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CNN Live At Daybreak
John Edwards Forming Exploratory Committee
Aired January 02, 2003 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in politics, the 2004 presidential race could soon have a new entry. Senator John Edwards is expected to announce today he's forming an exploratory committee for a possible campaign.
CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley has this profile of the photogenic Democratic senator from North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), NORTH CAROLINA: We are going to win the White House in 2004.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's something about John Edwards, a picture perfectness, a fresh face in a field flooded with familiar ones.
EDWARDS: It's very pretty. This is a pretty place, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. We think so.
EDWARDS: Really.
CROWLEY: Turning 50 this year, the senator from North Carolina can be charming, a plus in the endless grip and win world of a politician. He is telegenic, with a family to match. "People" magazine once named him sexist politician. Now add articulate. A personal injury trial lawyer, Edwards has a gift for bringing clarity to complicated issues.
EDWARDS: If we don't, if we don't fight for a real Patients Bill of Rights, who will?
CROWLEY: And that's a genuine Southern drawl, a plus in a party that has to win some state, any state in the South, to have a chance in '04.
The Edwards story is of a boy raised in a home of modest means, the first in his family to go to college and law school. Now, a self- made millionaire many times over. What's wrong with this picture is the same thing that's right. He's a fresh face because he hasn't been at it very long.
EDWARDS: Judge, I want to ask you some questions.
CROWLEY: Edwards has been a senator for four years, his first and only political job. Though his natural gifts and ambitions have raised his profile beyond his tenure. Edwards has taken opportunities to play in the international arena, but he's green and sometimes it shows. There have been awkward news conferences and at least one really bad talk show performance. And speeches can fall short of scintillating. Edwards' voting record is more liberal than not, but he's been in the Senate so short a time he's an easy mark for rival camps who privately deride the junior senator as substance free or Clinton lite.
In truth, Edwards is no more or less schooled in governance than the current president, who had been Texas governor for four and a half years when he ran for president. But that was then and this is post- 9/11. Voters might prefer an old hand to a fresh face.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, you can watch an interview with Senator Edwards on today's edition of CNN "Inside Politics." That's at 4:00 Eastern time today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 2, 2003 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in politics, the 2004 presidential race could soon have a new entry. Senator John Edwards is expected to announce today he's forming an exploratory committee for a possible campaign.
CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley has this profile of the photogenic Democratic senator from North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), NORTH CAROLINA: We are going to win the White House in 2004.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's something about John Edwards, a picture perfectness, a fresh face in a field flooded with familiar ones.
EDWARDS: It's very pretty. This is a pretty place, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. We think so.
EDWARDS: Really.
CROWLEY: Turning 50 this year, the senator from North Carolina can be charming, a plus in the endless grip and win world of a politician. He is telegenic, with a family to match. "People" magazine once named him sexist politician. Now add articulate. A personal injury trial lawyer, Edwards has a gift for bringing clarity to complicated issues.
EDWARDS: If we don't, if we don't fight for a real Patients Bill of Rights, who will?
CROWLEY: And that's a genuine Southern drawl, a plus in a party that has to win some state, any state in the South, to have a chance in '04.
The Edwards story is of a boy raised in a home of modest means, the first in his family to go to college and law school. Now, a self- made millionaire many times over. What's wrong with this picture is the same thing that's right. He's a fresh face because he hasn't been at it very long.
EDWARDS: Judge, I want to ask you some questions.
CROWLEY: Edwards has been a senator for four years, his first and only political job. Though his natural gifts and ambitions have raised his profile beyond his tenure. Edwards has taken opportunities to play in the international arena, but he's green and sometimes it shows. There have been awkward news conferences and at least one really bad talk show performance. And speeches can fall short of scintillating. Edwards' voting record is more liberal than not, but he's been in the Senate so short a time he's an easy mark for rival camps who privately deride the junior senator as substance free or Clinton lite.
In truth, Edwards is no more or less schooled in governance than the current president, who had been Texas governor for four and a half years when he ran for president. But that was then and this is post- 9/11. Voters might prefer an old hand to a fresh face.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, you can watch an interview with Senator Edwards on today's edition of CNN "Inside Politics." That's at 4:00 Eastern time today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
