Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards kicked off a two-day, pre-Thanksgiving trip through Iowa with two Grammy Award winning musicians along for the ride. Shortly after noon on Monday, Bonnie Raitt began strumming her guitar and spoke to the crowd at the first of five concerts/political rallies for Edwards.
"Finally made it to Davenport," Raitt said, "for such a good cause." Raitt’s musical partner for this trip is Jackson Browne. The two sang "World in Motion." "Sun goin’ down in the U.S.A.," is how the lyrics began. But both musicians were in Iowa to shine a light on the Edwards campaign. Edwards himself focused on the war in Iraq.
"We’ve lost thousands of American lives. Many thousands more have been permanently injured. Bush has asked for over $600 billion for this war and now they’re talking about keeping troops in Iraq for a decade which would cost $2.8 trillion," Edwards said during an interview with Radio Iowa Monday evening. "This has to be stopped and Bush needs to be stopped and this war has got to be brought to an end."
According to Edwards, Iowa Caucus-goers are looking for a candidate who shows some urgency on the matter. "They want to know, ‘Do you have a plan?’ I do. ‘Are you going to get combat troops out?’ I will. ‘Are you going to end combat missions?’ I will and ‘Are you going to keep permanent military bases there?’" Edwards said. "And the answer is, ‘No, I will not.’"
Raitt, Browne and Edwards made stops in Davenport, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids on Monday. "I love them, anything they sing," Edwards said. The traveling trio — two musicians and one politician — will be in Grinnell and Des Moines Tuesday.