On Saturday in Chicago at the YearlyKos convention, John Edwards challenged the entire Democratic Party to reform itself and end the practice of taking campaign money from Washington lobbyists.

"We don't have to wait for a new law - the Democratic Party can end the game today - and from this day forward say to Washington lobbyists - your money is no good here anymore."

"The system in Washington is broken - it's rigged to serve the interests of those with the most money to throw around, rather than the best interest of the American people. The type of change America needs will never be achieved if we just replace the insiders from one party with the insiders from another party. That's why the Democratic Party must lead the way in taking a bold step toward reform that will return the power in Washington back to where it belongs."

But there are those in the Democratic Party who are unwilling to end their addiction to money from federal lobbyists - they do not understand that people like you will help fund a party that is truly a party of the people.

So reforming the Democratic Party begins with us - with John Edwards and you showing the way. Contribute what you can to the campaign today and prove to the Democratic Party that people will respond to a campaign that says "no" to Washington lobbyists.

www.johnedwards.com/action/contribute/reform

The Republicans can keep taking money from all of the Washington lobbies - corporate lobbyists, insurance industry lobbyists, pharmaceutical industry lobbyists and oil industry lobbyists - because they've been doing the bidding of these lobbyists for far too long.

But the Democratic Party can reject all of the Washington lobbyists' money and reform itself - solidifying our stature as the party of the people and forcing the Republican Party to either join us, or forever make clear to the American people who it is that the Republicans in Washington are working for.

And so your contribution today is more than a contribution to John Edwards -- it's more than a contribution to show the Democratic Party the path to reform. It's a contribution towards making our government for, by and of the people.

www.johnedwards.com/action/contribute/reform

Today in Iowa, John talked about how we need to stop writing and signing trade deals that benefit special interests at the expense of American workers. And he talked about how we can't fix our trade policy as long as politicians take money from federal lobbyists and let them rig Washington against regular people.

If we are going to fix our trade policy, end the war in Iraq, win universal health care for every American, and end at game in Washington that rewards corporate greed at the expense of working people and our country's future - we must be prepared to say not only that Washington is broken - but that real change will only happen if the Democratic Party truly becomes the party of the people once again.

Thank you for being part of the campaign to make it so.

Sincerely,
Joe Trippi, Senior Advisor, John Edwards for President
August 6, 2007

P.S. - Watch the clip of John calling for reform at YearlyKos here:
www.johnedwards.com/watch/lobbyists