John Edwards' Small Change and Big Bucks

John Edwards' spent a mere 20 minutes speaking at his "Small Change for Big Change" event in Milwaukee yesterday evening.

His supporters must have been a bit disappointed that his remarks were so brief.

I guess he gave the "small change" crowd the "small change" version of his stump speech.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

With a message aimed directly at the party's core, John Edwards positioned himself Monday as the only contender in the Democrats' presidential derby who is willing to turn America's focus back to the poor and the working class.

Speaking for about 20 minutes on Milwaukee's south side, Edwards pledged to create a universal health care program, raise the minimum wage, fight global warming and stand with unions and average Americans. He described a political system that is beholden to drug companies, oil companies and powerful lobbyists.

"This system is broken," said Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina. "It's rigged. It's rigged against you and against ordinary American citizens."

He later added: "We desperately, desperately need to put a Democrat in the White House in 2008. I don't know about you, but I do not want to see us replace a bunch of corporate Republicans with a bunch of corporate Democrats."

"Corporate Democrats"?

Who are the "corporate Democrats"?

That's a swipe at Hillary Clinton and the massive, deeply-entrenched Clinton political machine.

Barack Obama probably qualifies as a corporate Dem, too. In spite of his grassroots support, a candidate with a corporate giant like Oprah on his side isn't a "nobody's president but yours" sort of guy. At least that's what Edwards wants people to believe.

Personally, I don't buy it.

..The event, which organizers said drew about 500 people, was a fund-raiser, though it probably carried greater weight as a means to draw attention and early support. Attendees were asked to give $15, part of a series of Edwards events around the country dubbed "Small change for big change."

Earlier in the evening, Edwards - who had a successful career as a trial lawyer before entering politics - attended a more expensive fund-raiser that lawyer Robert Habush hosted at the University Club.

The setup was similar to an April visit by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who, after a $1,000-a-person fund-raiser, drew about 4,000 people to a speech at the Milwaukee Theatre.

Although the Obama speech - on the day of the Virginia Tech shootings - was a low-key, reflective affair, Edwards was in full fire-up-the-troops mode.

He took the stage with his tie undone, sleeves rolled up. The crowd, heavy with union members who have formed the backbone of his presidential bid, cheered Edwards at every turn.

The union guys cheered on cue. Big deal.

So the "un-corporate" Democrat Edwards reserved 20 measly minutes to talk to the "small change" people. He was probably tired out after the Robert Habush hosted University Club "big bucks" event.

...In his speech, Edwards said Democrats in Congress should "do what the American people put them in charge of doing" and end the war in Iraq. He did not mention New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Obama by name, but both - like several other presidential contenders - are members of Congress.

Of course, the one-term former U.S. Sen. Edwards was in Congress long enough to vote FOR the war in Iraq.

Apparently, he believed that was what the American people put him in charge of doing.

It's easy for Edwards to criticize Clinton and Obama and the other congressional Democrat presidential wannabes for being ineffective.

Edwards has had four years since his failed bid to be vice president. He's protected by that buffer of having no accountability for recent Washington business and having such a meager political history in the first place.

WisPolitics has more.

Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards bemoaned the United States' diminished reputation with the rest of the world in a speech Monday night, saying it needs to once again be a source of hope and light.

Edwards spoke for thirty minutes to a crowd of several hundred at Serb Hall in Milwaukee. He emphasized America’s failure as a prosperous nation to provide universal health care and criticized the recent troop surge policy.

This account clocks Edwards' speech at 30 minutes rather than 20.

”We don’t need a surge in Baghdad, we need a surge in New Orleans,” said Edwards to great applause.

Edwards made it clear that he feels the Bush administration must shoulder the blame for America's tarnished image.

“I don’t think George Bush has damaged our reputation in the world. I think he has destroyed it,” said Edwards. “We have to be the source of hope again, the light for the rest of the world. We used to be that light.”

Blah, blah, blah.

That's boring. We've heard it all before, some of it as far back as 2004.

He should have said that Hillary was trying to be a man or whined about the deck being stacked against him because he's not a woman or black.

He should have said, "If you can't run your own house, you can't run the White House."

That would have been more exciting.

Edwards at least could have mentioned "she-devil" Ann Coulter to spark things up a bit.

...He also outlined plans for the withdrawal of as many as 30,000 troops by next summer. The reduction would return the number of troops in Iraq to about the same level in place when the president ordered a buildup last winter.

Edwards said it was time for the war to end.

“It’s time that Congress does what the American people put them in charge to do, and that is to put an end to this war in Iraq; they should not submit a single funding bill without a timetable for withdrawal attached,” Edwards said.

In other words, John Edwards knows better than General Petraeus. All the Dems claim to be military geniuses.

This one-term senator has a better grasp of military strategy than Petraeus. Yeah, right.

Creating a universal health care system and finding a way to tackle the issue of global warming also stood out as he delivered his campaign message.

Oh, goody! Socialized medicine!

Edwards referred to global warming as “an enormous crisis” and called for a cap on carbon emissions. He pushed spending more money on developing solar power capabilities and spoke out against building any new nuclear power plants.

What an environmental hypocrite!

The guy lives in a 28,200-square-foot home on a 102-acre estate.

The main house is all on one level except for a 600-square-foot bedroom and bath area above the guest garage.

The recreation building contains a basketball court, a squash court, two stages, a bedroom, kitchen, bathrooms, swimming pool, a four-story tower, and a room designated “John’s Lounge.”

Edwards should do his part to alleviate the environmental crisis and cut back on his extravagant lifestyle.

He preaches sacrifice, giving up SUVs; but he's not practicing what he preaches.

There's a surprise.

Prediction: John Edwards will not be the Democrat presidential nominee.