John Edwards presidential campaign, 2008
Encyclopedia
John Edwards
is the former United States Senator from North Carolina
and was the Democratic
nominee for Vice President
in 2004
. On December 28, 2006, he announced his entry into the 2008 Presidential election in the city of New Orleans near sites devastated by Hurricane Katrina
. On January 30, 2008, Edwards returned to New Orleans to announce that he was suspending his campaign for the Presidency. On May 14, 2008, he endorsed Barack Obama
at a campaign event in Grand Rapids
, Michigan
.
. He also inadvertently released his campaign slogan early as well: "Tomorrow begins today." This ended months of speculation about whether or not Edwards would make a second run for President.
David Bonior, a former House Democratic Whip from Michigan, was Edwards' campaign manager, bringing strong relationships with organized labor, as well as experience in grassroots campaigning. Kate Michelman
, a nationally prominent abortion rights activist and former leader of NARAL, joined the campaign as a senior adviser, charged with outreach to women. Joe Trippi
, former Howard Dean
Internet strategist, joined Edwards' campaign as part of the media team and also senior adviser in April, 2007.
Two newly-hired staff members responsible for the Edwards campaign blog
, Amanda Marcotte
and Melissa McEwan, came under fire from The Catholic League
on February 6 regarding comments they had made in their personal blogs prior to joining the campaign which many Catholics considered bigoted. Edwards refused to fire them, saying that while "intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign...I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake". The bloggers issued statements separating their personal blogs from the campaign, but Marcotte resigned a few days later, saying that the Catholic League's harassment was interfering with her ability to do her job.
During a speech at the American Conservative Union
's Political Action Conference, Ann Coulter
used the epithet "faggot
" in what she claimed afterward was meant as a one-liner joke
about presidential candidate Edwards, a remark for which she was criticized by pundits on the left and the right. Edwards responded to Coulter's remark, saying: "I think it's important that we not reward hateful, selfish, childish behavior with attention..."
Since his campaign kicked off in 2007, Edwards faced questions about potential conflicts between his campaign against poverty and his personal wealth, particularly the price of his recently built home (estimated at more than $6 million) and how much he paid for two haircuts ($400 each). Edwards reimbursed the campaign and explained that the cost was high because the stylist had to travel to where he was to give the cut.
On March 22, 2007, Edwards and his wife announced that she was diagnosed with stage IV
breast cancer
, with newly discovered metastases
to the bone and possibly to her lung. They said that the cancer was "no longer curable, but is completely treatable" and that they planned to continue campaigning together with an occasional break when Ms. Edwards requires treatment, saying "The campaign goes on strongly." This ended erroneous media speculation prior to the press conference that Edwards would announce a suspension of his campaign.
In May 2007, Edwards explained that his 2005 decision to work for the hedge fund Fortress Investment Group was so that he might learn more about the way financial markets and poverty were linked, saying "It was primarily to learn, but making money was a good thing, too". Edwards initially declined to disclose exactly how much money he made, saying that all information would be released in his financial disclosure forms when candidates are required to do so. Those forms, released a week later, showed that Edwards made $479,512 from his time at Fortress, making it his biggest single source of earned income in 2006. In addition, John Edwards has raised at least $167,700 for his campaign from individuals associated with Fortress Investment Group.
During a campaign speech to the Council on Foreign Relations
in May 2007, Edwards called the War on Terrorism
a slogan that was created for political reasons and that it wasn't a plan to make the United States safe. He went further to compare it to a bumper sticker
and that it had damaged the US's alliances and standing in the world. In response to the Edwards's remarks, President Bush
's homeland security adviser called them "irresponsible, ... offensive and outrageous".
On September 1, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama joined Senator Edwards to stop campaigning in Michigan
and Florida
two states that have bucked their party's nomination schedule.
On January 3, 2008, in the Iowa Caucuses
, the first contest of the nomination process, Edwards placed second with 29.75 percent of the vote to Obama (37.58 percent), with Clinton coming in third with 29.47 percent of the vote. On January 8, Edwards placed a distant third in the New Hampshire Democratic primary with just less than 17% (48,818 votes). On January 26, Edwards again placed third in the South Carolina Democratic primary, 2008
, his birth state, which he carried in 2004 and he placed third in the non-binding January 29 vote in Florida.
On January 30, 2008, Edwards announced that he was ending his campaign for the Presidency.
On February 13, 2008 several high ranking advisers close to Edwards stated that he believed Hillary Clinton was the strongest remaining Democratic candidate and that because of this she was most likely to receive his public endorsement. However, Barack Obama
's meeting with Edwards on February 17 brought that statement into question.
In the first quarter of 2007, the Edwards campaign raised over $14 million, $1 million of which was reserved for the general election. Almost $3.3 million of the $14 million was raised from over 37,000 contributions made over the Internet.
On June 21, 2007, Edwards campaign adviser Joe Trippi sent out a fundraising e-mail stating that the campaign had a goal of raising $9 million in the second quarter and $40 million before the Iowa caucuses.
On June 25, 2007, with the end of the second quarter of fundraising approaching and the campaign short of its goal, Trippi sent a strongly worded email to supporters, saying that "the whole Washington establishment wants our campaign to go away." Trippi wrote, "they don’t want the American people to hear the message, so they attack the messenger. They call him a hypocrite because he came from nothing, built a fortune while standing up for regular people during some of their toughest times, and—heaven forbid!—he has the nerve to remember where he came from and still care passionately about guaranteeing every family the opportunities he had to get ahead."
On July 1, 2007, the Edwards campaign announced that they had met their goal just a few hours before the midnight deadline. Edwards shrugged aside criticism that he had not raised nearly as much as his competitors by noting that Howard Dean
, the leading fundraiser in 2004 did not get the nomination.
On September 27, 2007, Edwards announced during a CNN interview that his campaign would accept public financing, enabling him to receive federal matching funds for the primary season. The Federal Elections Commission formally declared him qualified on November 1, 2007.
and in 3rd place for the January 8 New Hampshire primary
.http://americanresearchgroup.com/pres08/iadem8-716.html Edwards finished in 2nd place in the Iowa Caucus with 30% of the vote, behind Senator Barack Obama
who had 38%, and ahead of Senator Hillary Clinton who had 29%. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#IA On January 8, he placed third in the New Hampshire Primary, the first primary of the nominating process.
The early national polls showed Edwards placing third among the Democratic field, behind Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama
.
On January 3, 2008, the 2008 Iowa Caucuses
were held across locations across the state of Iowa
. Unlike primaries, voting during the Iowa caucuses was held across the state where participants gathered into groups to select their choice for the Democratic Nominee. If a candidate failed to garner over 15% of the support at a particular site, all supporters at that site would be given the option to leave or join a different candidate.
As votes were being tallied on Caucus night, 2008, John Edwards was in a tight battle for second place with Senator Hillary Clinton, after major news agencies had projected Barack Obama had carried the Iowa caucuses. With 100% of the votes counted, John Edwards was confirmed to have finished in second place during the Iowa Caucuses with 744 State delegates, approximately 30% of the state delegation narrowly edging out Hillary Clinton's 737 State delegates, approximately 29% of the state delegation Both lost to Barack Obama's 940 delegates, 38% of the state delegation.
Following the Iowa Caucuses, John Edwards vowed to stay in the race until the Democratic Convention in Denver despite having less support amongst New Hampshire
voters in the 2008 New Hampshire Primary
. A poll released after the Iowa Caucuses showed that 20% of those polled showed their support for John Edwards, compared to 33% for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama However, with 100% of the vote counted, Edwards finished in a distant third with 17% of the vote, compared to second place finisher Barack Obama who received 37% support, and even further behind Clinton, who won the state and received 39% of the vote.
Edwards was hit by further losses, including a distant third showing during the Nevada Caucuses
in which he finished with 4% of the vote. This prompted Edwards to say "I got my butt kicked" during an interview with Wolf Blitzer
on Late Edition.
Finally, the Edwards campaign staked much of their campaign on South Carolina
, a state in which the Senator won in 2004 with 45% of the vote, and the state in which he had been born. After a praised debate performance during the Democratic debate in Myrtle Beach shortly before the South Carolina Primary
, Edwards began to see a last minute surge shortly before the contest. During the conclusion of a last minute surge the week before the primary, most polls indicated Clinton and Edwards in a close match for second place in South Carolina
In the end, Clinton came in second with 27% of the vote while Edwards came in third with 18% of the vote
After a non-binding contest in Florida
, Edwards left the race, but garnered several votes during Super Tuesday
, which included finishing with 10% of the vote in Oklahoma
, and 4% in Tennessee
Edwards, after dropping out of the primaries, had a total of 19 Pledged Delegates from the Iowa Caucuses, the New Hampshire Primary, as well as the South Carolina Primary. In addition to 19 Pledged Delegates, before departing the race, Edwards had the support of 26 Super Delegates in the Democratic Party. Also, Edwards had been endorsed by several big unions such as the USW (United Steelworkers). The USW has aprox. 650,000 members, across several states to influence the Presidential race.
Edwards met with Barack Obama on February 17, 2008 to discuss various issues regarding his endorsement. Despite the fact that no announcement was made immediately after the endorsement, the meeting gained quite a bit of media attention.
Edwards has frequent conversations with Hillary Clinton throughout his time after the primaries. Also, Clinton met with Edwards in North Carolina on February 10, 2008 to discuss among other things a possible endorsement.
On May 14, 2008, Edwards traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan
to officially endorse Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. During his endorsement speech, Edwards praised Senator Clinton but stated that "the voters have made up their mind and so have I" to the sound of resounding applause to the packed audience .
After Edwards had endorsed Obama, twelve of Edwards' delegates pledged their support to Obama following Edwards' lead. Also, the United Steelworkers followed his lead and endorsed Senator Obama.
criticized his healthcare plan and estimated it will cost the taxpayers $120 billion a year and pointed out how Edwards did not address the Tax Code with regards to S-Corporation loopholes that allow people to dodge medicare taxes; a loophole Edwards himself has used in the past.
Commentator Bill O'Reilly
was a vocal critic of John Edwards since the beginning of the controversy regarding comments made by his former bloggers Marcotte and McEwan. O'Reilly feels that what he terms the "radical left" has intimidated Edwards and controls his agenda. O'Reilly alleges that Edwards pulled out of the Fox News debates to curry favor with financier billionaire George Soros
, whom O'Reilly feels is funding radical causes. Edwards was also disparagingly characterized on O'Reilly's show as "Huey Long
with a Madison Avenue makeover" for his opposition to the surge
.
The News Corporation
criticized remarks Edwards made about its subsidiary Fox News, saying that Edwards' criticism is hypocritical as he received an advance from Harper Collins, also a subsidiary of News Corp, for his book. Edwards donated the money to charity, however, O'Reilly's show alleges that Edwards did not provide proof of it when asked.
Topic pages and databases
Media coverage
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
is the former United States Senator from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and was the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nominee for Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
in 2004
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
. On December 28, 2006, he announced his entry into the 2008 Presidential election in the city of New Orleans near sites devastated by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. On January 30, 2008, Edwards returned to New Orleans to announce that he was suspending his campaign for the Presidency. On May 14, 2008, he endorsed Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
at a campaign event in Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Timeline
On December 28, 2006, John Edwards officially announced his candidacy for President in the 2008 election. The day before, his campaign website accidentally released that Edwards would be entering the 2008 Presidential election when it went live for a short time one day prior to his planned announcement in Eastern New OrleansEastern New Orleans
Eastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
. He also inadvertently released his campaign slogan early as well: "Tomorrow begins today." This ended months of speculation about whether or not Edwards would make a second run for President.
David Bonior, a former House Democratic Whip from Michigan, was Edwards' campaign manager, bringing strong relationships with organized labor, as well as experience in grassroots campaigning. Kate Michelman
Kate Michelman
Kate Michelman is an American political activist. She is best known for her support for the pro-choice movement in the United States of America.-Career:...
, a nationally prominent abortion rights activist and former leader of NARAL, joined the campaign as a senior adviser, charged with outreach to women. Joe Trippi
Joe Trippi
Joe Trippi is a long-time American Democratic campaign worker and consultant. A mainstay in presidential politics, Trippi has worked on the presidential campaigns of Edward Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, Dick Gephardt, Jerry Brown and most recently John Edwards...
, former Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
Internet strategist, joined Edwards' campaign as part of the media team and also senior adviser in April, 2007.
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, Amanda Marcotte
Amanda Marcotte
Amanda Marie Marcotte is an American blogger best known for her writing on feminism and politics. Time magazine described her as "an outspoken voice of the left" and said "there is a welcome wonkishness to Marcotte, who, unlike some star bloggers, is not afraid to parse policy with her...
and Melissa McEwan, came under fire from The Catholic League
Catholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
on February 6 regarding comments they had made in their personal blogs prior to joining the campaign which many Catholics considered bigoted. Edwards refused to fire them, saying that while "intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign...I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake". The bloggers issued statements separating their personal blogs from the campaign, but Marcotte resigned a few days later, saying that the Catholic League's harassment was interfering with her ability to do her job.
During a speech at the American Conservative Union
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
's Political Action Conference, Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter
Ann Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...
used the epithet "faggot
Faggot (epithet)
Faggot, often shortened to fag, is a pejorative term and common slur used chiefly in North America against homosexual males. Its pejorative use has spread from the United States to varying extents elsewhere in the English-speaking world through mass culture, including movies, music, and the...
" in what she claimed afterward was meant as a one-liner joke
One-liner joke
A one-liner is a joke that is delivered in a single line. A good one-liner is said to be pithy.Comedians and actors use this comedic method as part of their act, e.g...
about presidential candidate Edwards, a remark for which she was criticized by pundits on the left and the right. Edwards responded to Coulter's remark, saying: "I think it's important that we not reward hateful, selfish, childish behavior with attention..."
Since his campaign kicked off in 2007, Edwards faced questions about potential conflicts between his campaign against poverty and his personal wealth, particularly the price of his recently built home (estimated at more than $6 million) and how much he paid for two haircuts ($400 each). Edwards reimbursed the campaign and explained that the cost was high because the stylist had to travel to where he was to give the cut.
On March 22, 2007, Edwards and his wife announced that she was diagnosed with stage IV
Cancer staging
The stage of a cancer is a description of the extent the cancer has spread. The stage often takes into account the size of a tumor, how deeply it has penetrated, whether it has invaded adjacent organs, how many lymph nodes it has metastasized to , and whether it has spread to distant organs...
breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
, with newly discovered metastases
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...
to the bone and possibly to her lung. They said that the cancer was "no longer curable, but is completely treatable" and that they planned to continue campaigning together with an occasional break when Ms. Edwards requires treatment, saying "The campaign goes on strongly." This ended erroneous media speculation prior to the press conference that Edwards would announce a suspension of his campaign.
In May 2007, Edwards explained that his 2005 decision to work for the hedge fund Fortress Investment Group was so that he might learn more about the way financial markets and poverty were linked, saying "It was primarily to learn, but making money was a good thing, too". Edwards initially declined to disclose exactly how much money he made, saying that all information would be released in his financial disclosure forms when candidates are required to do so. Those forms, released a week later, showed that Edwards made $479,512 from his time at Fortress, making it his biggest single source of earned income in 2006. In addition, John Edwards has raised at least $167,700 for his campaign from individuals associated with Fortress Investment Group.
During a campaign speech to the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
in May 2007, Edwards called the War on Terrorism
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
a slogan that was created for political reasons and that it wasn't a plan to make the United States safe. He went further to compare it to a bumper sticker
Bumper sticker
A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker with a message, intended to be attached to the bumper of an automobile and to be read by the occupants of other vehicles - although they are often stuck onto other objects...
and that it had damaged the US's alliances and standing in the world. In response to the Edwards's remarks, President Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's homeland security adviser called them "irresponsible, ... offensive and outrageous".
On September 1, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama joined Senator Edwards to stop campaigning in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
two states that have bucked their party's nomination schedule.
On January 3, 2008, in the Iowa Caucuses
Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2008
The Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus occurred on January 3, 2008, and was the state caucuses of the Iowa Democratic Party. It was the first election for the Democrats of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary...
, the first contest of the nomination process, Edwards placed second with 29.75 percent of the vote to Obama (37.58 percent), with Clinton coming in third with 29.47 percent of the vote. On January 8, Edwards placed a distant third in the New Hampshire Democratic primary with just less than 17% (48,818 votes). On January 26, Edwards again placed third in the South Carolina Democratic primary, 2008
South Carolina Democratic primary, 2008
The 2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place on January 26, 2008. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won the primary's popular vote by a 28.9% margin....
, his birth state, which he carried in 2004 and he placed third in the non-binding January 29 vote in Florida.
On January 30, 2008, Edwards announced that he was ending his campaign for the Presidency.
On February 13, 2008 several high ranking advisers close to Edwards stated that he believed Hillary Clinton was the strongest remaining Democratic candidate and that because of this she was most likely to receive his public endorsement. However, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's meeting with Edwards on February 17 brought that statement into question.
Fundraising
On June 21, 2007, Edwards campaign adviser Joe Trippi sent out a fundraising e-mail stating that the campaign had a goal of raising $9 million in the second quarter and $40 million before the Iowa caucuses.
On June 25, 2007, with the end of the second quarter of fundraising approaching and the campaign short of its goal, Trippi sent a strongly worded email to supporters, saying that "the whole Washington establishment wants our campaign to go away." Trippi wrote, "they don’t want the American people to hear the message, so they attack the messenger. They call him a hypocrite because he came from nothing, built a fortune while standing up for regular people during some of their toughest times, and—heaven forbid!—he has the nerve to remember where he came from and still care passionately about guaranteeing every family the opportunities he had to get ahead."
On July 1, 2007, the Edwards campaign announced that they had met their goal just a few hours before the midnight deadline. Edwards shrugged aside criticism that he had not raised nearly as much as his competitors by noting that Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
, the leading fundraiser in 2004 did not get the nomination.
On September 27, 2007, Edwards announced during a CNN interview that his campaign would accept public financing, enabling him to receive federal matching funds for the primary season. The Federal Elections Commission formally declared him qualified on November 1, 2007.
Opinion polling
Towards the end of 2007, polls indicated Edwards as either tied for 1st or 2nd place, depending on the poll, for the January 3, 2008 Iowa caucusIowa caucus
The Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa's 1784 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions...
and in 3rd place for the January 8 New Hampshire primary
New Hampshire primary
The New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
.http://americanresearchgroup.com/pres08/iadem8-716.html Edwards finished in 2nd place in the Iowa Caucus with 30% of the vote, behind Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
who had 38%, and ahead of Senator Hillary Clinton who had 29%. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#IA On January 8, he placed third in the New Hampshire Primary, the first primary of the nominating process.
The early national polls showed Edwards placing third among the Democratic field, behind Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
Results
Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2008
The Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus occurred on January 3, 2008, and was the state caucuses of the Iowa Democratic Party. It was the first election for the Democrats of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary...
were held across locations across the state of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. Unlike primaries, voting during the Iowa caucuses was held across the state where participants gathered into groups to select their choice for the Democratic Nominee. If a candidate failed to garner over 15% of the support at a particular site, all supporters at that site would be given the option to leave or join a different candidate.
As votes were being tallied on Caucus night, 2008, John Edwards was in a tight battle for second place with Senator Hillary Clinton, after major news agencies had projected Barack Obama had carried the Iowa caucuses. With 100% of the votes counted, John Edwards was confirmed to have finished in second place during the Iowa Caucuses with 744 State delegates, approximately 30% of the state delegation narrowly edging out Hillary Clinton's 737 State delegates, approximately 29% of the state delegation Both lost to Barack Obama's 940 delegates, 38% of the state delegation.
Following the Iowa Caucuses, John Edwards vowed to stay in the race until the Democratic Convention in Denver despite having less support amongst New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
voters in the 2008 New Hampshire Primary
New Hampshire primary, 2008
The New Hampshire primary of 2008 was held on January 8, 2008 to determine the allocation of New Hampshire's delegates to the national presidential nominating conventions, to be held later in the year. As one of the first electoral events in the 2008 U.S...
. A poll released after the Iowa Caucuses showed that 20% of those polled showed their support for John Edwards, compared to 33% for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama However, with 100% of the vote counted, Edwards finished in a distant third with 17% of the vote, compared to second place finisher Barack Obama who received 37% support, and even further behind Clinton, who won the state and received 39% of the vote.
Edwards was hit by further losses, including a distant third showing during the Nevada Caucuses
Nevada Democratic caucuses, 2008
The Nevada Democratic Presidential Caucuses took place on January 19, 2008 after having been moved from a later date by the Nevada Democratic Party...
in which he finished with 4% of the vote. This prompted Edwards to say "I got my butt kicked" during an interview with Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Isaac Blitzer is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009...
on Late Edition.
Finally, the Edwards campaign staked much of their campaign on South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, a state in which the Senator won in 2004 with 45% of the vote, and the state in which he had been born. After a praised debate performance during the Democratic debate in Myrtle Beach shortly before the South Carolina Primary
South Carolina Democratic primary, 2008
The 2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place on January 26, 2008. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won the primary's popular vote by a 28.9% margin....
, Edwards began to see a last minute surge shortly before the contest. During the conclusion of a last minute surge the week before the primary, most polls indicated Clinton and Edwards in a close match for second place in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
In the end, Clinton came in second with 27% of the vote while Edwards came in third with 18% of the vote
After a non-binding contest in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Edwards left the race, but garnered several votes during Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday
In the United States, Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party's presidential candidates are officially nominated...
, which included finishing with 10% of the vote in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, and 4% in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
| Primary Contest | Place | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New... |
2nd Place | 30% |
| New Hampshire New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian... |
3rd Place | 17% |
| Nevada Nevada Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its... |
3rd Place | 4% |
| South Carolina South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence... |
3rd Place | 18% |
| Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... (non-binding) |
3rd Place | 14% |
- Edwards won the nominating contest (None)
- Edwards Placed Second in the Nominating Contest (Iowa)
- Edwards placed Third in the Nominating Contest (New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida)
Endorsement
The endorsement of John Edwards was heavily sought out after by both Hillary Clinton as well as Barack Obama.Edwards, after dropping out of the primaries, had a total of 19 Pledged Delegates from the Iowa Caucuses, the New Hampshire Primary, as well as the South Carolina Primary. In addition to 19 Pledged Delegates, before departing the race, Edwards had the support of 26 Super Delegates in the Democratic Party. Also, Edwards had been endorsed by several big unions such as the USW (United Steelworkers). The USW has aprox. 650,000 members, across several states to influence the Presidential race.
Edwards met with Barack Obama on February 17, 2008 to discuss various issues regarding his endorsement. Despite the fact that no announcement was made immediately after the endorsement, the meeting gained quite a bit of media attention.
Edwards has frequent conversations with Hillary Clinton throughout his time after the primaries. Also, Clinton met with Edwards in North Carolina on February 10, 2008 to discuss among other things a possible endorsement.
On May 14, 2008, Edwards traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
to officially endorse Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. During his endorsement speech, Edwards praised Senator Clinton but stated that "the voters have made up their mind and so have I" to the sound of resounding applause to the packed audience .
After Edwards had endorsed Obama, twelve of Edwards' delegates pledged their support to Obama following Edwards' lead. Also, the United Steelworkers followed his lead and endorsed Senator Obama.
Endorsements
List of individuals endorsing John Edwards |
|---|
Members of Congress
|
Opposition
The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
criticized his healthcare plan and estimated it will cost the taxpayers $120 billion a year and pointed out how Edwards did not address the Tax Code with regards to S-Corporation loopholes that allow people to dodge medicare taxes; a loophole Edwards himself has used in the past.
Commentator Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
was a vocal critic of John Edwards since the beginning of the controversy regarding comments made by his former bloggers Marcotte and McEwan. O'Reilly feels that what he terms the "radical left" has intimidated Edwards and controls his agenda. O'Reilly alleges that Edwards pulled out of the Fox News debates to curry favor with financier billionaire George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
, whom O'Reilly feels is funding radical causes. Edwards was also disparagingly characterized on O'Reilly's show as "Huey Long
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
with a Madison Avenue makeover" for his opposition to the surge
Iraq War troop surge of 2007
In the context of the Iraq War, the surge refers to United States President George W. Bush's 2007 increase in the number of American troops in order to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province....
.
The News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
criticized remarks Edwards made about its subsidiary Fox News, saying that Edwards' criticism is hypocritical as he received an advance from Harper Collins, also a subsidiary of News Corp, for his book. Edwards donated the money to charity, however, O'Reilly's show alleges that Edwards did not provide proof of it when asked.
See also
- Political positions of John EdwardsPolitical positions of John EdwardsHere are some of Senator John Edwards's votes and remarks on various issues.-End Poverty in 30 Years:One of Edwards' main themes as a political figure is the problem of poverty in America. He believes that poverty can be cut by one third by 2016 and eliminated by 2036...
- John EdwardsJohn EdwardsJohnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
- U.S. presidential election, 2008
External links
- John Edwards for President Official campaign website, podcast
- John Edwards '08 Blog, One Corps
- Iowa for Edwards
- Students for John Edwards
Topic pages and databases
- FEC presidential campaign finance reports
- Spartan Internet Political Performance Index rank for John Edwards by week
- On the Issues issue positions
- OpenSecrets.org campaign contributions
- Politics1 links to campaign sites
- Project Vote Smart candidate information
Media coverage
- NewsHour with Jim Lehrer campaign coverage
- New York Times campaign coverage
- Washington Post campaign coverage
- And the Democratic Front-runner Is... John Edwards? Joe Klein, TIME, December 14, 2006
- Saint Elizabeth and the Ego Monster by John Heilemann & Mark Halperin, New Yorker magazine, January 9, 2010