CLEVELAND - Sen. John Edwards continued his underdog campaign for Ohio's Super Tuesday votes here Saturday, outlining a plan to eliminate tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas.
Speaking at the Mount Sinai Baptist Church, the North Carolina senator sounded his common theme that there are two Americas - one for the wealthy with connections and one for everyone else.
Edwards began his speech Saturday with an extended overture complimenting the campaign of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, aimed at attracting Dean's supporters.
Edwards said he, like Dean, believes in changing America from the ground up instead of the other way around.
Dean's supporters will be vital for Edwards to have a strong showing Tuesday, and Edwards has been working hard to attract the Deaniacs.
OU graduate Ryan Beam is a prime example of a Dean-to-Edwards convert. Beam worked with Dean's campaign before the former governor exited the race, after which, he said, he was immediately attracted to Edwards' mobilization of young voters.
Even when I was working for the Dean campaign
we knew that the Edwards' campaign had the second largest student campaign. Beam said Edwards was following in Dean's footsteps.
In the speech, Edwards also emphasized his plan to keep more manufacturing jobs in the country by ending tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs overseas and giving breaks to companies that keep factories open.
He criticized the economic estimates of President Bush's administration, saying they're talking about Wall Street. They're not talking about Main Street. He added that the solution was to outsource this administration.
Talking with reporters after the speech, Edwards said efforts to transform Ohio to high-tech rather than manufacturing economy did not have to come at the cost of manufacturing jobs.
They're not mutually exclusive he said. What we should do is everything we can to strengthen our manufacturing economy and at the same time create both tech jobs and other kind of jobs in Ohio.
Both Edwards and his opponent, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, have been emphasizing concerns about the economy throughout the campaign. The message is especially emphasized in Ohio, a state that has lost more jobs in the last year than every state except Michigan.
A University of Cincinnati poll released Friday shows that 43 percent of Ohioans list the economy as the most important issue in the coming general election - more than all other issues combined. Sixteen percent listed either foreign policy or healthcare as paramount, and 4 percent said they were most concerned about homeland security, national security or defense.
Edwards has an uphill battle for Buckeye State voters, who go to the polls Tuesday along with voters from nine other states. Polls show him trailing Kerry by more than 20 points.
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Nick Juliano
