John Edwards Goes On The Offense

John Edwards has a new stump speech saying the old Washington establishment is corrupt and rigged. He didn’t mention Hillary Clinton by name but implied she is part of this old corrupt establishment. “Small thinking and outdated answers aren’t the only problems with a vision for the future that is rooted in nostalgia,” Edwards said. “The trouble with nostalgia is that you tend to remember what you liked and forget what you didn’t. It’s not just that the answers of the past aren’t up to the job today; it’s that the system that produced them was corrupt — and still is.” “Real change starts with being honest, and I want to say something again: The system in Washington is rigged, and I’ll say it again, it’s rigged and it’s rigged by greedy powers,” Edwards said to a crowd at Dartmouth College. “It’s rigged by the system to favor the establishment.” “The American people deserve to know that their presidency is not for sale. The Lincoln Bedroom is not for rent,” Edwards said, which is clearly a reference to the Clinton era. He said anyone tied to the past will not be the answer for the future. “Those wed to the policies of the ’70s, ’80s or the ’90s are wedded to the past, ideas and policies that are tired, shopworn and obsolete. We will find no answers there.” This is another reference to Clinton, since Bill was in charge through most of the 90’s. Edwards also warned the crowd to not, “replace one group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats, just swapping the Washington insiders of one party for the Washington insiders of the other.” Edwards not only did a number on Hillary, who is without a doubt a part of the old establishment, he also saved some attack for newcomer Barack Obama. Obama has been talking about it is time for a change. So Edwards said, “How many times have voters in New Hampshire heard politicians come rolling through here saying that they want change? That’s great. What do they really want to do as the president of the United States?” “I don’t think just the word ‘change’ means much to people,” Edwards said in an interview. “I mean, what is the policy of the word? In my case, it’s been a very aggressive set of very substantive ideas … because otherwise the change rhetoric all sounds the same.” Edwards has remained third in most polls, and this seems to be his newest strategy. He is going to take on the the two front runners at the same time.
Alan Cosgrove