While his rivals ramped up the star power in Iowa on Saturday, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards addressed a mostly blue collar audience in Concord, New Hampshire and assailed the North American Free Trade Agreement on the fourteenth anniversary of its passage.
Former Senator Edwards (N.C.) said the agreement – which removed tariffs for trade between the US, Canada and Mexico – had hit blue collar workers and the middle class particularly hard.
“My view is that NAFTA’s been a disaster for America and has cost us over a million jobs,” he said. “It’s a particularly clear example of big corporate powers getting exactly what they want in Washington, at the cost of over a million American jobs and incredible damage to the middle class in this country.”
Identifying the Clintons as “the movers behind NAFTA” – an agreement first signed and fast-tracked by President George H W Bush – Mr Edwards used the opportunity to align Senator Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) with big corporate interests and old-style Washington politics.
“She’ll have to carry that burden herself in trying to convince people that now she’s changed her view,” referring to her recent efforts to distance herself from NAFTA.
Mr Edwards seemed unfazed that Senator Clinton and Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) were hobnobbing with more glamorous company on the campaign trail, including Senator Obama’s whirlwind tour through the primary states of Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey. Mr Edwards said he doubts that people would actually cast a vote based on a celebrity’s endorsement.
“I don’t think that is a critical part of what’s happening,” he said. “People take this very seriously. I don’t think they decide who to vote for based on what movie star is for you. Most people vote on the basis of candidates themselves.”
The audience in Concord seemed won over by Mr Edwards’ vision and policies.
“I’m really impressed,” said Normandie Blake, the editor of a community newspapers group. “This country is going downhill, and the rich are getting richer.”
Local Democratic activist and Edwards supporter Jon Bresler said the audience was made up of working families concerned about their job security and quality of life.
“There’s not a person in there with a shirt that cost more than $12,” said Mr Bresler. “They’re here for health care, for education, for getting out of Iraq. This is blue-collar New Hampshire, and they’re responding to his message.”
However, retired financial planner Lee Birak worried that Mr Edwards needs to tone down his anti-corporate message so that it would not be so polarizing.
“He’s turning it a little into a class struggle, and I don't know if that’s too polarizing,” said Mr Birak. “If he’s confronting us with a class struggle, how is he going to bring business and Republicans and the middle class together? He’s got to bring them to the table, and if you slam them too hard they’re not going to show up at the party.”
