Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards was in Lewiston Sept. 26 to speak to voters about Iraq and the war on terrorism. Afterward, he held a town meeting-style forum where he answered voters’ question on any subject. After the forum, Edwards met with reporters from two Maine television stations and a daily newspaper for one-on-one interviews. The interviews were arranged by the campaign only if the media were willing to postpone broadcast or publication of their interviews for a full day. The following is a transcript from the Sun Journal’s interview:

Q If the picture is as bleak as you paint domestically and in Iraq, why do you think you and John Kerry are not farther ahead in the polls?

I think the people are focusing now as they usually do the last six weeks of the campaign on the record of the incumbent president and the differences between John Kerry and George Bush. That focus becomes more intense as people see the record, you know: 5 million people losing their health care; 1.5 million jobs lost; incomes going down; while the cost of everything, particularly health care, is skyrocketing; and the mess that we have in Iraq in spite of the incredible service of the men and women in uniform. It’s clear that this administration has been an extraordinary failure. And the question then becomes for most voters: “What are you going to do to make it better?” And that’s why there’ll be an intense focus on what we’ll do to create jobs and protect jobs, our health-care plan, and our plan for Iraq becomes enormously important. I think those things will be discussed on the campaign trail and in the debates.

Q So you expect your polling numbers to start shooting up?

I expect to win the election. I don’t have a lot of faith in polls. But I expect on Election Day the voters will see they cannot stand four more years of job losses and health-care crisis and the mess in Iraq.

Q What role did former Democratic Sen. George Mitchell, of Maine, play in John Kerry choosing you as his running mate?

I don’t know that I know specifically. I know that John has an enormous amount of respect for the senator, as do I. And I know that the senator was a strong supporter of John Kerry. So, I’m certain that he got the advice of Sen. Mitchell. As to what happened in that conversation, I don’t know. Honestly, I haven’t asked him and it’s never come up. Maybe I will ask him.

Q: Do medical malpractice lawsuits drive up the cost of health care? (Edwards was a trial lawyer who handled malpractice cases.)

A: Malpractice cases affect about one-half of 1 percent of health-care costs. That’s half of 1 percent. They are a miniscule part of the health care costs in this country, which are going up by double digits.

That being said, it doesn’t mean we can’t do better. We can do better. I think that what the doctors are complaining about is real. The premiums for their insurance are going up. John and I have a plan that deals with keeping frivolous lawsuits out of the system. The Bush plan does not. They talk about frivolous cases but the truth is all their plan does is take away the rights of the most serious victims.

What we do instead is try to keep cases out of the system that don’t belong there. And the way we accomplish that … is we put more responsibility on the lawyers. We require the lawyers to have their cases reviewed by independent experts before the case can be filed, certify that that’s been done, that it’s been determined by these experts that it’s a serious case, that it’s meritorious. Then if the lawyer fails to do that, we hold the lawyers responsible. If they violate the rules, we have a “three strikes and you’re out” rule. The whole idea is to just don’t let cases in the system that don’t belong there. And there are certain cases in the system that don’t belong there.

Q: Do you support Democratic Party efforts to keep Ralph Nader off the ballot wherever possible?

A: What John and I are doing about people who are considering voting for Ralph Nader is reaching out to them directly. We want these voters to know that the things that Ralph has been a champion on for many years, stopping corporate abuses, making sure that we protect our air and water, as examples, are issues that John Kerry and I have been passionate about and fighting for too. We want these folks to know that a vote for John Kerry is a vote for so many of the same causes that Ralph Nader has supported and it’s a vote that will make a real difference in the election.



Q: President Bush said Thursday when he was in Bangor that you and Sen. Kerry cast two of the four votes against funding the Iraq war, which put American soldiers’ lives at risk. Do you believe that’s true?

A: George Bush and Dick Cheney sent thousands of American troops into Iraq without body armor. They sent troops into Iraq without adequate training. They sent troops into Iraq without the armored vehicles that they desperately needed. It is the height of hypocrisy for them to suggest that they have done what they need to do to make sure our troops are safe. They sent troops into battle without a plan, without a plan to win the peace. They sent troops without making the effort to make sure other countries were involved.

What John Kerry and I voted for was to say, “No” to the failed policies of the Bush administration. They weren’t working. And it’s clear, clear today that they weren’t working. And we said they they’re not working. The second thing we said is they insisted that the money for the no-bid billion-dollar contract with Halliburton be part of the spending. We are not for no-bid contracts to Halliburton and that’s why we voted the way we did.

Q: As a first-term senator with virtually no foreign policy experience, how do you expect voters to perceive you as someone they can trust to help shape America’s policy on Iraq and the war on terrorism?

A: I can tell you that I am prepared to be commander in chief, if that ever becomes necessary. I have a clear view about what has to be done to keep this country safe. My first priority will be quashing terrorists where they are, so they cannot do harm to the American people, finishing the job in Afghanistan, stopping the threat in North Korea and in Iran, cleaning up the mess in Iraq. I know what needs to be done to keep this country safe. And I have, in fact, been involved in investigating Sept. 11 and writing the laws to keep America safe after Sept. 11. And if it ever became necessary, I am absolutely prepared to be commander in chief. That’s why I ran for president and why I was selected as the vice presidential candidate.

Copy the Story Link