Edwards says Giuliani carbon copy of Bush

June 7, 2007

Washington, D.C. - John Edwards said former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani can't win the presidency if he stays too close to Bush ideologically.

Criticizing the current administration's policies on handling terrorism and the war in Iraq in a speech in New York City Thursday, former North Carolina Senator Edwards said "If Mayor Giuliani believes that what President Bush has done is good and wants to embrace it and run a campaign for the presidency, saying I will give you four more years of what this president has given you, then he's allowed to do that."

Edwards added. "He'll never be elected president of the United States, but he's allowed to do that."

Edwards has received a lot of attention recently for calling Bush's war on terror a "bumper sticker slogan." He stood by that and said America is less safe than it was before Bush took office.

"We have more terrorists," Edwards said. "So that combination, less allies, less people to work with us and more terrorist operations around the world, makes America less safe."

Edwards also took a jab at the Republican presidential candidates and their attempt to "one up each other to try to be a bigger, badder George Bush. I think they want to become George Bush on steroids."

Edwards explained his plan, one different from the Bush Administration, to have a direct line of communication between the president and military leadership as well as setting up a "10,000 person marshal core who would be responsible for providing the expertise and leadership" to undercut terrorism.

And as capper on security, a reporter asked Edwards his thought on Paris Hilton's early prison release. Edwards chuckled that he was going to stay away from the dominant news story.

In a statement responding to the speech, Giuliani's Communications Director Katie Levinson said, "We are glad to see Rudy's criticism of the Democrats not understanding the terrorists' war on us is starting to register with them."

"John Edwards' track record of predicting election outcomes speaks for itself."