US:Former Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards has confirmed that he will run for president in 2008, calling for cuts in poverty, global warming and US troops in Iraq. Mr Edwards launched his campaign in the lower ninth ward, a district of New Orleans badly hit by Hurricane Katrina last year.
Wearing jeans, work boots and a denim shirt, Mr Edwards said he would remain focused on bridging the gap between the "two Americas" he identified in the 2004 campaign - one comfortable and privileged and the other struggling to avoid poverty. This time, however, he wants to use his campaign to create a national movement to take action against economic and social injustice.
"I've learned since the last campaign that it's great to identify a problem . . . but the way you change things is by taking action," he said.
Mr Edwards, who voted as a senator to authorise the Iraq war, now says that vote was a mistake and he opposes proposals for a temporary surge in troop numbers to combat sectarian violence. "It would be a huge mistake to put a surge of troops into Iraq. It sends exactly the wrong signal. We can maximise our chances for success by making clear we are going to leave Iraq and not stay there forever," he said.
Although he trails far behind senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in national polls of Democrats, Mr Edwards has built strong support among trade unions, an important source of campaign cash and volunteers. Frequent visits to Iowa have made him the front-runner in the state that will hold the first Democratic caucus in 2008.
If Mr Edwards can perform well in early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, he could generate enough momentum and attract enough cash to challenge Ms Clinton and Mr Obama, seen as the stars of the Democratic Party.
Ms Clinton remains the undisputed Democratic front-runner, in terms of popularity, name recognition, organisation and the capacity to raise campaign funds. She remains a polarising figure, however, with more than 40 per cent of US voters, mostly conservatives, saying they do not like her and some Democratic activists complaining she has drifted too far to the right.
The decision by former Virginia governor Mark Warner and Indiana senator Evan Bayh not to run leaves Mr Edwards as the only Democratic candidate from the south, which produced the last two Democrats to win the presidency - Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
