Edwards Gets Big Endorsement - Iowa Gov. Culver's wife, Mari Culver

jsamuel

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Sun Dec-16-07 11:47 PM
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Edwards Gets Big Endorsement - Iowa Gov. Culver's wife, Mari Culver

Edited on Mon Dec-17-07 12:42 AM by jsamuel

For those of you who don't know, this is "tradition" of sorts that the Governor of Iowa doesn't endorse, but his wife does. So this is essentially the best endorsement Edwards can get! Kerry got Ms. Vilsack's (Gov's wife) endorsement in 2004 and went on to win Iowa.

http://johnedwards.com/news/headlines/20071216-mari-culver

Iowa's First Lady To Back Edwards For President
Dec 16, 2007 10:07 PM

Tony Leys
Des Moines Register
Dec 16, 2007

Iowa's first lady, who had said she would stay neutral in the presidential race, has changed her mind and plans to endorse Democrat John Edwards Monday.

"I decided to join in the fray," Mari Culver said in an interview today.

Culver said her husband, Gov. Chet Culver, will not endorse anyone, and she said her stance does not imply that he supports Edwards. "If the governor wanted to show a preference for a candidate, he would do so," she said. "My endorsement is as Mari Culver, Iowan. … I'm my own person. I have my own political interests."

Mari Culver's predecessor as first lady, Christie Vilsack, endorsed Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry before the 2004 caucuses, which he won. Advertisement

Edwards, who also ran for president that year, said in an interview today that he believes Vilsack's endorsement helped Kerry. "She campaigned with him, did a number of events with him, and I think it gave some energy and momentum to his campaign."

Edwards said he hopes Culver's backing will help him the same way. "It's a big boost, and I'm proud to have her," he said. "She cares about children, families, battered women — a lot of the issues I care deeply about."

Culver, who like Edwards is an attorney, said she met him at a conference in 2001 and was immediately impressed by his intellect and accomplishments as a trial lawyer and as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. She said she agrees with his plans to fight poverty and to reform health care, and she thinks he offers Democrats the best chance to take back the White House.

"I think John is a winner. He's electable," she said. "He's been tested. He's been on the national ticket before. The national polls show him beating all Republicans in the general elections. He inspires me. I think he inspires other Iowans, and I think he can really rally Americans in the fall."

Culver said she and her husband sometimes differ on whom to support. In 2004, she caucused for Edwards, who finished second in Iowa and went on to be the party's vice-presidential candidate. Chet Culver, who was secretary of state, did not back a candidate.

Mari Culver said she will endorse Edwards at a rally in Des Moines at noon Monday, and she plans to appear at other events. "I've got two little kiddies at home, and with the holidays coming up, that's going to control my schedule," she said. "But I do expect to do anything they ask that works with my schedule."

News of her pending endorsement came on the same day Edwards lost out in the competition for The Des Moines Register's endorsement. The paper's editorial page backed him in 2004, but picked Hillary Clinton today. When asked for his reaction, Edwards was diplomatic. "Congratulations to Senator Clinton," he said. "The Register's a great newspaper that has a great editorial board."

He said he believed the main reason he did not receive the editorial board's endorsement was a philosophical difference over the best way to produce change. He has promised to fight corporate powers that he sees as corrupt, while other candidates have talked more about working with interested parties to fix problems. "I think we just had a basic disagreement about that," he said.