AP News, December 15th, 2007
TITLE: "Fight."
LENGTH: 30 seconds
AIRING: Iowa (now) and New Hampshire (beginning Monday)
SCRIPT: Edwards: "This isn't about petty politics or good intentions. Corporate greed and influence in Washington are stealing our children's future. The moral test of our generation is whether we're going to allow this broken system to go on without a fight or take on corporate greed and stand up for the middle class and American jobs before it's too late. They aren't going to just give their power away. Saving the middle class is going to be an epic battle, and that's a fight I was born for."
Edwards voice over: "I'm John Edwards, and I approved this message."
KEY IMAGE: Edwards, in suit and tie, speaks as he sits in front of a picture window with a snow covered scene behind him. An image of his policy booklet appears on the screen and invites viewers to look at his plan in the campaign's Web site.
ANALYSIS: The ad summarizes Edward's closing theme with the Iowa caucuses less than three weeks away. Edwards is locked in a three-way statistical dead heat in Iowa with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. The message is decidedly populist and illustrates Edwards' shift from criticizing his top rivals to making corporate power the target of his attacks.
Still, criticism of Obama and Clinton is implied in the ad. When Edwards mentions petty politics, his reference is to Clinton and the efforts by some in her campaign to undermine Obama. When he refers to good intentions, his reference is to Obama. "Senator Obama thinks you can negotiate and work together to get the change you need," Edwards deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince said in a teleconference with reporters Saturday. "Senator Edwards thinks ... it's going to be a fight."
The Edwards approach is a calculated gamble that seeks to repeat the populist success Democrat Richard Gephardt enjoyed in Iowa during his presidential run in 1988 without alienating voters unhappy with confrontational politics.
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Analysis by Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn.
