Edwards Back on Stump at Forum

Just five months off of the presidential campaign trail, former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards stopped by Harvard last night to promote his next major campaign in a speech entitled “Restoring the American Dream.”

Edwards, the newly appointed coordinator of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, offered a series of proposals aimed at stifling poverty in the United States to a spirited crowd at the Institute of Politics (IOP).

“We have to look at this issue of poverty with 21st-century eyes,” he said. “We need to see the problem as a whole, not a stereotype.”

Edwards, who himself grew up in a poverty-stricken household, called on Congress and state governments to increase the minimum wage, which he called a “national disgrace.”

“The best way to end poverty is to make sure people earn the kind of income when they work that will lift them out of poverty,” he said.

He said that to support struggling workers, the federal government must make an effort to expand income tax credits for single workers and eliminate marriage penalties.

Rehashing a topic he championed in the 2004 presidential race, Edwards called for a “comprehensive reform” of the nation’s health care system in order to better address the needs of low-income families.

Edwards also offered his support for “baby bonds”—bank accounts parents open upon having children. The government would match, dollar for dollar, deposits made to these accounts, Edwards said, allowing parents to save more easily for their children’s futures.

Later, Edwards stressed the need to monitor and regulate U.S. loan companies.

“We need to stop the poisonous hold that payday and predatory lenders have on our families,” he said. “We need to crack down on credit card companies.”

His 35-minute speech did not end without a reference to the current political climate. Edwards criticized President George W. Bush’s administration for misusing faith-based groups to support the ??poverty cause.

“In this administration, [the faith-based] effort is used for partisan political advantage and that’s wrong,” he said.

Edwards also suggested repealing the administration’s tax cuts as a possible way to pay for these initiatives and said that Bush was encouraging an “ownership society.”

In a question-and-answer session following his speech, Edwards sidestepped an inquiry about the 2004 campaign, saying he preferred to look towards the future rather than towards the past.

“[Democrats] shouldn’t change what we believe and what we stand for because of one or even two elections,” he said.

David R. Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), said that Edwards’ campaign on poverty was an unusual project for a former politician.

“John Edwards is the first major American politician who has taken a hard, strong stance saying we should eradicate poverty in America,” he said, adding that he would not rule out the possibility of seeing Edwards on the campaign trail again. “I think a lot of people who were here were impressed that he’s taking on an issue that was once at the core of the Democratic party’s policy and has slipped over the past 20 years.”

T.J. Schuck, a fourth-year medical student at Tufts, said that although he was encouraged by Edwards’ poverty campaign, he had some reservations.

“I think the most privileged people aren’t going to go out on a limb to campaign and to really push for these objectives that he wants,” he said.

Harvard School of Public Health student Nihar R. Desai said that he thought Edwards’ experience would help the effort to eradicate poverty.

“I think Senator Edwards is the perfect person to inspire people and to bring stories to people across the country and to be the leader on this initiative,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Edwards spoke with College and KSG students at Kirkland House. He also met with a group of 10 students who presented him with a policy paper on issues of poverty.

“He was very enthusiastic about it,” said Brittani S. Head ’06, communications director for the Harvard College Democrats, the group that drafted the paper. “He said he was looking for student ideas and seemed to agree with much of what we presented him with.”

—Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu.??