|
John Edwards
Member, U.S. Senate (D-NC); Democratic Candidate for President
Answers to Written Questions from the Floor:
Q: Do you feel you were lied to in the run-up to the vote giving President Bush the power to wage war on Iraq? If not, where are those WMD and Al Qaeda connections?
A: We have an enormous responsibility when it comes to Iraq. First, find why there is a disconnect between information we were given and what's been found in Iraq. If we were lied or exaggerated to, the people who did it need to be held accountable. If there is some colossal intelligence failure, we need to make sure it never happens again. What's happening in Iraq right now is irresponsible. We need to take the American face off of this operation. So long as this is an American occupation, we're going to continue to see hostility toward America. The transition needs to be internationalized. We should go to the UN and do everything in our power to get them to take over this civilian authority so it adds legitimacy to what's happening, not just Iraq, but in that whole region. The security force should be internationalized. When you see our troops attacked by terrorists and the Iraqi people side with them, instead of with us, that tells you all you need to know about what's happening on the ground now in Iraq. We have to change that dynamic. The Iraqi people have to see these attacks as attacks on them. They have to see real steps that are going to allow them to govern themselves and be able to provide security for themselves.
Q: What do you think is the appeal of George W. Bush?
A: I may need more time on this one. Americans saw him, when he went into office, as somebody straightforward, easy to understand and as a fairly warm human being. Whatever we think about him personally, those of us running against him, that's probably still largely his appeal for the people who liked him.
Q: We recently had a mayoral election in this city where a great deal of Democrats supported the Green Party candidate, and most of San Francisco's Republicans supported the Democrat. What do you think this suggests about divisions in the Democratic Party nationwide?
A: What it suggests is that it is enormously important for us, the Democratic Party, to reach out to everyone, including those who are actively involved in the Green Party, those who supported Ralph Nader in the 2000 election. Our tent is really big, and we want everybody in that tent and we want to embrace and bring everyone into that tent. The last numbers I saw nationally: about a third of the country was Democratic, a third Republican and a third Independent or not affiliated with a party. There is a huge swath of America not associated with either party, and it's going to be critical if we intend to win this election that those people find our message and our candidate appealing, too.
Q: Why have so many Southerners left the Democratic Party?
A: Two reasons: in the 1960s, when the civil rights movement was occurring in America, that did have an impact on Southern voters, no question. That's changed over the last 30 years, but it was certainly true then. We did the right thing on civil rights, whatever the vote response. I can't tell you how deeply I believe in that. As to now, there is the perception that sometimes the national Democratic Party looks down in sort of a paternalistic way, and people reject that. They think it's disrespectful, elitist, and they are looking for leaders, including national leaders, who they think understand their lives, who respect their view of the world, and who want to give them a chance to do what they are capable of doing. Most of that is a gut level thing. I don't think it's driven by issues. It's naïve to suggest that you can switch the debate from the things they care about to education and health care. If that worked, it would have worked in the 2000 election. It would have worked in other elections.
Bill Clinton did very well in the South. Southern voters listened to Bill Clinton, and besides him speaking with this kind of accent, they thought, This is a guy who understands us. I may disagree with him on some issues, but at a gut level he's somebody who I feel comfortable with, that I think understands my life. Southern voters are looking for somebody who will treat them with respect and they believe understands their lives. They certainly pay attention to issues, but what I'm describing now is not issue-driven.
Q: Describe your proposal for expanding access to health care. What percentage of the uninsured would your plan cover?
A: We have a health care crisis: 43 million people with no health care coverage, 12 million kids with no health care coverage. Everybody on the Democratic side believes we need to get from where we are today to everyone having coverage. So the question becomes, What do you think is the most effective way to get there? What I would do is immediately mandate, for the first time in our country's history, that every child in America have health care as a matter of birthright. In addition to that, identifying our most vulnerable adult populations - the parents of these same kids, the poor; those over the age of 55 who don't have health care coverage, who aren't in Medicare; people between jobs - and providing help necessary for them to be covered. Then a whole group of ideas to bring down the costs of health care, which are out of control.
This Medicare prescription drug bill is a perfect example of the convergence of powerful lobbies in Washington and this White House. We need to provide the American people and seniors with a prescription drug bill, so we spent billions of dollars of your taxpayer money going to HMOs, instead of providing a prescription-drug benefit. Every provision that would have brought down the cost of prescription drugs was taken out. We wanted to bring in drugs from Canada. The drug companies were against it; it came out. We wanted to allow the power of the the government to be used in buying prescription drugs. The drug companies were against it; it came out. We wanted to do something about drug-company advertising on television. The drug companies were against it; it came out. We wanted to do something about allowing generics into the market more easily. Every single one of these things was the direct result of the drug companies being against it. How in the world are we ever going to get health care costs under control in this country until we have a president that will stand up to these people? Pharmaceutical companies can do a lot of good; they have the potential to do great things for our health care, but they can't just get their way every single time that we try to do responsible things to bring down the cost of health care.
Q: A question about gay marriage and civil unions. What rights should be available to heterosexual couples and denied to gays and lesbians?
A: Let me go from altitude, and then I'll come to the specifics. First, we need a president who treats gays and lesbians and gay and lesbian couples with the respect they are entitled to and believes in that. This is a fairly hot issue in North Carolina. But when I go to town hall meetings and this issue comes up and I talk about it in terms of equality, dignity and self-respect, I get an extraordinarily good response. It's encouraging about the goodness of people.
There is a whole group of things that have got to be changed in the laws of this country. First, we have not even ended employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, which is unbelievable. Second is having gays and lesbians being a protected class under hate crimes legislation. Of course they should be protected. Immigration and adoption laws have to be changed to eliminate discrimination going on. I believe in partner benefits. It's the right thing to do. Also, in consultation with the military leadership, we need to take a look at Don't Ask Don't Tell. All you need to know is that we got rid of a bunch of linguists in the military when we desperately needed them, because of their sexual orientation.
Q: It is reported by Fox News, President Bush does not read newspapers; instead he lets his staff tell him the news. Senator Edwards, how do you stay informed? Do you read a newspaper? Which one?
A: The answer is, yes I do read the newspaper. I read several newspapers each day. And I actually read it myself.
