WISCREPORT.COM (11/10/07) - Madison’s Mayor Dave Cieslewicz spoke and answered questions for nearly an hour at a public event hosted by UW Students for Edwards (Thursday night, November 8th). The event was held at Ingraham Hall on the UW-Madison campus. The speech and answers to questions keyed on Edwards’ commitment to bold change on issues of importance nationally as well as in Madison. Madison's Mayor is one of over forty prominent Wisconsin Democrats to have endorsed John Edwards in his campaign for President, the most of any candidate in the state.

“Poverty is a challenge for many communities, including ours,” said Mayor Cieslewicz. “And we try the best we can but I can’t solve that problem alone," he said.

"We haven’t had a federal government interested [in poverty] since Lyndon Johnson. John Edwards is the only candidate in the field that says he is going to take on the issue of poverty and do something about it,” Madison's Mayor pointed out.

In separate remarks after the mayor, UW Students for John Edwards co-chair Peter Rickman commented on the nature of the Edwards campaign with a focus on social and economic justice.

“John’s bold vision on a host of critical issues like economic fairness and combating poverty as well as universal healthcare and combating the climate crisis comes from a central core of progressive values. That’s what makes him such an exciting candidate to young Americans, the most progressive generation ever in history,” Rickman said.

Cieslewicz echoed comments made by Demcoratic Party of Wisconsin chair Joe Wineke at a similar event held earlier in the semester when he said that he considered John Edwards to be the most widely electable of all the Democratic Presidential candidates.

“If you look at states that were red but should be blue, a guy like John really relates to people,” said Cieslewicz. “He connects to them better than any other candidate."

"People are craving sincerity. While the other two frontrunners are noted for talking in generalities, John has been praised for specific plans and for just coming out and saying things. People appreciate his sincerity and straightforwardness,” Mayor Cieslewicz said about Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards.

UW Students for John Edwards co-chair Ben Taft put the electability argument into a different perspective.

“John is the candidate that can win a mandate for progressive change, real change, in this country. Young people including students want to have a Democratic nominee that can actually bring about progressive action now and for the future. John Edwards offers that vision and can actualize it by competing to win everywhere in the general election,” Taft added.

Why I’ve Endorsed John Edwards represented the second in a series of events of that name.