Edwards Campaign Press Release - Edwards Reaches All 99 Counties with Visit to "The Real Coulter"

Achieves Milestone in Campaign: Visiting and Answering Questions from Iowans in All 99 Counties; Iowans from Every County Participate in the "99 County Day of Action"

Coulter, Iowa – Today, Senator John Edwards visited his 99th county in Iowa and held a community meeting to listen to the concerns of a Coulter he cares about – the people of Coulter, Iowa. With today's visit to "The Real Coulter," Edwards reached a major milestone in his campaign: having visited and answered questions from Iowans in all 99 Iowa counties. Edwards is committed to standing up for regular, hard-working families like the ones he grew up with in Robbins, North Carolina, and the ones in Coulter, a small town with a population of 262 people. The community meeting in Coulter, followed by a "99 County, 50 State Path to Victory" event in Des Moines this evening, will cap a four-day tour of the state focused on supporting Iowa families and Iowa values.

"If you want to learn something about America, come to Coulter, Iowa and listen to what people here have to say," said Edwards. "Across the country, there are thousands of communities just like Coulter – where people go to work every day and still struggle to make ends meet. They don't have their own talk shows or lobbyists. Instead, they need a president who hears their voices and fights for them every single day."

Edwards is committed to being a voice for all Iowans, which is why he has not only visited all 99 counties, but taken questions and listened to the concerns of Iowans from every county. Edwards has laid out a bold agenda to help hard-working families across the country. From guaranteeing universal health care to ending the war in Iraq and restoring hope to rural communities, Edwards will bring big change to our country. He is committed to running a 99 county, 50 state campaign and standing up for all Americans, whether they are from small towns, big cities, red states or blue states.

"Democrats will never win in so-called 'red areas' if we don't go to them," said Edwards. "I believe Iowans from all walks of life deserve a voice in Washington, no matter where they live. I will continue to reach out to Iowans from the largest cities to the smallest towns, and as the nominee, I will never concede the 'red states' or the rural vote to Republicans. Our party should stand up and fight for regular, hard-working families everywhere."

To mark this milestone, Iowans from every county are participating in the "99 County Day of Action." Iowans from all 99 counties are taking action to help Edwards win the Iowa caucuses and build One America – from a phonebank in Mills County to a winter clothing drive in Cedar County to a letter writing party in Dubuque County. The Edwards campaign has built grassroots organizations in all 99 counties with County Chairs and Rural County Chairs in every county. The campaign is on track to be the first campaign to announce Steering Committees in all 99 counties. The campaign will also commemorate the milestone by handing out a special edition of its newspaper, The Edwards Extra.

Today's milestone will be the latest in a series of recent victories for the campaign and adds to the momentum growing behind Edwards in recent weeks. Earlier this month, for example, Edwards won the endorsement of the Iowa Service Employees International Union and 10 other SEIU state councils representing more than one million workers.