By Carson Walker
The Associated Press
ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Wednesday that voters should think about who they can most trust when trying to decide between him and his rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
“Having a great politician is fine,” Edwards said. “That’s not what America needs right now.”
He said the most important thing is not a candidate’s stance on health care or other issues, but honesty, sincerity and trustworthiness after two terms of President Bush.
“I’m a different candidate,” he said during a stop at a volunteer fire station. “The most important thing is to have a president that you trust. Forget politics for a minute. ... What we’ve seen happen in the last six or seven years is the utter destruction of trust between the president and the American people.”
Edwards was speaking in response to a question about why he was a better choice than Clinton and Obama. The three lead in Iowa polls of Democratic candidates.
The focus of Edwards’ stop in the GOP stronghold of Rock Rapids was his plan to support rural firefighters. Standing in front of a bright red fire truck, Edwards encouraged rural departments to take advantage of federal programs already in place for equipment and training.
He said that as president he would support funding for those programs and end a Justice Department backlog of death benefits for firefighters and other public employees.
“It’s taking forever to get those claims processed. That needs to be speeded up,” Edwards said.
From Rock Rapids, Edwards planned to stop in several other small Iowa towns before ending the day at a farm near Cylinder, population 99.
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