You'll never guess why John Edwards was in town

Former Sen. John Edwards was passing through L.A. today doing what many Democratic candidates do a lot of in L.A.--rake in bundles of money at private fundraisers--three days' worth in Edwards' case. Might as well get a little publicity at the same time, so he held a sparsely-attended media availability in Century City where, you'll never guess what came up: Money.

According to The Times' Seema Mehta, Edwards announced that he was returning about $1,000 in donations received from employees of News Corp., the global media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch, who just reached agreement to buy Dow Jones, including the Wall Street Journal. He called on his Democratic presidential competitors, some of whom have received considerably more from News Corp. folks, to follow suit.

“I don’t want Rupert Murdoch to own all the newspapers in America,” Edwards said. “Anyone running for the Democratic nomination should return any money they’ve taken from these people. We have to stand up to them. It’s time to put a stop to this.”

Edwards described such media consolidation as “unhealthy for democracy” and said he was also motivated by what he sees as Fox News' bias against Democrats. He said he feared the Journal would develop a similar bias in its pages. (Hey, John, take a peek sometime at the Journal's editorial page?)

Edwards also spoke out again against the Bush administration’s proposed $20-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. He called it “an example of a foreign policy of convenience, which is in part driven by America’s addiction to oil.” He urges Congress to deny the proposal, which he claims doesn’t include requirements that Saudi Arabia fight terrorism or become more involved in Iraq. “We get almost nothing in return,” the candidate said.

Edwards said he feared the sales could lead to an arms build-up in the Middle East, prompting Iran...

to work harder to obtain nuclear weapons.

Edwards dismissed changes in this week’s political polls, which showed him losing support in South Carolina and Iowa and trailing Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in New Hampshire by double digits. “I don’t think they mean anything” at this point, he suggested. By the way, recently The Times' Richard Fausset spent several days on the road with Edwards for this story. And then we talked to Fausset about the experience.

Edwards will return to the city next week for a Human Rights Campaign forum on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights. He pledged today to get rid of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” military policy  on homosexuals instituted by former President Bill Clinton.

He also repeated his support of civil unions as well as giving gay couples the right to adopt and have similar tax breaks as heterosexual marriages. But the former senator says he doesn't believe the federal government should tell states and religious institutions how to define marriage. This stance puts him at odds with his own marriage partner, Elizabeth, who says she supports gay marriage.

“I feel a personal conflict about it and have for some time,” Edwards said. But not enough to cause a change in his position.

--Andrew Malcolm