Edwards Recalls Legal Victories To Reinforce Outsider Image
"The Trail" Washington Post blog
Saturday, November 10, 2007----
Former Sen. John Edwards is reclaiming his professional roots as a trial lawyer.
Locked in a make-or-break battle in Iowa with Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate presents himself as a fiesty outsider who will shake up establishment Washington and reclaim government for the little guy. It's a style that traces back to Edwards' long career as a star defense attorney. But this year, he hasn't much bragged about his courtroom work to political audiences.
That appears to be changing. The former senator is lacing his public remarks with references to his legal victories, and a senior Edwards aide said the candidate would make prominent mention of his trial work during his address tonight at the high-profile Jefferson Jackson Day dinner. It's a career that made him a multimillionaire, but that also put Edwards on the map in North Carolina, where as a political novice he beat GOP incumbent Lauch Faircloth to win a Senate seat in 1998.
(...)
Speaking at a Farmers Union summit in Des Moines this morning, Edwards lamented the plight of family farmers, asserting, "We need somebody to stand up for you. Somebody to fight for you. Somebody who will fight against those who are trying to take your way of life away from you," Then he added, "I walked into courtrooms for 20 years where there was a whole army of lawyers on the other side representing corporate America. And I went into that courtroom, and I fought them, and I beat them, and I beat them, and I beat them again. And I will beat them as president of the United States - you can count on it."
Edwards then described one of the lawsuits that made him famous - and rich.
He was hired to represent the family of a little girl seriously injured in a swimming pool drain. "And I sat with her and her family, and said I know I know this is hard for you. But we can do something about this
and then I walked into that courtoom, and I gave that company hell. And that is exactly what we need to do."
The jury award in the swimming-pool case: a record $25 million.----
And from the comments section, pmorlan1 writes:Edwards is right. We need someone in Washington who will fight for the average American. Average Americans don't have a lobbyist in Washington and it shows. I don't even recognize our country anymore. Everything is stacked against the little guy and it's about time we had a champion fighting for us.
And despite the right-wing characterization of trial lawyers I know that trial lawyers fight for the little guys. There has been a concerted effort by corporations over the years to try to make average Americans dislike trial lawyers. Unfortunately the media has been complicit in this campaign by not letting people know that there is a huge difference between trial lawyers and corporate lawyers. To simplify it corporate lawyers defend corporations when the little guys sue them for wrongdoing. Trial lawyers represent the little guys.
I think one of the reasons why Edwards is not getting the coverage his campaign deserves is because the entrenched interests know that he is one helluva fighter and they don't want him changing their cushy lifestyle. They know that he is legit and will fight for the little guy if he gets in the White House. As he says he has been fighting for the little guy all of his life and that my friends is the honest truth. And anyone that would tell you otherwise is doing it for their own benefit.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/11/10/post_194.html