Go . Lets go. I appreciate everybody being here today. Its great to be here in my curtain county. This feels like home to me. A small town in North Carolina very much like this, except not this big. This is very big compared to where i grew up. Let me talk to a number of things happening in this country jerry mentioned a couple of them the loss of jobs so many to payties are having, on the jobs that they have got and to replace the jobs that have been lost. During the time that president bush has been in office, 3 million americans of pollen into poverty, almost 4 million americans have lost their Health Care Coverage. 9 millionplus americans without the dignity and selfrespect that comes from having a job and a paycheck. Very important work to do in this country. Here is what i want to do about jobs. First, we need to have not just free trade in america, but fair trade that allows our workers to compete. We do not want to be exporting jobs. We ought to be exporting american products. What i want to do is get rid of these loopholes in our tax code that give American Companies a reason to go overseas. The last thing we need is to have our own tax code giving American Companies and incentive to go overseas. I think we ought to give tax breaks to companies that stay in america, dont you . After senator edwards speech, he met with local residents. Senator edwards glad to see you here. [indiscernible] senator edwards thank you. Thank you very much. Come your name. Tell me youryou name. Nice to meet you. Im concerned about this energy. Senator edwards im worried about it, too. One thing i am concerned about the i know a lot of teachers and the things they are concerned about is the discipline in the students ck ofor edwards la discipline in these students. Eiger the same thing. Do you teach . I hear the same thing. Do you teach . How about making it easier to become a teacher . I have a degree from Florida State university and i cant get a job because i do not have 200 certification exams. Senator edwards [indiscernible] the history teacher becomes speaker of the house though. Exactly,dwards exactly. Appreciate your. Appreciate you. I had the legislative committee. Thank you. Ards i hope your endorsement process goes through. Senator edwards the South Carolina teachers just endorsed me. I feel good about how that is going. Fantastic. Will see whats happening with it. Senator edwards nice to see you. Thank you. Senator edwards youre welcome. Good to say you. We are with you. Senator edwards appreciate that. Thank you very much. Yes, sir . Hi. Senator edwards nice to see you. [indiscernible] senator edwards oh, absolutely. That is something i have worked very hard on. [indiscernible] aware of our program . Senator edwards tell me about it . Into revitalize our downtown the city senator edwards yeah, yeah. [indiscernible] for you,dwards good good for you. Thats important work. i want theirs support. Can you help me with that . Yeah. [indiscernible] edwards when is it . Do you know . No, i dont know. Senator edwards let me get one of my people over let me get hunter to speak to you for a few minutes, ok . Find out how we reach her . Thank you for the time to come here. We are so flattered. Senator edwards sure, sure. Come on. Mr. Chief of police. Today, we just stopped in oklahoma to take off our Real Solutions bus tour with all of r to the rent, oklahoma and head up north to more essential part of oklahoma in Seminole Shawnee and all the way up to tulsa, about 20 minutes. We stop about 20 minutes south of tulsa. We start the next day, another big schedule. From tulsa to friar, oklahoma two was skokie, to sell song, then we ended the day in mcallister and southeastern oklahoma. Cities chosen to be highlighted on this tour . We looked we wanted to reach out to real voters in the democratic primary in oklahoma. People relating with what he is saying, people who are excited. They feel like he knows where the where they are coming from. The president ial action here is new to oklahoma, candidates usually skip our primary and this is no longer the case. People are excited about the commitments under senator edwards has made, this is his 10th visit to oklahoma, he has tremendous support from elected officials. 30are rolling out on nearly endorsements from house and senate democrats, a big plus for us. You said he has been here 10 times. What are some of the other candidates . I think senator lieberman has made through, five times and the others have stopped in about once or twice. Once, we has been here had a few we had a four on an august with six of the nine candidates. Since then, it has been interesting to watch the reactions of oklahomans every day who never thought they would see a president ial candidates again, and they are excited to see this, they feel more engaged in the process and you will see those numbers reflect in turnout , inactivity among activists, so all in all, it is good for the state and the party of oklahoma and i think it is good for these candidates to get out here and work hard and connect voters like senator edwards has. You think coming to a smaller town is more effective than going to the larger cities . The larger cities are key, too, but voters like to see that you are paying attention to the rural voters. Senator edwards is the only one talking about solving issues , attracting america quality teachers to rural scores rule schools rural schools. People sense that he feels what is going on and is offering Quality Solutions to correct those problems and preserve a rural way of life for reallife oklahomans. Thank you very much. Next, they went to hugo, oklahoma, about an hour west of idabel were edwards met with voters. You. Ce to see doing . You thank you for including Rural America in your tour. I understand that. Good to have you here. Good to see you, how are you doing . We appreciate you being here. Good to see you. How are you doing . Good to see you. I did not mean to make you get up. Good to see you. You are the first candidate that i have ever come to see. Is that right . Thank you, happy to be here. How are you all doing . Nice to see you. All these people say they will vote for you. Good, thats what i was going for. I am retired in the army. Yes. Absolutely. How are you all doing . Good to see you. Glad to be here. Thank you. Appreciate you all coming. How are you . Nice to meet you. This is one of my highly motivated government students. Thank you both for being here. Nice to see you. Are you guys doing . How are you . Very happy to be here, nice to see you. Great to see you, again. Nice to see you. How are you doing . Nice to see you. Glad to be here. Thank you for coming. Good to see you again. Nice to meet you. Nice to see you. Thank you for coming. Very nice to see you. You. To be here, thank we will get him. You. To see here, nice to see you. How are you all doing . Good to see you. How are you doing . Im fine, thank you. I think we have to help veterans. You have aod, supporter here. I tried to get the veterans the same health care that senators have. That is good, they may not need that much. Good to have you here, thank you. After the event, we spoke with a couple of attendees about their impression. I like the speech, but we have a one in a nine chance, i will for the democrat that wins. I would vote for a dead senator before i vote republican. I like edwards. I think he is great. Do you think he has an opportunity to beat bush . I think any of our nominees other than sharpton and the lady will have a chance to beat bush. Thank you. It is the first time i have seen senator edwards and i appreciate the fact that he included Rural America in his president ial to her president ial tour. I appreciated the things he has to say, today, and i think it very early in the campaign. I will certainly take a look at all of the candidates, but im very impressed. I would say he is at the top of the list. Have you met any other candidates . No. Do you think he has the opportunity to beat bush . I do. There are a couple of democrat candidates that have the opportunity and i certainly think he is one of them. Thank you very much. Next, senator edwards went to do rant, oklahoma to meet with reporters. Can you tell us why you have come here . Is the first time a nominee has been here in almost two decades. I was the first president ial candidate to, with the details for a Rural America. I grew up in a small town in North Carolina, it is part of who i am and we need to revitalize Rural America which means creating jobs and protecting the ones that we have. Rural oklahoma is a conservative democratic state, very odd state. How can you stand out as being a front runner candidate . Come from Communities Just like to rent, so i feel very comfortable here. Getting Decent Health care they can afford, trying to bring jobs to these areas, improving schools, and of the issues that mattered in areas like this and i focus on those issues. One of the biggest problems plaguing taxes is the loss of manufacturing jobs to companies that want to move overseas. Do you have a plan to keep jobs here in the u. S. . What i would like to do is get rid of the tax loopholes that give American Companies incentive to go overseas and instead give tax breaks to American Companies who keep manufacturing jobs in america and also, get rid of not just have free trade, but fair trade so we dont see jobs continue to flow the way have been flowing. It has been devastating to this area and my state of North Carolina. It has been devastating in texas, but here it is a different story. People have been doing well here and this is encouraging in terms of jobs and creation. You think democrats can run on Something Like that went in the last few months, unemployment numbers have dropped . Because whatcan happens is, people all over the state are struggling and suffering. We have lost over 3 million private sector jobs while george bush has been in office. That we willo know create jobs and give middle class working families kind of opportunities that they need to be able to take care of their families. Oklahoma has not voted for a democratic president s and lbj. I intend to campaign everywhere in america. There is no place in america were i cannot campaign and compete against george bush and the reason is because i grew up in a rural area in North Carolina in the south, i feel a natural connection with people in these areas. Is very plan that practical and focused on creating jobs and providing health care for people in this part of the country, so i know that i can be competitive. I come from a working family, my father worked at a mill all his life. I was the first person in my family to go to college. I have fought for working people by entire life, verse as a lawyer and now with the senator and i would be an extraordinary fighter for them as president. Thank you. Glad to be here. [chatter] a brief introduction. How are you . Nice to see you. [applause] hello, how are you . Nice to see you. Greeting various people] after this event, senator edwards took some personal time to go for a run. The bus continued to seminole where the senator would meet later after a short plane ride. During the bus trip, we talked with the driver about life on the road. Tell us about this bus. What kind of bus is it, who customized it. Init was customized columbus, ohio. We added a lot of stuff to it. Feet long, 13 feet high, 102 inches wide. Engine. Epower diesel how long have you been working for the campaign . In june or july. Have you kept track of how many miles you have longed . 7000 miles. Ly ran is is the First Campaign you have worked on . Last year, we worked with tony sanchez. He ran for governor. It is great to get out on the road in the campaign. Its on it is an honest way to get paid. Senator edwards met back up with the bus tour at seminole airport. When did you get first involved with senator edwards . I moved it to washington for the observer and the first part of 2000. I started covering edwards right around the time that he was considered for the Vice President ial slot on al gores ticket. I have been covering him for the whole how have things changed now that he is a president ial candidate . Certainly more reporters have been more interested in him that in the past. He has developed a whole range of policy proposals as part of a lead up to his president ial run. The last built over many months and we are hearing a lot more about that now and he has proposals and a lot more areas than he did as a senator. While in seminole, senator edwards sat down with look for residents to hear their concerns. Senator john edwards. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you all for being here today, i really came to listen more than to talk. I have some ideas about things we should do, about plants anding and going overseas effects that those closings are having on communities all over this country. My dad worked in a mill all his life and when we live in a small town in North Carolina and when the mill closed, it was devastating to the community and we had that had to the station and communities all over North Carolina and the same ring i know has been happening right here in oklahoma, not just with this plant but with others. Things ieas about think we ought to do, but before i Start Talking about my ideas, i would rather hear from you. I want to know what you are worried about, what your concerns are, what you see happening because i came more to listen then to talk. I may have toind, prod you a little bit, but i want you to talk to me. This is your chance to talk to somebody who is out talking to everyone in america every day and i want to hear what you are concerned about. My name is mary. Concerns but i will mention just one. That is to have as good of benefits as a congressman and senator. [laughter] that is a very good point. When you pick up the paper they vote themselves a raise i voted against that, by the way. After the very reason you describe very well, people are hurting, really hurting and one i think wegs that have a Health Care System in crisis in this country and people cant pay for their health care anymore and you got millions of americans with no Health Care Coverage and those who have it cannot afford it, it is breaking people, and then you get laid off and the washington bureaucrats say one that is what cobra is for. Who in the world can pay for cobra when you dont have a job . It shows you what a disconnect there can be. The good news is, and i want to say this because all of these things can be dealt with, the things i want to do in health care, besides the ideas about how to get jobs in here, is for people who are between jobs and they dont have to worry about looking for a job and somebody in their family getting sick at the same time, we need to be there for people who have worked hard all their lives and through no fault of their own, they are laid off and having to find another job. It seems to me that is the kind of thing we believe in, and that is one of the things that we ought to do in our Health Care System. I think there are other things we can and should do, like making sure that every young person is covered. We ought to mandate that and help our most portable adults, including those between jobs, then we should bring down health care costs. These are the kinds of things that people are worried about, very concerned about. The good news is, we can do something about it and we do silly about it, absolutely. Do something about it, absolutely. This bill is going to cause cost a lot of seniors become as they are ready have. Chance theyreat will quit providing you coverage under this bill, and there is billions of dollars that could be going to helping seniors get coverage going to hmos, but what and the board what in the world are using taxpayer money and sending it to hmos and we have a medicare system and can provide the benefit directly to people . There is almost no cost control, we had some cost control and most of it got taken out. The Drug Companies are all for the Prescription Drug bill as lawyers they can charge whatever they want. That is a good use of our tax money, isnt it . Aarp very disappointed in when they came out for it. I think they are wrong about aat, dead wrong, but we need real Prescription Drug benefit under medicare, seniors need help with Prescription Drugs, but the possible way to do it is to provide a real comprehend the benefit, that keeps costs under control. That would require us taking on the Drug Companies, but we can do that. We can take them on and provide a real Prescription Drug benefit and keep costs down and make your seniors get what they are said most to get. They are supposed to get. Who is next . My name is Natalie Watson and i am a student. Students need more. Students i do not live at i support myself, and it is nearly impossible for a student to go fulltime to school and not work and if you work, you get less money, but there is no way you can make it on 2000 a semester. That is the maximum amount of health helped you can get. There is no way. What year . Im a sophomore in nursing. Are you working parttime . I was up until about three weeks ago when i lost my job at walmart. Now, im lucky, i married and being supported by my really just he is making minimum wage. That just that, the Healthcare System for students. Over the age of 19, you dont get support with the county. You dont get those kinds of systems. You cant even get on food stamps if you are a student, which is crazy. I went there to try to get some help in between schools with my pal grant, and there was nothing. There was no help. I did not know where else to turn. Luckily, my health grants came grants hell pell came through, but i h