Edwards' poverty tour recalls days of RFK

[draft_mario_cuomo]

==By Christi Parsons
Tribune national correspondent
Published July 18, 2007

MARKS, Miss. — As former Sen. John Edwards was touring this Mississippi Delta town the other day, a woman mistook him for a member of the Kennedy clan.

A little while later, the local mayor referred to the Democratic presidential candidate as "Sen. Kennedy" while presenting him a key to the city. Even a man giving Edwards a tour of his neighborhood kept pointing out a certain resemblance.

"The last person who came here seeking national office," the man told Edwards solemnly, "was Bobby Kennedy."==

==A parallel

Still, for some, including close associates of Kennedy, the parallel seems apt. Some of them applaud Edwards for emphasizing poverty at a time when it might not seem like a winning issue.

"I do see parallels to Bobby Kennedy, because of their focus on the most serious problem in America," said Frank Mankiewicz, Kennedy's press secretary and a companion on some of the poverty-focused trips.==

Read the rest at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-edwards_wedjul18,1,5584800.story?page=1&cset=true&ctrack=1&coll=chi-news-hed

[Maddy McCall]

1. Reminds me of Wellstone.

:(

[jefferson_dem]

2. "Winning issue" or not. It's positions like this that make me proud to be a Democrat.

n/t

[jobycom]

3. He's getting some good press for this. Nice to see.

I have a pet fantasy that one or all of the candidates will come up with a grand rebuilding program, to not only fight poverty, but to do some FDR style construction on this nation. We haven't give the nation a face lift in a while. New Orleans could use some massive Netherlands-style flood control, the Gulf Coast could use better evacuation routes and maybe even some innovative hurricane protection measures to minimize storm surge damage. The whole nation could use safer bridges and roadways. Every time I see a picture of a shocking engineering marvel, it's in another country (France's sky bridge, or several other major bridge projects, for instance). We could use some bullet trains, too. Then there is the energy infrastructure, where outdated and dangerous power plants could be rebuilt, and our system of hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, etc, energy could be greatly improved.

Seems to me a wonderful way to fight poverty is to increase the value of labor and the need for skilled labor, and we could make a lot of improvements that would pay off in increased commerce.

Not completely connected to Edwards's tour, but perhaps raising the issue of poverty would also raise some creative, productive long-term solutions. Worked for FDR, JFK, Eisenhower, even Clinton, with his Americorp.

[silverojo]

4. Best post I've seen in ages

You're totally right...this country does need another New Deal type of program, that will provide jobs AND improve this country.