He went on to a secondplace finish in the oklahoma primary. John kerry came in third. He later selected edwards as his running mate but they lost to incumbents george w. Bush and dick cheney in a close general election. This is just under 50 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the next president of the united states, john edwards. [applause] [indistinct conversations] we are very honored to have you. This is our mayor. Senator edwards nice to see you, mayor. [indiscernible] senator edwards we ready to go . Lets go. I appreciate everybody being here today. This feels like home to me. I grew up in 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 communities are having, to pay 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 have fallen 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 . We need to hang onto these jobs. [applause] announcer 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. Tell me at your 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 senator edwards lack of discipline in these students. 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 for the certification exams. Senator edwards [indiscernible] it is not like we dont need more teachers either, right . A history teacher becomes the speaker of the house though. I will be praying for you. Good luck. Senator edwards please play for me please pray for me, inc. You. I had the legislative committee. Senator edwards thank you. 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. February 3, we will see whats happening with it. Senator edwards nice to see you. Thank you. Senator edwards youre welcome. Good to see you. Appreciate you being here. 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] were you aware of our program . Senator edwards tell me about it . To revitalize our downtown in the city senator edwards yeah, yeah. We work hard to keep the is this is downtown and keep the community revived downtown. [indiscernible] senator edwards good for you, good for you. Thats important work. I have a question for you. My husband is running for the president of the International Society of machinists. Senator edwards i want their support. Can you help me with that . Yeah. [indiscernible] senator 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. Could we have a picture . 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 senator edwards. We run around the southern edge of the state and then we go over durant, oklahoma, and then we head up north to a more central hard of oklahoma right up to totals so which is about 20 minutes. That is where we and the night. It onrt the next day another big schedule. We go to muskogee, oklahoma, to welisaw, oklahoma, and then and the day in mcallister and southeastern oklahoma. How are these cities chosen to be highlighted on this tour . We wanted to reach out to world voters in oklahoma. People relate with what he is saying. Knows whereke he they are coming from, which is exciting to them. The president ial action here is kind of exciting. Excited aboutlly the commitment senator edwards has made. Its his 10th visit to oklahoma. Nearly 30ling up on endorsements from house and senate democrats, which is a real big plus for us. You said hes been here 10 times. I think senator lieberman has made it through five times and the others have come through runs or twice. Once at has been here while ago. Six ora for him with nine of the president ial candidates. It has been interesting to watch the reactions of oklahomans who never thought they would see a president ial candidate again. You will see the numbers turnouts, and all in all its good for this state and i think its good for these candidates to get out here and work hard and connect with voters like senator edwards is doing. You think it is more effective than going to the larger city . Rural voters like to see that you are paying attention to them. Crisis,the health care attracting quality teachers to rules schools, developing main streets and attracting jobs. Andle sense that he feels understands what is going on. Preserve a rule way of life for moral oklahomans. Thank you very much. Next, the tour went to hugo, oklahoma, where senator edwards met with voters at a diner. Nice to see you guys. Thank you for including Rural America. Senator edwards you are more than welcome. I understand that, thank you, happy to be here. How are you . Very good to see you. Appreciate you being here. How are you doing . Good to see you. How are you doing today . Good to see you. Didnt mean to make you get up. Nice to meet you. You are the first candidate president i ever met. Thank you, happy to be here, thank you very much. Nice to see you. All these people giving a little for you. Hello bill. Retired out of the army. Absolutely. Good to see you. Very good. Glad to be here. Nice to see you. Appreciate you all coming. Nice to meet you. This is one of my highly motivated students, she is great for coming out. Nice to see you. Senator edwards hello. Very happy to be here. Nice to see you. I met you in muskogee. Senator edwards oh yes. How are you doing today . Nice to see you. Appreciate you coming. Glad to be here. How are you doing . Nice to see you. Good to see you again. Hi mary. Nice to meet you. Nice to see you, thanks for coming. Glad to be here, very glad to be here. Very glad to be here. We will get him. Dont worry. Nice to see you. Happy to be here. Im great, im great. How are you all doing . Nice to meet you. Nice to see you. How are you all doing . Im good. What you think about Veterans Affairs . Secretary edwards we need to help veterans. Going to voted in and push it down. Secretary edwards what about the Veterans Health care . Ill tell you what i try to do in the senate, i tried to give veterans the same health care the senators have read they may not need that much. Good to have you here. Secretary edwards nice to see you. Senator edwards nice to see you. I like his speech, i did. Im voting for the democrat wins. I voted back to missouri and i would vote for a dead senator over voting for a republican. I listened to all the debates and stuff. I like edwards. I think it is great because you have a lot of people that need that. I think anyone of our democratic nominees other than sharpton will have a chance to beat bush. It is the first time i have seen senator edwards and i appreciate the fact he included Rural America in his president ial tour, do you think you will vote for him . I think it is very early in the campaign. Im going to take a look at the democratic candidates. I would say he is at the top of the list and has an opportunity to meet other candidates. Do you think he has an opportunity to meet bush . To beat bush . I think he does. I think he is one of them. Next, senator edwards went to durham, oklahoma. Wising you visit oklahoma in both communities . Senator edwards i was the one to come up with a rural economic plan. I grew up in a small town in North Carolina. We need to revitalize Rural America, which means protecting the jobs we have. Usually democrats often to the labels being liberal. How can you stand out as being a permanent candidate for oklahoma . Come from communities like durham. I know the problems people face. And getting Decent Health care, trying to bring jobs to these areas. I know it matters and im focused on those issues. We do cover stories in north texas. The loss of manufacturing jobs, typically to companies that want to move overseas, we keep jobs here in u. S. I would like to get rid of the tax loopholes that curative American Companies. Instead they give tax breaks to American Companies that keep manufacturing jobs here in america, and not just have free trade but have fair trade so we dont see jobs continue to flow the way they have been flowing. Its been devastating in this area and in my state created hearing durrant my state. Here in durrant it has been a completely different story. Do you think democrats can still run on Something Like that when in the last few months unemployment knowers have dropped . Senator edwards i know we Campaign People all over the state of oklahoma are struggling and suffering, we have lost 3 million private sector jobs. People are concerned about these issues. They were creating jobs, giving middle class working families the kind of opportunities they need to the able to take care of their families. Oklahoma has not elected a democratic president s since lbj . There is no place in america i cant campaign and compete against george bush. I grew up in North Carolina, i feel a natural connection. I have a plan focused on creating jobs and providing health care for people. I know i can be competitive in places like this. I come from a working family, my father worked in a mill all his life. I thought for working people my entire life, first as a lawyer and now a senator. I will be an extraordinary fighter and advocate for them as president. Very glad to be here. Terrific. Hey. A brief introduction and then hand you the mic. How are you . Nice to see you. Hello, good to see you. Hello, how are you . Good to see you. [applause] thank you all for coming. Very good to see you. After this event senator edwards took some personal time to go for a run. The bus continued on toward seminole oklahoma, where the president would meet up later after a short plane ride. We were able to talk with the driver about life on the road. Can you tell us about what kind of bus this is, who customized it. It was customized in columbus ohio, like you would see if we add a lot of stuff to it. 500 horsepower. How long have you been working for the campaign . And you kept track of how many miles . We probably ran so far six or 7000 miles. Is this the First Campaign you have worked on . We have worked on some others. We worked with tony sanchez in that campaign out there. Its great to get out on the road for this campaign. Senator edwards met back up with the bus tour. We spoke with john wagner of the raleigh news and observer. When was it you first got involved with senator edwards . Im off to washington in the first part of 2000. Started covering edwards right around the time he was considered for the Vice President slot. Pretty much covering him for the politics. How have you how have things changed . More reporters are interested in him. The bus we have been traveling on is a relatively new addition. He has developed a whole range of policy proposals as part of part of the lead up to his president ial run, that over the last many months, were hearing a lot more about that now and his proposals in a lot more areas as a freshman senator. Good to see you. Got everything . All right. I figured you wouldnt want it anymore. While in seminole, senator edwards sat down with local residents to hear their concerns. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you all for being here today. I came to listen to more than to talk. I have some ideas about things we should do about plants leaving overseas and taking jobs with them, the effects they are having on communities all over this country. I myself have seen a lot of this. He lived in a small town in North Carolina. When it closed it was devastating for the entire community. We have had that kind of devastation all over North Carolina. The same thing is happening in oklahoma. I have ideas of what we ought to do. I would rather hear from you, i want to know what you are worried about, what your concerns are, what you see happening area i came more to listen than to talk. I may have to prod you a little bit. This is your chance to talk to somebody who is out talking to everybody in america every day. I want to hear what you are concerned about. I have many concerns but a stringent one of this time thats a very good point. After telling us they are definitely out of money and then when you pick up the paper i voted against that raise, by the way. For the very reason you described right well that you described. People are really hurting. One of the things i know that there are a lot of folks being laid off, i will use this as an example to get the discussion started, i think we have a Health Care System in crisis. People cant pay for health care anymore and you have millions of americans with no health care coverage. It is breaking people. And then the washington bureaucrats say that is what cobras for. It shows you what a disconnect there can be. I want to say this, all of these things can be dealt with. The things i want to do in health care, besides ideas of how to get jobs, for people who are between jobs so they dont have to worry about looking for jobs and somebody in their family getting sick. We need to be there for people who have worked hard all their lives. For no fault of their own they have been laid off. That is the thing we believe in in this country. If that is one of the things we are to do in our Health Care System, i think there are a lot of things that other things we often do. Like making sure every young person we have to help our most vulnerable adults, including those between jobs. Then we ought to bring down Health Care Costs for everybody. These are the kinds of things people are worried about, very concerned about. We can do something about it, we absolutely can do something about it. It is not a good deal. I dont know how many of you followed it. But this bill is going to cost a lot of seniors the coverage they already have. If you have an employer providing you with coverage, there is a great chance they will quit providing you coverage under this bill. And there are billions of dollars helping seniors get coverage going to hmos. What are we using text pay or money why are we using taxpayer money when we have a medicare system that can work . And there are almost no cost control there is almost no cost control. Most of it got taken out. They are for a Prescription Drug bill, so long as they can charge anything they want. That is a good use of our tax money, to make sure they keep making as much money as they are making now. I was very disappointed aarp came out for it. I think they are wrong about that, dead wrong. We need a real Prescription Drug benefit. Seniors need help. The way to do it, the responsible way to do it is provide a real comprehensive benefit. That is going to require us taking on the Drug Companies. If we take on the Drug Companies and provide a real Prescription Drug benefit, we can keep the cost down. Good point. Whos next . Im a student here, and students need more. If im a student i dont live at home. It is impossible for a student to go to fulltime to school and not work. There is no way you can make all 2000. That is the maximum amount you can get, 2000. There is no way. Im a software a sophomore but im going in nursing. Up until two or three weeks ago i lost my job at walmart. Im lucky i married. My husband is really making minimum wage. And its not only that, it is the Health Care System. If you are over the age of 19, you dont get to work 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 trying to get some health and there was nothing. There was no help. I didnt know where else to turn, but luckily they came in and i had to take out loans. Students need more assistance. I do agree. They need more steps after this. We are going to end up making more money. The government is going to get that money back. Thats the way you strengthen the economy. I know where you are coming from. To go through college, we had to save everything we could. I worked parttime when i was in school. And borrowed money, which is the way a lot of young people pay for their college. Ive got this proposal out there to make sure young people are willing to work at least 10 hours a week their first year of school can go to a sugarfree to a State University or community college. But it is also true that they need help beyond that. I can tell you this. How old are you . 26. Heres what my plan does. If you are under 21, you are covered, mandated. For people in your category, and there are a lot of young people who are either out of college or Fishing College between the ages of 21 and 30 who arent covered. That is one of the most vulnerable populations. You just raised health care as an issue, being able to afford going to college. There is another issue, which is what you want to create jobs and have this economy grow the way it can grow, the single most important thing for us to do is strengthen the earning capacity and financial ability of workingclass families. College is part of that, education is part of it. Over the last 20 years, and you are a perfect example, what is happening is it used to be 20 years ago most working middleclass families were saving money. They had some Financial Security in case something went wrong. All that changed. Now both parents are working in a lot of families. You have one spouse working, one going to school. Not only are middleclass families not leaving, they have the credit cards maxed out. They have trouble paying their bill. They have negative savings. We have negative savings in middleclass families. I saw a remarkable statistic the other day that said if you are a child in the middle class family in america, this decade is likely your parents will go into bankruptcy and they will divorce. Senator edwards and his staff head for the final event for the day. We joined them on the bus for a portion of the trip. It reminds me of the time we were in the car going to the airport. 8 00 at night. We are on our way, they tell us we got some food for you at this great restaurant. It was in charleston. So i was starving. We go inside, i got my bank he has his bag. I say where is the food . He said, what food . I said the food that was in the car. He said i left it in the car. What good is it going to do is in the car . He said they have food here. I walked up to the counter and said how long has that salad and been there . He said too long. She says but i have some hotdogs over here that i can microwave. [laughter] you would have to put a lot of ketchup. And you probably ate the food. I didnt have the food. I think i went hungry. Microwave they germs out of it. The airports are pretty small. What was that place we ate at omaha . Best breakfasts ive had in a couple of years was santa fe, a takeout place at the santa fe airport. Greatest green chile for breakfast and a breakfast the read oh that was really good. But western airports are good. So we are going to tulsa tonight . I dont even know where we are going. We should eat on the last drive. Inare we spending the night mcallister . We are going to stay in a bed and break us. Breakfast. Is that where we are staying . This is my third trip to muskogee. I want to know how many other president ial candidates would go to muskogee. No okie fromnt muskogee. I want to marry myself a pilot. And live overseas. The movie. [laughter] were you here today when i called the cattle former this morning . That was a great call. He cant read, but he is smart as a whip. Guy. On the phone with the he said that little short boy tell me you would be back down here around dinner time. I knew he meant launch. Dinnertime. [laughter] my father still refers to 70yearold men as that boy down the road. That crowd, that boy. Grace where they figure out if they like you are not, the endorsement. [laughter] it . Said that, or you said [laughter] pretty the sunset is. That is really pretty. I like it. I can never remember what day it is. Today feels like saturday. Yeah, it does. We like that. We are on the phone last night with the kids. Putting them both on the phone at the same time, which is, like, trouble. They immediately start fighting. Emma is saying shut up, jack, im trying to tell daddy something. [laughter] emma is reading now. She has read two books to me on the phone. She was mad because i was sitting here telling tiger in South Carolina, why doesnt she have a boyfriend. Why does somebody like you . [laughter] she said, why does no one like me . [laughter] i was telling tiger that and she heard me. And she said him a is mad at you. I took her to the back of the bus and said, do you think i was being mean to you yesterday . If she thinks you are making fun of her in any way, she gets really up that. Was really sweet because you were concerned that i didnt have one. She starts giggling. Was telling my friend it was so sweet that you were concerned. She started giggling and she grabs my leg. We have been great s. Ever since. [laughter] then it was jacks conversation with sam. Jack says, what is that on your mouth . Why do you have that on your mouth . He said, why are you wearing girls shoes . [laughter] its tough. The truth is painful. You aint getting any younger. The final event took lace at freddies event freddies restaurant in supported a. I believe the election is about Something Different than that. Its about what kind of america we are and what kind of america we want to be. Its about power in your democracy. It belongs to you. It doesnt belong to that crowd in washington. It belongs to you. Giving it back to you and back to the american people. I dont believe in george bush toss america. Whereeve in an america the colder of your skin never controls your destiny and i still believe in an america where the son of a mill worker can be the president in the white house. Thank you all very much for being here. Thank you. How are you . My commitment to bringing jobs to oklahoma and providing Affordable Health care for the people of oklahoma who so desperately needed. Plan is very specific and very detailed. I have clear ideas about what i would do as president of the united states. I come from a community very much like this and i understand their lives. During campaign 2016 cspan takes you on the road to the white house, as we follow the candidates on cspan, cspan radio, and www. Cspan. Org. All weekend long, American History tv is