Edwards announces; blazes a trail

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards announced his campaign for the presidency this week from New Orleans and is in the midst of a "world-wind" tour of the early primary and caucus states. 
There are a ton of stories out there and a lot of blogging going on about the announcements. Edwards' first DailyKos entry made the recommended list, with almost 1,000 entries on it, in just one day. C-SPAN has video here: ["John Edwards Presidential Announcement"]. Ah, technology.
Here are a few local pieces about the announcements. 
This one is from Portsmouth, where Edwards talked to a SRO crowd: ["Overflow Crowd Greets Edwards' Tour"]. I have a problem with Ramer's line here:

Besides, Edwards, only Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich have formally announced they were seeking the Democratic nomination. Other potential candidates include New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, and Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 nominee. Former Vice President Al Gore has said he has no plans to enter the race, but he has been careful not to completely rule out a bid.

This isn't altogether accurate because the first one to announce he was running for president during the summer was former Alaskan Sen. Mike Gravel. While this could just be a simple slight on Ramer's part, she is a pretty good AP reporter, Gravel has as much legitimacy as Rep. Kucinich to be on the list. The guy did more in his career in the Senate than Kucinich has ever done in the House. Gravel also has a more thorough platform than Kucinich for 2008. I mean, it's bold for a Dem to propose eliminating the income tax with a national sales tax!
This is kinda how the section should have looked: ["Edwards Enters Race for Democratic Presidential Nomination"].

Update: It was a simple slight on Ramer's part but I should try not to be so damn critical about every little thing. Over at Kos, they are having an eruption over the press on Edwards' crowd sizes: ["Edwards 08: Crowd Size and the Press"].

Sarah Liebowitz used to be the city reporter for the Concord Monitor but was recently brought on to share the political beat with Eric Moskowitz at the paper. She has a pretty good piece today about some of the stuff Edwards has been doing behind the scenes to shore up support: ["Nevada unions key for Edwards"]. Sure beats covering the Concord City Council, hey Sarah? :-)

ARG releases four state poll: ["Presidential Preference"]. Not too many surprises here. Kucinich beats Kerry in Iowa and Clark in New Hampshire and it is looking like a four-way over on the Republican side. Way too early to tell anything here but it is interesting to look at.

A Draft Obama group moves forward with ad buy: ["DraftObama ad set for DM market"].

Some other quick headlines
Congrats to Gary LaPierre on 40-plus years in Boston radio news: ["Gary LaPierre gives final broadcast on WBZ"].
French government to release UFO data: ["French space agency to publish UFO archive online"].
Spitzer gets another settlement: ["Entercom Payola Suit Settled"].
The late President Ford critical of Iraq war: ["Ford Speaks From The Grave, Criticizes Bush On Iraq"].
Must be nice: ["Pay Packages Allow Executives to Jump Ship With Less Risk"].
Saddam's gone: ["Iraqi TV Says Saddam Hussein Executed"].