"It is time to give those entrenched interests that are standing against America hell"

Democrats Blitz Iowa to Rev Up Support

By MIKE GLOVER
The Associated Press
Sunday, November 11, 2007; 8:54 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/11/AR2007111100236.html

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The race for the Democratic presidential nomination moved into overdrive Saturday, as candidates scrambled to outdo each other to win over the Iowa activists who will leadoff the contest on Jan. 3. Six Democratic rivals trotted out celebrities, filled the air with populist rhetoric and schmoozed party regulars in the most hectic day of a campaign that's been intense for months.

Some of the hottest rhetoric of the night came from John Edwards, who has sounded an increasingly sharp populist theme in recent weeks. "It is time for us as a party to stand up with some backbone and some strength for what we actually believe in," said Edwards. "We do not believe in allowing lobbyists to write the laws of the United States of America and we do not believe that we are above the law."

Edwards made a pointed reference to former President Bill Clinton and his failed effort to overhaul the nation's health care system _ an effort led by one of Edwards' rival candidates, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"It is not enough," said Edwards. "Look at what happened in the 1990s when we had a Democratic president, a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate but still drug companies, insurance companies and their lobbyists killed universal health care in the United States of America." He offered the sharpest line in a night of tough rhetoric. "I think it is time for us to give America hope," said Edwards. "It is time to give those entrenched interests that are standing against America hell."



Democratic presidential hopeful former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., right, meets Kevin Miskell's, left, granddaughter Kyrie Miskell, 7-weeks-old, after speaking at a the Farmer's Union summit in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)