Edwards Campaign Press Release - Edwards Campaign Runs Ad In The Des Moines Register, Will Begin Airing New TV Spot Featuring Edwards' Supporter Doug Bishop

In both ads, former Maytag employee Doug Bishop says John Edwards will fight corporate greed and stand up for middle-class families

Des Moines, Iowa – Today, the John Edwards for President campaign is running a full-page ad in The Des Moines Register featuring a letter from Edwards' supporter and former Maytag employee Doug Bishop. The campaign will also begin airing a 60-second television spot in Iowa featuring Mr. Bishop tomorrow.

In September 2004, Mr. Bishop was among the first wave of employees laid off at the Maytag plant in Newton, Iowa. In the television spot, Mr. Bishop tells the story of how shortly after he lost his job, he and his family met Edwards as Edwards was campaigning for the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket.

"This is something I'll never forget," Mr. Bishop says in the ad. "[John Edwards] grabbed my seven-year-old son by the hand, he dropped to one knee, and he looked him straight in the eye and he said 'I'm going to keep fighting for your daddy's job, I promise you that.' You know, that stuff sticks with you. That's the kind of things we need in a leader in this country...I want a guy that's going to sit down and look a seven year-old kid in the eye and tell him 'I'm going to fight for your dad's job.' That's what I want."

"I know first hand that if we stay silent, or just go along, or choose more of the same it will be too late," Mr. Bishop writes to Iowa caucus goers in the letter printed in The Des Moines Register ad. "It is already too late for far too many families who have lost their jobs throughout our state. John Edwards knows what we know – that saving the middle class and American jobs in the face of corporate greed is going to be a fight. I hope you will join our cause of saving the middle class and passing a better life onto our children because that is what is on the line in this election.

The Des Moines Register ad also featured the text of the speech Senator Edwards delivered last Friday in Dubuque defining the type of change America needs.

"To get real change, we need a president who will stand up against the big corporations and powerful interests who control Washington," Edwards said. "Nobody who takes their money and defends the broken system is going to bring change. And unfortunately, nobody who thinks we can just sit down and talk them into compromise is going to bring change either. Why on earth would we expect the corporate powers and their lobbyists – who make billions by selling out the middle-class – to just give up their power because we ask them nicely?"

To see a PDF of The Des Moines Register ad, please visit: http://www.johnedwards.com/assets/downloads/JEFP_DMR_Full_Page_20080101.pdf

The television spot can be viewed at http://www.johnedwards.com/ads/bishop/ and a higher resolution version can be downloaded here: http://www.johnedwards.com/watch/bishop/press/. A full transcript is included below.

Transcript of "Bishop" (60 seconds):

DOUG BISHOP: Now I myself was a former Maytag employee – I was laid off September of 2004.

And I was asked "Would you and your family like to come up and meet Senator Edwards?"

And this is something I'll never forget – he grabbed my seven-year-old son by the hand, he dropped to one knee, and he looked him straight in the eye and he said "I'm going to keep fighting for your daddy's job, I promise you that."

You know, that stuff sticks with you. That's the kind of things we need in a leader in this country.

Not somebody that's going to go to a big fundraiser and say "Write me a check for $2,300, and I'll let you know you have my support."

I want a guy that's going to sit down and look a seven year-old kid in the eye and tell him "I'm going to fight for your dad's job." That's what I want.

I'm going to do my best to make sure that my children aren't the first generation of Americans that I can't look them in the eye and say "You're going to have a better life than I had."

And I think the person that's going to get that done is my friend, and yours, Senator John Edwards.

EDWARDS: I'm John Edwards and I approve this message.