WASHINGTON (ABP) — Sen. John Edwards is now officially John Kerry's running mate, and the reactions among social-issues advocacy groups are as unsurprising as Kerry's choice.
Reaction was swift July 6 to the Massachusetts Democrat's choice of his Senate colleague from North Carolina and former rival for the Democratic nomination for president. The abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America called Kerry-Edwards “a dream ticket for a woman's right to choose.”
The conservative Family Research Council, meanwhile, noted they have given both men a zero-percent approval rating, and accused them of having “a history of opposing [President Bush's] judicial nominees simply because of their deeply held religious beliefs.”
And the Human Rights Campaign praised Edwards for being “steadfast in his support of our community” on gay-rights issues.
The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, issued a statement calling Edwards “disingenuous, inexperienced and unaccomplished.”
Kerry's announcement came during a morning campaign rally in Pittsburgh. Shortly thereafter, President Bush was asked about the RNC's statement during a brief exchange with reporters regarding his visit with the prime minister of Iceland. Bush said only that he would “welcome Senator Edwards on the ticket” and that he and Vice President Dick Cheney are anticipating “a good, spirited contest” with Kerry and Edwards.
The 51-year-old Edwards is in his first term in the Senate, to which he was elected in a 1998 upset over then-Sen. Lauch Faircloth, a conservative Republican. Edwards previously had little political experience, but gained a reputation as a trial attorney for beating large corporations in negligence lawsuits.
Edwards, who was born in South Carolina but moved to North Carolina as a child, was raised as a Southern Baptist but later joined the United Methodist Church. For several years, he and his wife, Elizabeth, have been active supporters of a ministry to the homeless in North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham area. Edwards also has served twice as co-chair of the Congressional Prayer Breakfast.
In a December interview with the church-state separationist group the Interfaith Alliance, Edwards spoke at length about his views on faith and politics. His faith “has been enormous to me in my personal life, and of course my personal life is a big impact on my political life,” he said.
However, Edwards also distinguished between his personal faith as a Christian and his responsibility in his public role to abide by the Constitution's protections for people of minority faiths or no faith at all. Edwards also expressed strong support for the separation of church and state, and opposition to his opponents' handling of faith issues in the political realm.
“I think actually the Republican Party has used faith as a wedge instead of a uniting tool. What my faith has taught me is we believe everybody, all of God's children, are entitled to the same chance, the same opportunity,” Edwards said. “It's not healthy for the American people. I mean, over the long term our country, our nation, will be much better off if we make it clear that we are a nation that lifts up and embraces all faiths and we will not use faith for political purposes.”
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