John Edwards

John Edwards, born June 10, 1953 in South Carolina, is a former U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was also a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000 and the 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee.

As a presidential candidate, Edwards was famed for his populist message in his "Two Americas" speech. In the primaries, Sen. Edwards had strong come-from-behind showings in the crucial states of Iowa, Oklahoma, Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Georgia. He also won the North Carolina caucus and the South Carolina primary.

Edwards has kept his Federal Leadership PAC, the One America Committee, active to help democrats across the nation win elections in the future.

In his time in the Senate, Edwards co-sponsored 203 bills. Among them was Lieberman's 2002 Iraq War Resolution-- which he co-sponsored along with 15 other senators. The resolution did not go to a vote. He voted for replacement resolution, H.J Res. 114, in the full Senate to authorize the use of military force against Iraq, which passed by a vote of 77 to 23.

He defended his vote on an October 10, 2004 appearance on Meet the Press; however, he subsequently changed his mind about the war and apologized for that military authorization vote. Edwards also voted in favor of the Patriot Act.

Among other positions, Edwards was generally pro-choice and supported affirmative action, and the death penalty. One of his first sponsored bills was the Fragile X Research Breakthrough Act of 1999.

He was also the first person to introduce comprehensive anti-spyware legislation with the Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act. He advocated rolling back the Bush administration's tax cuts and ending mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent offenders. Edwards generally supported expanding legal immigration to the United States while working with Mexico to provide better border security and stop illegal trafficking.^[

Edwards served on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary and was a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

His major issues are:

Complete withdrawl from Iraq
Education
Eliminate poverty
Ending genocide in Darfur
Energy independence
Fighting global disease
Helping families save money
Restoring hope to rural communities
Strengthen military support services
Strong national security
Universal healthcare

(See www.johnedwards.com/issues/ for more on these issues)

Sources: JohnEdwards.com