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Nevada squarely in candidates' cross hairs
Four presidential hopefuls have stops in Silver State

By J. Patrick Coolican
Las Vegas Sun
May 1, 2007

LAS VEGAS - John Edwards stood behind a table stacked with Johnny Rockets bags Monday, a sign of another day on the campaign trail. The onlookers numbered about 300, many of them activists wearing the T-shirts of their favored causes, from AARP to One.org - "the campaign to make poverty history."

The one-term U.S. senator from North Carolina, who lost a son and whose wife is battling cancer, has become a favorite of grass-roots liberals, because of his emphasis on ending poverty and creating a universal health insurance plan by taxing the rich.

Using a time-tested tool of the best preachers and pols, Edwards spun off the headlines, using the release of former CIA Director George Tenet's book to argue for a timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq. When he said 50,000 troops should be pulled out "right now," a man echoed from the back row, "right now." The event soon acquired a revivalist energy, with applause and even "amens" punctuating each point.

Edwards said the U.S. must acquire a new reputation abroad, hitting on education in the Muslim world and genocide in Darfur as areas where Washington could make a difference.

He said he would close Guantanamo, the prison camp for alleged terrorists, drawing the afternoon's biggest applause.

Edwards is running to the party's left, and given how they're the people paying closest attention right now, he's winning early allies.

Sun reporter Timothy Pratt contributed to this report. J. Patrick Coolican can be reached at 569-3174 or at patrick.coolican@lasvegassun.com.