John Edwards Set to Embark on Poverty Tour with Renee Montagne, NPR

Q: You say "taking time off from the presidential campaign." But isn't this part of the presidential campaign?

Edwards: Well, I think the campaign -- because of the bully pulpit that any serious presidential candidate has -- gives you an opportunity to shine a light on the things you care most about. And I want to take advantage of that opportunity to address this issue.

Todd Beeton continued

Yeah, it's a presidential campaign and you can't separate anything the candidates do from the political theater of the campaign trail and everything they do to raise their own profile is inherently self-serving, but the cynicism that oozed from the questions (not to mention from the comments over at NY Times Caucus blog) was a bit sickening. Is it too much to believe that Edwards' super secret plan is to raise awareness of an issue that doesn't get nearly enough media coverage simply because he feels "it's not ok" that "1 in 8 Americans wake up in poverty?"

John Edwards does what a president would need to do to win support for his ideas and plans.  He is arguing with us.  He is telling the American public and the media that we need to change.

If the media doesn't get this idea from all of his speeches and all of his plans and campaigning, then he kicks it up a notch.

In Rural Poverty Fight, Showing Up Is a First Step by Dee Davis, NPR

This week, presidential candidate John Edwards is coming to retrace the RFK visit. I wish they were all coming. These things matter. It is not about party; it's about eyeballs. And there are sights that need seeing.

Edwards starts 8-state poverty tour in N.O. from USA Today

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People living on the streets are only part of the poverty problem in America, Edwards said. "A huge portion of the people who live in poverty in this country work every day, work all the time," he said.

Solving that problem involves "making work pay" by raising the minimum wage, perhaps linking periodic minimum wage hikes to inflation, and making it easier for workers to unionize and gain better pay through collective bargaining, he said.

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Edwards' Tour Highlights Poverty from ABC News

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"It would be a wonderful thing if the president of the United States could solve all these problems alone. It is not the truth. It is a fantasy," Edwards said. "If we want to bring about the bold change that can end poverty in this country, we need a movement."

"You think about where movements started in this country. The civil rights movement didn't start in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C.," he said. "You know where the civil rights movement started. It started in communities just like this."

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A poster or two has criticized John Edwards for taking out time from campaigning to concentrate on poverty, suggesting that he is only going to make it harder on himself by not collecting money on the road tour.  Well, some things are more important than money.  John Edwards is in a unique position to be able to do more for fighting poverty than just donating.  He is able to put a spotlight on what has been under the American rock.  We all saw this during Katrina.

John Edwards Set to Embark on Poverty Tour with Renee Montagne, NPR

Q: Now, you're beginning this tour in New Orleans. This city is still struggling to come back. Can you really make people care about fighting poverty when it appears that Katrina and its aftermath didn't?

Edwards: Now, I would disagree with that analysis, although that's what a lot of people think. I think that what we saw in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, particularly in New Orleans, was an outpouring from the American people to help their fellow Americans who were struggling and suffering and give them a chance. But what happens is, when there's no national leadership on these issues and time passes, people go back to their lives. They have busy lives. And that's the reason shining a light on this issue is so important -- because with national leadership, the will is there, the desire is there. It just has to be tapped into.

We shouldn't wait for the next natural disaster to pay attention to the lessons from last one.  John Edwards is refocusing our attention back to where it was in September 2005.  Lets remember and realize that the fight has yet to begin on both fighting poverty and rebuilding New Orleans.

On "Road To One America" Tour, Edwards Unveils New Initiatives To Reward Work

Canton, Mississippi - On the first day of Senator John Edwards' three-day "Road to One America" tour, Edwards unveiled new initiatives to respect and reward low-wage workers. The initiatives include protecting workers from routine abuses of minimum wage, overtime, and safety laws through a new taskforce and guaranteeing sick leave so workers who are sick or need to take their child to the emergency room will not lose their job. Today's new initiatives build on Edwards' past efforts to create opportunities for rewarding work, including a higher minimum wage, tax cuts for low-income families, stronger unions, and stepping-stone jobs for willing workers unable to find jobs on their own.

"Past anti-poverty efforts have failed to create enough opportunities for people to work their way out of poverty and into the middle class," Edwards said. "We will never end poverty until we create more opportunities for people to earn enough to support themselves and their families. We need to put our economy back in line with our values by making it possible to work hard and build a better life."

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For more details on Edwards' plan to reward work, please click here for the fact sheet.

The Road to One America: Building One America Starts in New Orleans

Tracy Russo
7/15/2007 at 6:07 PM EST

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In New Orleans, Senator Edwards will unveil his three-point plan to rebuild the city.  The plan seeks to address the question of recovery with a focus on rebuilding infrastructure, creating jobs and keeping the city safe from future storms and rising crime.

Rebuild:  The rebuilding of infrastructure in New Orleans is stalled. The city needs new hospitals, clinics, schools and roads. John Edwards will call for building a new Veterans' hospital downtown,  call on the VA to stop delaying site selection and choose downtown New Orleans, and then fast-track the design process so construction can begin. He will also propose building a 21st century infrastructure, integrating new housing, and preserving livable housing.

Create:  Edwards believes we need to create good jobs in New Orleans. He will propose hiring 50,000 Gulf Coast residents to fill stepping stone jobs dedicated to rebuilding infrastructure that will help local and returning residents gain skills and experience. He will also protect workers from contractor exploitation.

Protect:   Finally, Edwards believes we need to protect the city and the region from weather and crime. As president, Edwards will do whatever is necessary to ensure that Katrina never happens again, including building stronger levees and restoring coastal wetlands. Following Katrina, New Orleans has experienced an epidemic in violence. Edwards will strengthen public safety to end the epidemic of crime and violence.

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For more details on John Edwards' plan to rebuild New Orleans, check out this fact sheet.

While John Edwards may not be taking money on the tour itself, he is asking for a symbolic $8 contribution and a commitment to end the national disgrace of 37 million Americans living in poverty.

Update:
Found a good CNN article about this very question.

With poverty tour, Edwards emphasizes morality over politics

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With America's poor the crux of his campaign, the former vice presidential candidate launched an eight-state tour in New Orleans, a city that exposed U.S. poverty to a global audience following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

His focus on poverty challenges his top Democratic rivals, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and enables Edwards to present himself as a leader with a cause bigger than his own ambition, analysts said.

"This is not a political strategy. This is a huge moral issue facing America," Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina and the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, said in New Orleans late on Sunday.

Edwards is third among Democrats in national opinion polls ahead of the November 2008 elections, behind leader Clinton of New York and Obama of Illinois. But he is strong in the crucial early-voting state of Iowa, where he leads many state polls.

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