The nomination…in eight minutes…

Monday night, CNN held a forum with John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton where they talked about the issues of faith and politics. I watched the forum on TV and thought that all three candidates articulated well their relationship with faith and religion and the role that both have played on their public and personal lives. The moderator, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien asked good questions and the panel of clergy, writers and leaders in the religious community did a good job of balancing their political views with their questions for the candidates. NPR has a good wrap up of the forum. Click on the image below to hear the radio broadcast.

All of us here at DoubleSpeak wish John, Elizabeth and the entire Edwards family the very best as they enter, what we can only assume by preliminary news reports, to be an adventure of a completely different nature with Elizabeth’s health.

We will keep our readers posted at noon today as we all find out what the future holds for the Presidential campaign of John Edwards and for this already memorable race for the White House 2008.

Update: “The campaign goes on, the campaign goes on strongly,” John Edwards told the media today at a press conference in North Carolina. Again, our best wishes are with Elizabeth and the family as they continue what they hope is a journey to the White House.

It’s no secret that I am no fan of Senator Joe Biden running for President. However, I can also do without Johnny Reid Edwards so this quote got me going this morning.

Hat tip to our friends at Politicalwire:

“I don’t think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about.”

-Senator Joe Biden, quoted by the New York Observer.

Oh, the pictures you find on Flickr.

This one is of John Edwards doing some sort of labor. Very Presidential.

He was on The Daily Show last night and apparently hinted at a 2008 run. I missed it because I fell asleep at 10pm. My sleeping patterns haven’t been the same since the “One Minivan, One America Tour.”

An Iowa Poll conducted for The Des Moines Register shows former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) leading the pack amongst likely Iowa caucus voters. Yes, this is an early poll, but if you’re Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, this is not good news. Only 10% of likely caucus participants say that if the caucuses were held today, they would vote for him.

Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina leads a list of potential Democratic presidential candidates while Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack holds fourth place, trailing Edwards by 20 points in an early test of support among likely Iowa caucus participants.

A new Iowa Poll conducted for The Des Moines Register shows that Edwards, the runner-up in the Iowa Democratic caucuses two years ago and a frequent visitor to the state since then, is the choice of 30 percent of Iowans who say they are likely to take part in the January 2008 caucuses.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York follows on Edwards’ heels with 26 percent in the Iowa Poll.

Experts say it’s the first poll showing anyone besides Clinton as the preferred Democrat in the race for the White House.
U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who used his victory in the 2004 caucuses as a springboard to the Democratic presidential nomination that year, is a distant third in the Iowa Poll with 12 percent.

Vilsack, despite getting good marks in previous polls for the job he’s done in two terms as governor, receives relatively tepid support from his home state in the Register’s new presidential poll, taken May 29 to June 1. Ten percent of likely caucus participants say that if the caucuses were held today, they would vote for him.

Five other potential Democratic presidential candidates listed in the poll bring up the rear with no more than 3 percent each.

Iowa is important. It is still VERY early, so this poll does not have much significance. However, it does show what we all know, Sen. Edwards still has strong support in Iowa and his rivals will have to play catch-up.

Flashback: DoubleSpeak talks Iowa politics with Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen. Have a listen.

It is February, 2006 and the 2008 Iowa Caucus campaign is already heating up.

The Des Moines Register ran a piece earlier this week on the potential candidates that will be visiting the state in February.

Who’s coming to town: Former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD), Governor George Pataki (R-NY), Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) and of course, Former Senator John Edwards (D-NC).

It’s gonna be interesting! DoubleSpeak will be in Iowa in the coming months (and years) to bring our audience up-to-date news and stories on the first in the nation caucus.