In a sign that Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack’s presidential run will not scare other Democratic candidates from the state, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards plans to be in Iowa Wednesday night to autograph copies of his recently-released book.
Back in 1992, no other Democrats competed in Iowa’s Caucuses because Iowa Senator Tom Harkin was running for president. Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee for Democrats, released a book prior to the last presidential campaign and this month released another book called “HOME: The Blueprints of Our Lives.? He’ll be in West Des Moines Wednesday night to autograph copies of the book. “I think the most important message in it that’s not obvious is that we’re all connected. We remember similar things from our childhood…and I think the lesson from it is that our superficial differences whether they’re income or race or geography are unimportant compared to the things that really matter which is the connectedness that we all have as Americans,” Edwards told Radio Iowa during a telephone interview.
Edwards solicited essays from about 60 people — including celebrities like Stephen Speilberg and Sugar Ray Leonard — and pictures of their childhood homes. According to Edwards, sometimes the writer’s descriptions of their homes doesn’t match the pictures. “People’s childhood memories are often different than the reality,” Edwards said. “…It does make sense when you put it in the context of our imagination and the way we remember our childhood and the way we grew up.”
The book includes an essay from Edwards, too. “What it made clear to me was my sense of family and warmth and security — all of the things that I remember growing up…is very similar to what most people remember growing up…but in different places and different environments,” Edwards said.
Two charities — Habitat for Humanity and the International Rescue Committee which does work in places like Darfur, Uganda and the Sudan, will receive all the proceeds from the book, according to Edwards.
On Wednesday at seven o’clock Edwards will be at the Barnes and Noble in West Des Moines to sign copies of his book. That’s just about the time Vilsack is scheduled to open a pot luck in Mount Pleasant to symbolically kick off his presidential campaign.