By Ezra
It's 6:10 in the morning in New Orleans and I'd really rather not be awake. In the last four days, I've switched time zones twice, and my body would rather I hadn't. But I'm going to be doing it twice more in the next 36 hours, so it'd better adjust. About 40 minutes ago, I rolled out of bed, put my tape recorder and notebook in a backpack, and stumbled down to the lobby. About 36 minutes from now, I'll board a press bus that'll take me to the upper 9th Ward, where John Edwards will stand before a ruined home in a near-drowned city and announce his campaign for president.
As of now, though, there's precious little to report. The Edwards staffers seem relaxed and upbeat, despite Ford's death somewhat trampling their news cycle and a web site muck up previewing their announcement. They're quite excited about a YouTube video the campaign created where Edwards articulates his agenda and invites viewers to get involved. They spent Tuesday working at a food bank and Wednesday doing reconstruction. The direct action motif looks to be laced through the campaign -- "there's a lot of good we can do between now and election day," I keep hearing people say.
Besides that, the news from New Orleans remains sparse. John Edwards will run for president, as you already guessed. The questions about his strategy are the same as they ever were: Is he running a campaign of moral witness or for president? Will a laser-like focus on the poor undermine support from other classes, all of which are worried about their slice of the pie? Does concentrating on the forgotten America alienate either or both of the Two Americas? Being here has offered anecdotes, but not answers. With the first primary a bit over a year away, that's probably all it can offer.
In any case, I'll have more to say after his speech this morning. I'll be heading to his post-announcement townhall in Iowa later this afternoon, which should be useful as well. I should say that my presence here is not, in any way, an endorsement of Edwards, nor have I decided (or even come near deciding) to support him. I like his current focus on social policy, but we'll have to see how the campaign shakes out. As time goes on, I'll be reporting with the other candidates as well.
Anyway, the bus is leaving, so I'll hit post and run. More later, hopefully.
