Edwards Feels Pretty, Oh So Pretty

Maybe it's just me, but isn't 2 minutes an awfully long time to work on your hair ... especially when you have someone helping? I think Edwards uses half a bottle of hair spray in this video.

Giuliani, Obama Win 'Picnic Poll'

WASHINGTON -- Rudy Giuliani and Barack Obama have won the picnic poll.

Asked whom they would most like to chat with at a Memorial Day picnic, Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, was picked by 37 percent of all those polled when pitted against three other Republicans. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., got 27 percent.

Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, was chosen by 33 percent when grouped with three other Democrats. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., was second with 24 percent.

Munching hot dogs with smaller groups of people would be former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.; former Vice President Al Gore; former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and former GOP Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Among Democratic respondents alone, more people chose Clinton than Obama, though more women overall chose Obama over Clinton.

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Edwards: There Is No 'War on Terror'

NEW YORK (AP) -- Democrat John Edwards Wednesday repudiated the notion that there is a "global war on terror," calling it an ideological doctrine advanced by the Bush administration that has strained American military resources and emboldened terrorists.

In a defense policy speech he planned to deliver at the Council on Foreign Relations, Edwards called the war on terror a "bumper sticker" slogan Bush had used to justify everything from abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison to the invasion of Iraq.

"We need a post-Bush, post-9/11, post-Iraq military that is mission focused on protecting Americans from 21st century threats, not misused for discredited ideological purposes," Edwards said in remarks prepared for delivery. "By framing this as a war, we have walked right into the trap the terrorists have set -- that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations and a war on Islam."

In the first presidential debate last month in South Carolina, Edwards was one of four Democrats -- including Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel -- who said they did not believe there was a global war on terror. Front-runners Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama indicated that they did.

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, voted in 2002 to authorize the invasion of Iraq but has since become a harsh critic of the conflict. In his speech, he reiterated his call to remove American combat troops from Iraq within a year and vowed to "restore the contract we have with those who proudly wear the uniform to defend our country and make the world a safe and better place."

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Edwards Says Wealth Hasn't Changed Advocacy

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Presidential candidate John Edwards said Monday it's silly to suggest that his wealth and expensive tastes have hurt his credibility as an advocate for the poor.

"Would it have been better if I had done well and didn't care?" Edwards asked.

Edwards noted that some of the most acclaimed anti-poverty advocates came from privileged backgrounds, including Franklin Roosevelt and Bobby Kennedy.

"You could see and feel the empathy they had," said Edwards, speaking from his home in North Carolina during an interview on Iowa Public Radio.

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