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Former US senator Edwards announces 2008 presidential bid
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 12 29 06Former US senator and 2004 Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards on Thursday launched a bid for his party's nomination to run for president in 2008, using the flood-ravaged city of New Orleans as a backdrop for his announcement.
"I'm here in New Orleans ... to announce that I'm a candidate for the presidency of the United States in the election in 2008," Edwards said.
Edwards, 53, is in the Louisiana city to take part in rebuilding efforts in the wake of the devastating 2005 floods unleashed by Hurricane Katrina.
"I'm in New Orleans ... to show what's possible when we, as Americans, instead of staying home and complaining about somebody else not doing what they're supposed to, we actually take responsibility and take action," said Edwards.
"That's what's going to be the basis for my campaign. This campaign will be a grassroots, ground-up campaign, where we ask people to take action."
Edwards argued that "actually the biggest responsibility of the next president of the United States is to re-establish America's leadership role in the world, starting with Iraq.
"We need to make it clear that we intend to leave Iraq and turn over the responsibility of Iraq to the Iraqi people," Edwards said.
"The best way to make that clear is to actually start leaving, which is why I've said we ought to be taking 40,000 to 50,000 troops out now, and that ought to continue over time.
"The problem in Iraq is not one that's susceptible to a military solution; it's going to require a political solution. Fighting between Shia and Sunnis has been going on for centuries, and a political solution is the only viable way there's going to be any success in Iraq over the long term," he added.
Edwards also distanced himself from the Republican administration of President George W. Bush on global warming.
"We ought to be patriotic to do something about global warming," he said. "I don't mean in an abstract way. I mean, we've made mistakes in the past. We walked away from Kyoto unilaterally, which was, in my judgment, a serious mistake.
"People often think about global warming as something that is going to affect the next generation. If you are under 60 and something doesn't change, global warming is very likely to affect your life," Edwards said.
"This is another example of a place where Americans can get off their addiction to oil, we can drive more fuel-efficient vehicles, we can invest in some of the cleaner alternative sources of energy -- wind, solar, biomass. There are a whole series of things that we need to do."
He added that the concern also extends to the area of security, "because it drives so much of our policy, particularly in the Middle East. And that has got to change."
The multimillionaire trial lawyer is the third Democrat to formally enter the race for his party's nomination to run for US president in 2008.
The two other hopefuls are outgoing Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack and US Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. Several other Democrats -- including US senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton -- also are considering vying for the Democratic nomination. Both have indicated that they would make their decisions known during the month of January.
Since losing to Senator John Kerry in the 2004 Democratic primary and then becoming Kerry's running mate in the 2004 presidential elections, Edwards has led a University of North Carolina research center on poverty.
Edwards has served only one six-year term in the Senate (1998-2004) and has never held an executive post. But he has been globe-hopping over the past two years, meeting with foreign leaders in an effort to broaden his resume.
Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and have three children: Emma Claire, seven; Jack, five; and Cate, 24. Their first child, Wade, died in 1996.
AFP 28 2158 GMT 12 06
Copyright© 2001 AFP All Rights Reserved.
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