Elizabeth Edwards Speaks to Power, Poverty, Public Service and Paris at 2007 Rage for Justice Awards

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 18  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Elizabeth Edwards called for politics with a purpose greater than that of a politician's own name when she accepted the Phillip Burton Public Service Award at the 5th Annual Rage for Justice Awards from the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR).

FTCR made a video and transcript of Mrs. Edwards speech available today at: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/edwards_rage07/

Edwards said she accepted the Burton Award, FTCR's highest honor, on behalf of the thousands of men and women with cancer across the country who decided to "stand up instead of lay down" when diagnosed with the disease.

"Many of those people do not have the health care benefits that I enjoy," Edwards said. "Most of them do not have the support that I have, and almost none of them get to stand in the warm affirming light in which I stand tonight. With less armor than I have, they fight too, so this award is for them, and I am humbled to accept it on behalf of my brothers and sisters."

Edwards challenged the nation to do a better job addressing poverty: "The media hyperventilates over the excesses of wealthy white women right here and ignores the plight of poor African-American women in my home state of North Carolina. If we focused as much attention on these women, as we have in just the last day on Paris Hilton, we would have ended poverty.  ...  Two words that should never be used together: Working Poor. And yet they trip off our tongues as if they have no moral implication. In America, no one should work full-time and live in poverty.

And she took on the power of wealth: "We live in a kind of wealth apartheid. A government purchased by the wealthy, that serves Wall Street, even when Wall Street's interests are such that they hurt the interests of Main Street. We have a county that is complacent about the creation of a permanent underclass, largely an underclass of color, while paying lip service to words like equality and opportunity."

Mrs. Edwards also addressed the Rage For Justice Awards theme of 'courage, not compromise': "We live in a society where compromise is even applauded ...  Compromise, usually described as consensus, rather than capitulation, has become a goal. And the cost of compromise to principles and to real lives, well that doesn't seem to matter."

Edwards shared her vision for change: "The way to build a fair and just society is not through baby steps, not through concession or incremental solutions, but with big ideas and with an obvious backbone to match."

And compared public service to politics: "Public service is all about action.  ...  Success in politics doesn't have the same standard. Success in politics is personal. Was the candidate elected? That's it!  ...  The rationale for a political race has to be something greater than the candidate. The sentence 'Joe Smith wants to be President because Joe Smith believes in blank' has to be completed by something other than Joe Smith's name."

Edwards warned the public not to delay the fight for justice, "We let them keep their dimes, or in the real world their billions, and we promise to fight tomorrow. Well, I don't know how many tomorrows I have. None of us do, really. I want to fight now, I need to fight now, and I am buoyed by the fact that you are fighting now. "

Elizabeth Edwards was introduced by, and received her award from, previous Burton Public Service Award winner Warren Beatty.

FTCR is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group that does not endorse or oppose candidates for political office. 

Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights


CONTACT:  Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights,
+1-310-392-0522 ext. 327



Web site:  http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/