Iowa's first lady endorsed Edwards Monday.
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) - Iowa First Lady Mari Culver offered her personal endorsement to former Sen. John Edwards at an afternoon campaign rally in Des Moines Monday.
Earlier, Mari Culver told the Des Moines Register she was acting on her own, and not speaking on behalf of her husband, Democratic Gov. Chet Culver.
"We as Democrats have the best field of candidates running that we've ever had,” Culver told a crowd of about 150 Edwards supporters. “Like you, however, I can only select one candidate to stand with on January 3. That is why today I publicly announce my support for John Edwards for president."
Culver, who also endorsed Edwards during his 2004 presidential bid, said one reason she really liked the former senator was his wife Elizabeth. She also said she was impressed with his commitment to fighting poverty, adding that "most importantly, John Edwards can win" - both in the caucuses and the general election.
In 2004, Christy Vilsack, wife of then-Gov. Tom Vilsack, endorsed John Kerry - a nod that some analysts credit with helping the Massachusetts senator come from behind to win the Democratic caucuses.
The high-profile endorsement comes just a day after the Des Moines Register snubbed Edwards, their 2004 pick, in favor of presidential rival Hillary Clinton. Political analyst Stu Rothenberg told CNN Monday’s endorsement is “an attempt to minimize the damage of an endorsement he got four years ago and didn't get this time.
"In terms of this endorsement dramatically changing the race, it ain't gonna do it," said Rothenberg.
–CNN Sr. Political Producer Matthew Hoye
From CNN Politics
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Edwards has not done anything to fight special interests here in NC. He did not join in the fight against predatory lenders, he has done nothing to help us against the extremely-polluting hog industry, and corporate welfare has run rampant for want of a leader to fighting against it. He could have used his influence after the last election to get our Governor on board with some of this–but didn"t. He could have walked the halls of our Legislature fighting for better laws–but didn"t. And for the record, he might have not taken money from lobbyists or PACS but that certainly doesn"t mean he hasn"t taken from "special interests" to include the trial lawyers. And he also might want to consider that those drug industries and others employ a lot of his fellow North Carolinians.
John Edwards has almost no chance of winning in November. His claim to fame is having been a sponsor of the bill to authorize war in Iraq. He later refused to take full responsibility for this novice error, only apologizing for having “voted” for the bill he actually sponosred. He started campaigning for president after only two years of his only term in public office, thereby limiting what experience he could have gained in his remaining 4 years in the Senate. His angry appeals to class warfare will turn away independent voters. And how can he carry the South when he couldn’t carry his home state, either as the V.P. candidate or when he refused to run for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Edwards also doesn’t have the intellectual heft of a Senator Obama. No best selling intellectual book. No law school academic honors. And the NY Times ran an article a while ago indicating that Edwards’ staff kept wearing Edwards for president buttons long after Edwards was asked to be the V.P. candidate. The same article said Edwards persuaded Kerry not to oppose the Iraq War in the general election of 2004. What has Edwards ever done that makes him worthy of consideration for the presidency
Go to this website and check out the number of bills sponsored by each senator in the race: http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d110/sponlst.html John Edwards was among the least active Senators during his time in office. In a 2 year period from 2001-2002, John Edwards ranked 90th among the 100 Senators in number of bills sponsored. How can he expect to lead this country as president, when he was FAR from a leader in the Senate during his time in office? I think this should be raised as an issue and I would like John Edwards to explain why we should vote for him when his rivals have clearly worked much harder for the American people while in office. Now I do realize that the number of bills sponsored does not necessarily correlate to the overall quality of a Senator, but I think a 6 year trend of ranking near the bottom is very telling and warrants, at the very least, an explanation.
Jon Edwards was first a lawyer who mastered suing companies and then he became a hedge fund manager. It makes me laugh when he talks about poor people.
She is betting a loser.
Senator Edwards is the most believable candidate. He is the man for our times:
Young, strong, honest, and compassionate who best represents the needs of the
oppressed poor and embattled middle class. If America is going to survive the
the mess that Bush has left behind, His Legacy, we could not ask for anyone
better. President Edwards will rally America back on its feet.