During the presentation of the flags earlier this morning, the dead silence was broken by a low, football-game like chorus of "Let's go During the presentation of the flags earlier this morning, the dead silence was broken by a low, football-game like chorus of "Let's go Edwards, Let's go!" coming from the lobby. When Edwards got up to speak a bit later, it almost made you wish he'd brought the pom-squad in with him. It was a strong speech, one that emphasized his "son of a millworker" populism and his "One America" slogan. It also built an analogy about the barriers between Americans and Washington, barriers built up by big business and special interest groups: "America needs a fire. There's a wall around Washington, and the American people need to bring that wall down," he said. "That wall around Washington, it protects a system that's rigged." But for some reason, his speech quickly devolved (and went well past the 10-minutes each candidate was alloted) into a comparison of the Democrats as a whole to the Republican candidates. "If you want to (go to war with Iran, stay in Iraq, live without health care) .... then you should vote for the Republicans. If you want (universal health care, troops of out Iraq, a living wage) ... the you vote for us." It's an odd message here at the DNC meeting; who does he think he's selling on those points?
--Kate Sheppard
