Today John and Elizabeth Edwards were joined by surrogates from MoveOn.org, SEIU, the Center for American Progress, USAction, VoteVets.org and Americans United for Change in a conference call to talk about a new joint project reports CBS News’ Michelle Levi. The new initiative seeks to draw a link between the ongoing war in Iraq with economic concerns at home and the participants pledged to keep the issue at the forefront in the both presidential and congressional campaigns.
The coalition vowed to be a substantial voice this election year by targeting presumptive GOP nominee John McCain as the candidate who will continue Bush’s policies in Iraq and by working on the ground in states and congressional districts where the incumbent is challenged by an anti-war candidate (including Democratic candidates). A surrogate from each entity outlined what their organizations plan to do individually.
Speaking from his home in North Carolina, John Edwards credited Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for continuing to make “clear they will end the war in Iraq” and said he “wants to make sure [voters] know they have a clear choice between a Democratic candidate who will end the war and the other choice … who will continue failed policies.” Elizabeth Edwards reiterated her husbands concern about poverty, saying that the nation has “a limited amount of money, and we are spending too much on the war.”
Vote Vets, an organization founded by military veterans, released a new ad which, according to the release, will have a limited run on cable in the Washington, DC area this week. The ad features an Iraq veteran with her infant son and alludes to McCain’s comments that he’s committed to staying in Iraq for a lengthy period of time. The veteran says, “this is my little boy. He was born a year after I came back from Iraq. What kind of commitment are you making to him? How about a thousand years of affordable health care, or a thousand years of keeping America safe? Can we afford that for my child, Senator McCain? Or have you already promised to spend trillions — in Baghdad?”
