  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Senator John Edwards, whose forward-thinking ideas helped shape the debate this election season, led the 2008 presidential campaign with the boldest and most comprehensive plans for overcoming many of the challenges we face today: creating universal health care, halting global warming, ending the war in Iraq, and restoring America's moral leadership around the world. Famous for his 2004 and 2008 campaigns for the Democratic nomination for president, and for running as the Democratic vice presidential nominee with John Kerry in 2004, Edwards is a leader in the fight to end poverty. His most recent work is visible in ‘Half in Ten,' a campaign to cut the poverty rate in the United States by 50 percent within 10 years. Edwards' commitment to the neediest in our society stems from his career as a trial lawyer, where he advocated for families and children against major corporations and insurance companies. In 1998, he took this commitment to the political arena, winning a seat from North Carolina in the U.S. Senate and championing issues pivotal to American families, including quality health care, better schools, protecting civil liberties, preserving the environment, saving Social Security and Medicare, and getting big money out of politics.
