Edwards keeps humming while others change tune

[bigtree]

January 5, 2008

CONCORD, N.H. – John Edwards has a simple philosophy when it comes to fine-tuning his message for New Hampshire: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Edwards regaled a crowd of more than 200 this morning with indictments of corporate greed and lobbyists' grip on Washington D.C., along with pledges to fight for universal health care, fairer trade deals and an end to the Iraq war. He proclaimed himself the underdog in Tuesday's primary, but added "the real underdog in America is the middle-class, the low-income families in America who are struggling just to survive."

It's essentially the same pitch Edwards gave Iowans in the weeks leading up to his second-place finish in the Jan. 3 caucus (won by Sen. Barack Obama), and it's very similar to the language he employed on an early-fall swing through New Hampshire. And it stands in contrast to several other candidates touring the state this weekend, who have retooled their messages to appeal to New Hampshire's independent-minded voters and to incorporate lessons from the Iowa results.

Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton is delivering a New Hampshire stump speech that warns of sharp contrasts with Obama, and which Boston Globe article this morning called "remarkable for the number of new elements introduced in it." Republican Mitt Romney has re-branded himself a man of "change," and GOP rival Mike Huckabee has toned down his religious references and upped his tax talk

Edwards aides call the success of the former North Carolina senator's message the "unwritten story of Iowa." The Edwards field organization targeted 42,000 Iowans for caucus-night turnout, spokesman Mark Kornblau said. Some 80,000 Iowans ended up choosing Edwards.

"They went and caucused for him based on this message," Kornblau said

The biggest tweak in Edwards' speech post-Iowa is his attempt to re-frame the nomination fight as a battle between what he calls the two "change candidates" – himself and Obama - and excludes Clinton, who was long perceived as the national frontrunner. Edwards differentiates himself from Obama largely by saying he'll take a more confrontational approach to corporate interests, particularly insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyists, when pushing issues such as universal health coverage.

In Concord this morning, Edwards let his favorite campaign surrogate . . .


http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/edwards_keeps_humming_while_ot.html

[kimmerspixelated]

1. Staying on message is a good thing!

More power to Edwards da man! At least no one can say he's a flip-flopper or a waffler or major suck-up politician!

[Triana]

2. 'cause he had the right tune to start with....

...he's on message - no reason to change now!

[bigtree]

4. he's on fire

:kick:

[Gloria]

3. My one question is: does he link all this to the "youth" who will be awakening

to this further down the line when they're older?? In other words, today's middle class is suffering, but YOU, YOUTH, will be paying the piper big time if we don't fight now?????

I know it aint' HOPE, but it's REALITY!!!!!