Laid-off worker voices Edwards themes

John Edwards, pressing his populist anger in the final days before the Iowa caucuses, is returning to a familiar tale in a new TV spot and newspaper ad -- layoffs at the Maytag plant in Newton, Iowa.

The TV ad is to begin airing Wednesday, while the newspaper ad appeared in today's Des Moines Register. They both feature Doug Bishop, who lost his job in September 2004 and who relates his story of meeting Edwards.

"This is something I'll never forget -- he grabbed my seven-year-old son by the hand, he dropped to one knee, and he looked him straight in the eye and he said, 'I'm going to keep fighting for your daddy's job, I promise you that.'

"You know, that stuff sticks with you," Bishop continues. "That's the kind of thing we need in a leader in this country. Not somebody that's going to go to a big fund-raiser and say, 'Write me a check for $2,300, and I'll let you know you have my support.'

"I want a guy that's going to sit down and look a seven year-old kid in the eye," Bishop says, choking up, "and tell him, 'I'm going to fight for your dad's job.' That's what I want."

And if enough Iowa Democrats agree on Thursday, Edwards's presidential hopes will take a huge step forward.