John Edwards on the Issues

By Jon Greenberg on Monday, July 7, 2003.

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Last night in Concord, North Carolina Senator John Edwards kicked off a town-hall meeting tour in New Hampshire. NHPR has been meeting with the the presidential candidates.
He recently came to our studios to discuss his run for the White House - a campaign he says should be a debate about values.

Edwards was the first in his family to go to college and sees education as a gateway to opportunity for many people. He recently unveiled a tax plan driven by that goal and says putting money into education will make it happen.

Edwards:
I think we still have two public school systems in America. One for the haves and one for the have-nots. If you live in a community that?s affluent, the odds are pretty good that you are going to get a good public school education. But if you don?t, then the odds go down dramatically. What I would do is first, spend money at the national level to supplement teacher pay. Second thing I?d do to close this gap is give bonus, incentive pay to teachers who are willing to locate and teach in schools in chronically disadvantages areas. Third thing I?d do is give scholarships to young people who will commit to locate for at least 5 years to teach in a school in a chronically disadvantaged area."

On foreign policy, Edwards supported the use of American forces in Iraq and says the United States should be ready to act alone when necessary to protect its interests. But he criticizes the Bush administration for a policy that he says is characterized by arrogance without purpose. Edwards also believes the president has the wrong priorities on homeland security.

Edwards: First, domestically, what we ought to be doing here, doing a much more effective job of protecting our most vulnerable targets. Second, doing a much better job of protecting our borders and our ports, particularly our ports. Third, I think we ought to get communities and leaders more involved in protecting themselves. And last, far from least, I would take the responsibility for fighting domestic terrorism away from the FBI. I just think they?re a law enforcement agency by nature. Law enforcement is linear, it?s all about investigation, arrest, prosecution, conviction. That?s not what intelligence is about."

Some Democratic contenders have suggested that before the Iraq War, the Bush administration manipulated information about weapons of mass destruction. Edwards says it is far too early to make any allegations of that sort.

Edwards: The search is not finished. There?s a good deal of work still going on in Iraq right now and I think it?s very important before we jump to any conclusions, that we let that process be complete. So that?s the body of information we have right now. Obviously when this is all completed, we have to determine the extent to which our intelligence going into the war matched with what was found there, so that in the future, going forward, we don?t duplicate any problems we may have with our intelligence."

Edwards was a trial lawyer for two decades before entering politics. He specialized in medical malpractice law, often representing families in suits against health insurance companies. Talking with NHPR?s Mark Bevis, Edwards says malpractice suits can increase the cost of health care. He advocates a measured response.

Edwards: What I?d do about the malpractice issue is first, let?s be sure insurance companies aren?t just passing on their losses in the stock market to the doctors. Second we need to give doctors tax relief if their premiums get to a certain level. Third, we also need to be willing to do something about frivolous malpractice cases that shouldn?t be filed. What I have suggested is that we have a screening mechanism.

Mark Bevis: Looking over the folks who have contributed to your campaign, you seem to get a lot of trial lawyers supporting you, a lot of investment houses, why do they like a John Edwards for President?

Edwards: I think the explanation?s really not complicated. I was a lawyer for 20 years. As a result I have a lot of lawyer friends around the country, including a lot in NC, and they know me and support me. Same as if a doctor were running for president. A lot of doctors would support him."

Senator Edwards supports legislation that would allow patients greater flexibility to see medical specialists. He also supports greater federal aid to states to help cover the costs of Medicaid.

In the coming weeks, Edwards will hold town hall meetings in towns across New Hampshire.