrats' optimism, introduced the vice presidential candidate.
The larger room erupted in cheers when Edwards sharply criticized television ads that question Kerry's account of his service as a Navy swift boat commander in Vietnam. Kerry's campaign has heavily promoted his Vietnam record and aggressively courted veterans.
"The argument and the claim that John Kerry did not serve this country honorably and proudly and courageously is a lie," Edwards said, drawing a long and loud standing ovation.
Edwards was referring to ads by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has accused Kerry of lying about his service in the Vietnam War. Kerry earned a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts as a Navy swift boat commander, but later became an outspoken critic of U.S. involvement in the war.
Edwards said the attacks "are coming from George Bush's friends" and called on the Republican president to put a stop to it.
"There's one man who can put an end to this, and his name is George W. Bush," Edwards said.
While Edwards spoke inside the school, a cluster of Bush supporters waved signs and cheered for their man along the street in front of the building. One of them, Lew Wertz of Botetourt County, said he believes the anti-Kerry ads have raised legitimate questions about the Democrat's war record.
"This is very troubling to me when a man has built his whole campaign on a so-called ability to lead and ability to command when he doesn't have the support of his peers," said Wertz, a retired Army officer.
Edwards devoted most of his Roanoke appearance to discussing economic issues, accusing the Bush administration of creating an economic climate that rewards wealth at the expense of lower- and middle-income families.
Among other things, Edwards criticized the Bush administration for lower-than-expected job growth rates and for sputtering wage growth that has failed to keep pace with cost increases for health care, child care and college tuition.
"What it means is we're developing two different economies," Edwards said. "The people at the top, they're going great under George Bush. What about the rest of America?"
Edwards bemoaned the loss of manufacturing jobs to foreign countries and said he and Kerry will push for tax breaks for companies that keep jobs in the country. He also touted the ticket's Greater Rural Opportunity and Work initiative aimed at attracting early-stage capital and management expertise to rural areas.
In a statement released Saturday afternoon, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, said Bush economic policies have helped create more than 90,000 jobs in Virginia since June 2003 and that Kerry and Edwards "would only turn back this success."
Edwards smoothly handled more than a dozen friendly questions from the audience, which included a throng gathered around him on the stage. He was put on the spot just once, when Clifton Forge resident Carol McGuire-Bishop asked him for a specific plan to boost funding for public schools.
"I'm tired of politicians that are always saying they're for public education, then when they get in office I see no money, I just see more mandates," said Bishop, a retired teacher. "George Bush and No Child Left Behind is a perfect example because there's no money there. I want to know if there's a plan for Kerry-Edwards to work on this problem."
McGuire-Bishop said she also considered vocational education funding especially vital because skilled workers could make good wages without college degrees.
Edwards said the Democratic ticket would fully fund No Child Left Behind mandates. His answer seemed to satisfy McGuire-Bishop.
"I'm satisfied to the point that I think Kerry-Edwards will do more," she said. "Free public education in America is the equalizer. It doesn't matter whether you're ugly, whether you're black or white, whether you're male or female. A good education will get you a good job. The Democrats understand that."
