“In my first year there will be no more Guantanamo.” “There will be no rendition flights or anything like that.” “When I am President we will stop the illegal spying on the American people.” “There will be no debate in America about what kind of torture is permissible.” “America should be a force for good in the world again, a country that is worthy of world leadership.” The people there cheered for over a minute. He talked about a “Tidal wave of change, and give this country to our children the way our parents did for us, to give them a world that was better than we found it.” The people flocked to Edwards and he stopped for pictures and autographs. I said ‘Thanks for talking about our civil liberties” as I gave him my retired Army cap to sign. He looked at the cap and grabbed both my hands and said “Thank you, you’re welcome.”
After the majority of the people left I was informed that there would be a “Press avial”. I stayed on and got with a group of reporters and listened to them ask about his poor showing in Nevada. He told them that he hopes the saying “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. A female reporter asked him if he was in it to the end and he said “Yes”. He said this cause that he’s engaged in won’t go away”. Then another reporter asked him if he would stay in the race if he lost here in South Carolina? He said he already answered that question. I asked the last question; “Senator Edwards, are you going to make our civil liberties part of the core of your campaign?” He told me “It already is”. That was the last thing he said, and that was good enough for me.
From the welcome he got here in Greenville, South Carolina, Edwards seems to have caught a second wind. He seemed energized by the audience. He’s thinner than when I last saw him in 2004, but there is more emotional substance there. I think that this Primary fight on his home turf could be the turning point for him.
That’s the way I see it.
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