Edwards Campaign Press Release - During "Bringing It Home" South Carolina Bus Tour, Edwards Discusses Plans To Guarantee Opportunity For All Americans

As President, Edwards will stand up to powerful interests and fight for hard-working families

St. Helena Island, South Carolina – As part of his "Bringing It Home" bus tour across South Carolina, Senator John Edwards today will hold a town hall meeting on St. Helena Island to discuss with South Carolinians his bold plans to ensure that all Americans, regardless of race, gender or income, have the same opportunities to succeed that he has had. Edwards' town hall meeting will take place at the historic Penn Center, which served as a school for freed slaves after the Civil War and was later used as a training site and retreat center by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Edwards, who was born in South Carolina to working class parents and raised in small, rural Carolina mill towns, has spent his life taking on powerful interests on behalf of hard-working families like the ones he grew up with. As president, he will fight to ensure that all Americans get a great education, have access to good jobs and the opportunity to build a better life for the families.

"Growing up in the Carolinas, I was able to work hard and achieve success," said Edwards. "But today, too many Americans are separated from the opportunities of our country. I am running for President to make sure every American has the same chances to get ahead that I had. It's time that our country started working for the American people again, not just big corporate interests. America belongs to us, and joining together, we can take our country back."

As the proud product of public schools and the first in his family to go to college, Edwards has made strengthening our education system a key part of his campaign. South Carolina has many great schools and hardworking teachers yet only 54 percent of all students graduate on time from high school with a regular diploma. Edwards has released a plan to help increase South Carolina high school graduation rates so more young people have the chance to get ahead. As president, Edwards will reform our schools and offer multiple pathways to graduation, including "second-chance" schools for dropouts and alternative schools for at-risk students.

Additionally, Edwards will take on the powerful, entrenched interests controlling Washington and help middle class families by making investments to strengthen the faltering job market, creating more middle-class jobs and making middle class necessities, like housing, energy, child care, and college more affordable.

Earlier today, Edwards launched a four-day "Bringing It Home" bus tour across South Carolina to discuss his bold plans to fight for hard-working families and strengthen the middle class with voters in his home state of South Carolina. As a sign of support and commitment to the state where he was born, Edwards was the first of the Democratic candidates to return to South Carolina following the New Hampshire primary. Edwards is the only candidate in the race who was born in South Carolina and he is the only Democratic candidate to ever win in a "red" state. Edwards leads the Democratic field in both campaign stops and money raised in the Palmetto State, and his campaign boasts an impressive statewide grassroots organization strengthened by deep support from Edwards' 2004 campaign.