Senator John Edwards and the 2008 Presidential Election

Senator John Edwards seemed to be the reincarnation of former president John Kennedy to many within the Democratic Party in 2004. Edwards is a charming, eloquent speaker who has the charisma that is unmatched by many within politics, much less the Democratic Party. As well, his approach to politics is fairly moderate, including a concern about the sanctity of marriage and a hard-nosed approach to fighting crime in urban areas. However, the Democratic Party primary schedule and its financial backers wanted a candidate with more experience and a greater fund-raising advantage, setting up Senator John Kerry for a relatively easy nomination process. John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, was chosen as the vice-presidential candidate and was part of the Democratic ticket that barely lost election in November 2004.

Edwards has certainly gotten attention since his part in the 2004 election. Edwards is now the director of the University of North Carolina Center for Poverty, Work, and Opportunity, which is committed to joining academic, public, and private resources for the abolition of poverty in America. As anyone who observed Edwards in 2004 knows, the former senator’s main issue is the bridging of “two Americas,” one consisting of the wealthy and powerful and the other consisting of everyone else. Edwards came from a humble upbringing in North Carolina and has stayed active in helping out the lower and middle class, both as a prosecutor in North Carolina and as an advocate for tax and welfare reform in the Senate.