AP: Kerry/Edwards
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| Tue, 07-06-2004 - 8:12am |
By RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) selected former rival John Edwards (news - web sites) to be his running mate, picking the smooth-talking Southern populist over more seasoned politicians in hopes of injecting vigor and small-town appeal to the Democratic presidential ticket, The Associated Press learned Tuesday.
Kerry offered Edwards the No. 2 spot on the Democratic ticket in a telephone call Tuesday morning, and the North Carolina senator accepted, said two senior Democrats familiar with the conversation.
Kerry planned to announce his pick by e-mail to supporters, then at a rally in Pittsburgh.
Edwards was the last major candidate standing against Kerry in the Democratic presidential race. He emerged as a favorite second choice of Democratic voters, thanks to his youthful good looks, a self-assured manner and an upbeat, optimistic style. He saved his harshest criticism for President Bush (news - web sites), who he accused of creating "two Americas" — one for the privileged, another for everyone else.
Some Democrats were concerned that Edwards, whose only political credential was a single term in the Senate, lacked the experience in international affairs, particularly in wartime, to be a credible candidate to assume the presidency in the case of death, resignation or removal.
Indeed, Kerry privately complained to associates during the campaign that Edwards hadn't served long enough in the Senate — or politics for that matter — to deserve a shot at the presidency. Aides said he was won over by his private meetings with Edwards, his performance as a campaign surrogate since the primary fight ended and pressure from Democratic leaders who pushed Edwards as a vice presidential pick.
Edwards seldom criticized Kerry or any of the other Democrats while running a generally positive campaign. The two had few major policy disagreements — both supported the decision to go to war in Iraq (news - web sites), for example, and both voted against the $87 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites).
One division was over the North American Free Trade Agreement: Kerry voted for it, but Edwards campaigned against NAFTA, which the Senate approved before he was elected. Edwards made trade, jobs and the economy the centerpiece of his campaign, questioning Kerry's vote on NAFTA but not pledging to seek its repeal.
They also differed in some ways on how to approach some issues. Both called for rolling back the Bush tax cuts, but Kerry proposed eliminating the tax cuts for those who make more than $200,000 a year while Edwards set the ceiling at $240,000. Kerry voted against the ban on so-called "partial birth" abortion passed by Congress, but Edwards did not vote. A more clear-cut difference was Kerry's opposition to the death penalty and Edwards' support of it.
Kerry finished first and Edwards second in the Iowa caucuses in January, surprising front-runner Howard Dean (news - web sites) and driving regional favorite Dick Gephardt (news - web sites) out of the race. Dean finished second to Kerry in the New Hampshire primary, and as Dean lost the next dozen delegate contests, the race became a contest between Kerry and Edwards.
Yet Edwards could never muster enough momentum to overtake his Senate colleague. He won only a single state during the competitive phase of the primary, his native South Carolina, and ended his bid following the 10-state Super Tuesday elections on March 2. North Carolina gave Edwards a victory in its first presidential caucus on April 17, but the vote meant more as a boost to his standing at the Democratic National Convention and to his potential as a running mate.
Edwards, 51, was born in Seneca, S.C., and grew up in Robbins, N.C. His father was a mill worker, and he announced his presidential campaign from the factory, then closed, where his father had worked and where he had swept floors to earn money for college. He earned a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University in 1974 and a law degree from the University of North Carolina in 1977.
A Methodist, Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children: Cate, Emma Claire and Jack. Their son Wade died in a traffic accident at age 16 in 1996.
Edwards worked in private practice in Nashville and Raleigh, N.C., for nearly two decades, earning a fortune from medical malpractice and product liability judgments. Although Edwards portrayed himself as a champion of ordinary people hurt by large corporations, the American Tort Reform Association described him as "a wealthy personal injury lawyer masquerading as a man of the regular people."
Pouring millions of his own dollars into North Carolina's 1998 Senate campaign, he challenged Republican Sen. Lauch Faircloth. The incumbent failed to persuade people that Edwards was no more than a lawsuit-happy lawyer, losing his seat to the upstart politician by 4 percentage points.
In the Senate as well as on the campaign trail, Edwards tended to take a moderate stand on issues. Outside of North Carolina, he gained more public attention from media-coined nicknames like "Golden Boy" and as People magazine's "sexiest politician."
On behalf of Senate Democrats, he was part of the team that deposed former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and others linked to the impeachment case of former President Bill Clinton (news - web sites). Although Edwards had served just two years in the Senate, Al Gore (news - web sites) considered him as a running mate in 2000 before choosing Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web sites) of Connecticut.
Edwards supports abortion rights and opposes private-school vouchers and partial privatization of Social Security (news - web sites). He backs domestic-partner benefits for same-sex couples yet opposes gay marriage — and a constitutional amendment against it. He does not favor drilling for oil in the Arctic refuge.
In education policy, Edwards proposed offering one year of free tuition at public universities and community colleges for students who agree to 10 hours of community service a week and wants to double federal spending on public-school teacher training.
Edwards' health care proposals focused on providing better care and coverage for children. He has proposed tax breaks to make children's health coverage affordable to families that agree to buy it. Under his plan, a family of four earning less than $60,000 would pay less than $370 a year for their kids' insurance; a lower income family of four would pay about $110.
He also advocates subsidies to help two-thirds of uninsured adults buy health coverage. People aged 55 to 65 could buy into Medicare, under his proposal, and unemployed workers who are not wealthy could continue coverage from their last jobs with 70 percent federal subsidies.

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Maybe this is exactly what we need, someone who is not like the others with international affairs. Experience obviously doesn't mean you know what you are doing or do the right things. A fresh face and outlook may be the best thing we need!!
I agree, Kerry did pick someone who will boost him up.
KERRY PICKS GEPHARDT
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www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/26839.htm
July 6, 2004 -- EXCLUSIVE
John Kerry has chosen Rep. Richard Gephardt, the veteran congressman from Missouri, to be his running mate, The Post has learned.
Gephardt, 63, a 28-year veteran of the House of Representatives, could be named by the presumptive Democratic nominee as the party's vice-presidential candidate as soon as today.
The Massachusetts senator was set to announce the winner of the veep-stakes at a rally this morning in Pittsburgh, according to several reports last night.
With the July 26 Democratic convention in Boston looming, Kerry is looking for some advantage in the polls, and is hoping his choice of running mate will be the answer.
The polls have consistently shown him neck and neck with President Bush.
Gephardt, who was House majority leader from 1989 to 1995 and minority leader until 2002, could be an asset to Kerry in key battleground states in the Midwest.
He also has long been known as a supporter of organized labor, which leans heavily Democratic.
Gephardt had been one of those vying for the Democratic nomination along with Kerry, but folded up his operation after failing to win the caucuses in the neighboring state of Iowa.
He also lost an attempt at the nomination in 1988 to Michael Dukakis.
After holding local office in his native St. Louis, Gephardt was first elected to Congress in 1976.
He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Michigan law school.
He's has an extensive political résumé, but he may be too experienced. Gephardt could be viewed by voters as too much of a Washington insider.
There was early speculation that Kerry was going to make a bold choice by crossing party lines and asking Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) to join the ticket. But McCain embarrassed Kerry by publicly declining.
Then many thought Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) would be the one, when it was learned he had cut short a family vacation at Florida's Walt Disney World last week so he could rush to see Kerry in Washington.
They met Thursday, according to sources close to the Kerry campaign.
But the sources also noted that Kerry held positive meetings with Gephardt and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Many Democrats had urged Kerry to turn to his former opponent Edwards, 51, whose youthful appearance and sunny campaign style during the primary made him a favorite among party activists.
Edwards also could have been competitive in the south, and the choice of Gephardt could be a sign that Kerry is "writing off" that region.
Edwards also lacked experience. He is a one-term senator whose lack of seasoning in foreign affairs could have made voters nervous about his ability to assume the presidency during a war or an international crisis.
It was thought that Kerry felt more comfortable with Gephardt than any of the other candidates. He even said he would have supported Gephardt if he were not running himself. Vilsack, 53, was the least known of the top contenders.
The Iowa governor was believed to be personally liked by Kerry and also hailed from the Midwest — but he was virtually unknown to voters.
Besides Pittsburgh, Kerry will also be in Indianapolis today and will head to Cleveland, Cincinnati and Milwaukee before coming to New York at the end of the week for several fund-raisers.
Edited 7/6/2004 9:23 am ET ET by schifferle
Edwards will reply, "You're right Dick. I have no experience misleading the American people. I have no experience sending our boys and girls to die in war so that Halliburton, a company from which you are still collecting pay checks, can be awarded no-bid contracts. And I have no experience meeting with polluters and companies that have ripped off consumers in the name of formulating an energy policy that does nothing to give us independence from Mideast oil."
***NOTE: EDWARDS did not say that. Someone on the messageboards thought that would be a good response if Cheney starts to go after Edwards.
Sandy!!!!
Welcome back !
Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board
Renee ~~~
Make sure to remove "W" from your vocabulary in 2004!!!!
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