Edwards works to rally students

DURHAM - Cate Edwards, daughter of Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, spoke Saturday at Duke University about the closeness of the presidential race and the need for student voters to rally behind her father.

Standing near, among other things, a woman in roller blades and a large sandwich board endorsing the candidacy of John Edwards and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, Cate Edwards also talked about the policies Kerry would implement if elected.

"Here in North Carolina, you have an amazing opportunity to turn this state blue and elect my dad and John Kerry," she said.

As Edwards rose to speak, she was greeted with some dissent from the crowd, but she laughed it off and said, "That's not very nice, guys."

In spite of that less than enthusiastic greeting, Edwards was cheerful in her message and let the crowd know she was not only speaking to endorse her father.

"I'm here because it is so important for you to get out and vote," she said.

Edwards noted that in the 2000 presidential election, only 537 votes decided the state of Florida.

"It is easy to mobilize that many people. There's close to that many of you here today," she said.

She also emphasized the topic of education, letting the crowd know about some of the plans Kerry has for colleges and universities.

One such plan would give about 200,000 students the opportunity to receive four years' tuition at a public university in exchange for two years of community service.

Another plan would give students or their families a $4,000 tax break per year.

The event at Duke also featured Rep. David Price, D-N.C., who spoke of "pulling this community together" to vote for Kerry and Edwards.

He stressed the importance of getting a team in office that would reform education and claimed that the current administration isn't doing enough on the issue.

Edwards is in North Carolina until Tuesday on a tour of college campuses, in which she will visit six different universities.

She will stop at UNC-Greensboro, Winston-Salem State University and UNC-Charlotte today and will speak at UNC-Pembroke and Fayetteville State University on Tuesday.

Edwards said the campus tour's ultimate goal is to get students involved and voting, regardless of political affiliation.

"I really haven't been discouraged yet," she said. "Even if I see someone holding a George Bush sign, I don't see that as discouraging, because that means that they are interested and motivated in this whole process."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.