John Edwards hits the road (again)

Manchester, N.H. -- In his bid to transform the Democratic presidential race into a mano a mano contest between himself and Barack Obama, John Edwards is relying on a tactic that may have helped propel his second-place finish in Iowa: a road trip.

Earlier today, Edwards and his crew embarked on a 36-hour tour of New Hampshire, just as he had done in Iowa (though presumably with more reliable wheels).

If you happen to be in the area, the candidate's itinerary includes Monday stops at 2 a.m. (EST) on Main Street in Berlin, N.H., and 4 a.m. at Miller's Cafe in Littleton, N.H.

Pivotal moments during Saturday night's Democratic candidate debate underscored that Edwards' strategy, for now, is to join Obama in ganging up on Hillary Clinton in hopes that she's the first of the trio officially driven from the nomination race. And then, he'll hope that Obama's message of hope somehow grows stale and the party will turn to him.

At the kickoff event today for his new tour, Edwards, as he frequently does, relied on a real-life story to illustrate his attacks on corporate interests -- in this case the health insurance industry. Joining him at a packed rally in Manchester, The Times' Seema Mehta reports, was a family from Los Angeles.

Leukemia patient Nataline Sarkisyan, 17, needed a liver transplant and was turned down ...

by her family's insurance carrier late last year. Doctors, nurses and others in the area's Armenian community protested, and Cigna eventually reversed its decision. But the teen died hours after the reversal.

Since Nataline's death Dec. 20, Edwards often has invoked her case on the stump, and he named her in the speech he delivered after edging Clinton to come in second in the Iowa caucuses last week.

Hilda Sarkisyan, Nataline's mother, heard the speech and contacted his campaign. The family arrived in New Hampshire on Sunday morning.

Nataline's parents and brother described their ordeal, from Nataline's diagnosis at age 14, to a bone-marrow transplant her brother gave her, to the day she died.

"Thirty minutes before my sister passed away in that ICU room, I looked at her in her eyes, and honest to God, I promised her I'm going to live my life for her; I promised her that everyone in the world is going to know her story, her struggle, her fight," said Bedig Sarkisyan. "The world has to change."

Grigor Sarkisyan, Nataline's father, told the somber audience how he had promised to buy his daughter a white car after she got out of the hospital, but had to buy a white coffin instead. He said he thought he had done everything he was supposed to as a father -- working hard, supporting his family and buying health insurance that he believed would take care of them if they got sick. Instead, he was protesting outside of Cigna's headquarters the day his daughter died.

He and his wife urged voters to support Edwards, saying he is the sole candidate who will fight for Americans against such powerful interests as insurance companies.

Edwards used the story to take a gentle jab at Obama, saying the family's experience shows why the next president needs to be a fighter, not a negotiator.

The Sarkisyans "dealt with the insurance company, negotiated with them, filled out their forms. Nothing changed until they took them on and fought them. That's what brought about the result that was too late," he told Mehta and other reporters after the town hall meeting.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Mark]

It's a shame the mass media will not report this story. I have not heard a thing about this story on Television.

I support John Edwards. If he does not get the nomination I am going to sit this election out. This will be the first time in my life I would not vote for someone for president. I have been voting since 1976.

Obama is a new face but he sounds like a water down version of Edwards. Obamais even is copying Edwards Message, in some cases word for word. Obama is a fake. The Democrats will lose my vote at least on the presidential level. Mark my word, Obama will not win in a general election. He will not have any hope of carrying any state south of Missouri. What the difference between a Corporate Democrat or a Corporate Republican? Obama is not strong enough to fight corporate greed. Edwards has the strength and courage to do so.

[dave]

John Edwards is real. He has my backing. The Rep nominees are so out of touch with middle class isssues....any more years of them will sink our ship.
Good luck to John in NH and the rest of the campaign.

[Oscar]

I believe that Edwards is absolutely what we need.

The corporate media is trying to sabatoge his campaign by ignoring him, doing negative stories(i.e.e Edwards has to win this State; He does not have enough money(He raised 20-plus million, ect).

The corporations are desperate. We must find a way to support him.

[Arlene]

Edwards claims to fight corporate greed, but he made a lot of money working for a hedge fund who did subprime loans, preying on people who had even been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Edwards says he "can't recall" if the hedge fund told him about that. Sounds like a classic Republican defense. Remember Alberto Gonzales. Edwards populist message is stale. It is confrontational politics, and we have had too much confrontational politics lately. That is why Edwards so far has not gained traction. Last time around, he was a more appealing candidate to me, less of a firebrand.

[tony]

None of these candidates is perfect, including Edwards; Hillary did a little insider trading ala Martha Stewart (among other things) and Obama did drugs and Richardson is like watching paint dry. but Edwards is the guy I want fighting for me. People are so afraid of any kind of "fight" anymore but, hey...this guy wants to fight for US. Americans need to get a little more backbone and take their country back before it's too late. Quit acting like freakin' sheep, people! Isn't a great country worth fighting for anymore?

If Obama and Clinton are the candidates we're just replaying Al Gore and John Kerry again and I really despair of a Huckabee Presidency.

[Jamie]

John Edwards is the most viable candidate in the democratic party to beat a republican in Nov. Sure, Obama and Clinton have star power (shhhh! because they are a black man and a woman) and don't forget Oprah. I say Edwards/Obama is the winning ticket. Combined, they've got enough experience. But not too much to be corrupt (Clinton). Also, Edwards can capture the southern /rural/heartland vote (important) and Obama would capture, the right/left coast liberals, young people, women, and the black vote. Together, they could do alot of good and turn this country around.

[Lisa]

The United States is thirsty for change and John Edwards is the only candidate representing real change. I say this because he is running his campaign on public funding unlike Obama or Clinton. I want a president who is NOT doing the bidding for the corporations that are backing them, rather I want a candidate who candidacy is built on the votes and funding of the people. I want a president who is fighting for the average American, and that is me. I also would like to see a real national healthcare plan implemented in this country. After seeing "Sicko" it is a shame that the only industrialized (well used to be industrialized) country is without a national healthcare plan. Speaking of industrialized, chrysler plans to lay-off 12,000 workers. How many times do we have to see this type of headlines? John Edwards will make changes necessary to create jobs . Our jobs continue to go overseas or across the border, and corporations are maintaining record profits, at the expense of the workers of Americans. The United States is in trouble finacially...we need a candidate with a true plan....not merely a candidate makilng "rock star" status completely enabled by the M$M! John Edwards all the way to the WH! Go Johnny Go....Fight the good Fight! For real changes it is John Edwards for me.

[Michael Filitis]

Not only did Obama do drugs--which is a non-issue--he has accepted $160,000 from coal and nuclear executives in this campaign. That is not how you bring about change. If you want to get money out of elections and corporate power out of politics, you at least need to do it in your campaign. Yes, Edwards has made mistakes, but he is running an honorable campaign with a real message and the aggressive policy agenda to bring about real and substantive change, not just empty rhetoric like Obama.

[Dan D]

Wait a second. Doesn't anyone remember that Edwards made between $40 and $80 MILLION (he won't say how much) suing doctors for things they didn't do wrong??? I'm referring to the money he made suing doctors claiming that infants developed cerebral palsy because doctors did not perform a caesarean section (google it, it's well documented).

Did he care that there wasn't a shred of evidence linking cerebral palsy to natural birth (then or now)? And caesarean section rate has increased 5x, with no change in cerebral palsy rate. It didn't matter to him because he was getting paid, to the tune of EIGHT figures.

And who paid Edwards? It wasn't the insurance companies, it was you and I. Because when those insurance companies raise their rates and lower their services because of great lawyers and bad science, we all suffer. People like John Edwards bankrupt the system for their own dollar. They exploit emotions and "common man" themes while they move into bigger mansions.

I'm not saying that what happened in Nataline's case isn't a tragedy, but is John Edwards really the answer? Or is he exploiting this emotionally charged issue, like many others, while he himself is part of the problem.