1. John Edwards speaks with SEIU.

John Edwards spoke with two Change to Win unions today.  The latter was SEIU.  John Edwards spent a good part of his time in front of SEIU to appeal to activists to "believe" in the change that Edwards will bring.  He also stresses that he needs "us" to bring that change.

Closing Remarks at the SEIU Conference

Tapped

by Dana Goldstein

Edwards draws to a close by declaring that despite his wife's ill health, "This is the cause of my life. ... It's clear what I'm going to do. The question is, what are you going to do?" He says he feels the energy of the Civil Rights movement in the movement to end the Iraq war. "Brothers and sisters, like Dr. King, I can see the promised land, it's there, it's right in front of us, the question is, will we have the courage to go in step there? Will we lead? The only thing I ask all of you is to trust your heart. You know what to do!"

Edwards asks again, "Do you believe?" and the audience jumps up screaming and clapping and cheering. They are with him as he intones "God bless you all," and blows them a kiss.

(Disclaimer - These are simply member predictions so please take with a grain of salt.)
Tapped

by Garance Franke-Ruta

...Despite the tremendous outpouring of enthusiasm for Barack Obama from the conference's audience of union leaders and regular members earlier in the day, member after member predicted that loyalty would trump enthusiasm, and that John Edwards, the candidate who has most assiduously courted labor, would win the SEIU's straw poll, and eventually the powerful and activist union's nod.

"I will fall off my chair tomorrow if he don't get it," said Tamekia Robinson of California's Local 1000, predicting a win for Edwards in the SEIU's straw poll, whose results will be announced tomorrow. "If he don't get it, I will be highly, highly, highly surprised."

...

Three of the five largest SEIU locals have already called, at the conference, for an endorsement of Edwards, she noted.

...

But when pressed about where his support lay, Morales eventually gave the most frequently heard answer.  "I like Edwards," he said. "He's a labor man."

3. John Edwards speaks with LiUNA.

Earlier in the day John Edwards spoke with LiUNA.

The full video of the speech can be downloaded here:
mms://65.38.172.148/liuna/edwards.wmv
The full audio of the speech can be downloaded here:
John Edwards' Full LiUNA Speech Audio

4. John Edwards is determined to pass UHC.

During his speeches at LiUNA and SEIU, John Edwards revealed his plans to get UHC passed.

CNN

The campaign of fellow Democrat John Edwards, which has already put out a detailed a health care plan, will up the ante Monday during a speech to the Laborers' International Union of North America in Chicago, Illinois, campaign sources said.

The Edwards proposal would cut off health care for the president, Congress and all political appointees in mid 2009, if a universal health care plan for all Americans has not been passed by then.

Edwards is expected to outline "basic principles" the health care plan would have to meet, the sources.

Determined to show that he is the best candidate to bring UHC, John Edwards outlined why he is most likely to be successful in bringing the change we need.

The lesson Senator Clinton seems to have learned from her experience with health care is, 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' I learned a very different lesson from decades of fighting powerful interests - you can never join 'em, you just have to beat 'em.

TomP's diary has more on John Edwards taking aim at Clinton as well as more about these unions.

5. Diary Roundup.

- John Edwards: I'm pulling THEIR coverage in 2009! by nyceve

• Labor's Choice--Part III (with poll) by Tasini
  
• Edwards: if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I'm flattered. by cosbo
  
• Edwards takes on Clinton: Video and Liveblogging by TomP