EDWARDS LAUNCHES 2004 PRESIDENTIAL EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE

Pledges to be a Champion for Regular People

RALEIGH, NC - U.S. Senator John Edwards, D-NC, announced Thursday the formation of a committee to explore a bid for the Democratic nomination for President. Edwards informed friends and supporters of his plans at his North Carolina home on Wednesday.

"I believe I can be a champion for regular people," explained Edwards. "My own life experience allows me to see things through their eyes. They are the people I grew up with, the people who worked with my father in the mill, the people I fought for as a lawyer. My vision for the country comes from them. They're not the insiders, they don't have lobbyists, but they're the heart and soul of this country and their voices should be heard."

Edwards began outlining his positive agenda for the country in several policy addresses delivered during Fall 2002.

"I have laid out ideas about how to make the American people safer, make the economy stronger, make our schools better and to open the doors of college to all who want to go," Edwards said. "That's not going to stop now. I am going to continue to lay out my ideas - and I am happy to have the American people judge me on them."

Edwards' exploratory campaign committee will be headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The required paperwork will be filed today with the Federal Elections Commission.

Edwards will discuss education ideas with schoolchildren and teachers on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. On Saturday, he will kick off a series of fundraisers with an event in downtown Raleigh at Greenshields. The Greenshields event will be open to the press.

John Edwards was born in Seneca, South Carolina and raised in Robbins, North Carolina. The son of a mill worker, he was the first in his family to go to college. After graduating from law school, Edwards spent nearly twenty years representing children and families across North Carolina. He was elected to the Senate in 1998. Edwards has been married to his wife, Elizabeth, for 25 years. They have had four children.

A biography of Senator Edwards is attached. A website with more information will be available later this week at http://www.johnedwards2004.com/.

A Message From Senator Edwards

Welcome to my Web site. I hope you'll take some time to explore it and learn more about my campaign.

We are living in an exciting and challenging time - a pivotal period in our history. We have a chance to offer a vision for America anchored in our enduring values and energized with new ideas. We should be proud of what we believe and steadfast in our principles, and we must remember that Americans ask their leaders to tell it like they see it and offer real solutions.

We need to come together around a commitment to restore the promise of America for the people who make this country what it is - the people who build and deliver our products, who heal and teach our kids, who grow and prepare our food, who protect our streets and homes, and those who fight our wars. They should not have to choose between personal security and economic opportunity. They deserve both.

In America, we do not have to choose between making our world safer and making our country better.

We need to set a higher standard for national leadership - one that says to this President: ignoring your responsibilities at home because you are focused on our responsibilities abroad isn't good enough for America. Doing two things at once is part of the job description.

We need leadership with the strength to take on the tough fights and the courage to make the tough choices. We need to challenge ourselves; we need to match what is best in our history and reach for what is best in our future. We need leadership with the vision of Franklin Roosevelt, who summoned America to stand for freedom around the world and rallied the support of nations across the globe.

We need leadership with the courage of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, who fought for civil rights and voting rights even when they knew it would cost them dearly. We need leadership with the resolve of Bill Clinton, who made the hard decisions in 1993 to tackle a deficit problem that no one thought could be solved and put this country back on the road to prosperity.

We need leadership for the real America. That's where I come from. And that's where you come from. We come from the place where parents have no idea how they're ever going to afford to send their three-year-old twins to college. We come from the place where people worry about how they're going to pay the bills if their mother gets sick. We come from the place where people cannot understand how 30 years of retirement savings could be wiped out in a matter of months.

President Bush and his administration come from a different place; they don't see the world the same way. They don't even see the problem, let alone try to solve it. They've lost touch with the real America.

People everywhere in the real America don't care about Republicans, or Democrats, or the politics of Washington, D.C. They don't ask much from government, but what they ask for matters. They want their leaders to honor their values, have the courage of their convictions, keep their country safe and strong, be smart with their money, and give them a chance to make the most of their future.

That's the basic promise of what we call the American Dream - if you work hard and play by the rules, America will give you the opportunity to reach higher, to build a better future. Americans dream that their children's lives will be better than their own. Americans dream that hard work deserves a real return. Americans dream that their future can be greater than their present.

The President loves to say since 9/11 that the American spirit has never been stronger.

I seek the Presidency so that we will be able to say the same about the American Dream.

I invite you to join me online as I continue to outline a vision for our future. Stay in touch and get involved from your computer. Look to this Web site - and be sure to sign up for my e-mail newsletter - to share your own new ideas.