Peripatetic Edwards still has star power

John Edwards is still a rock star.

The former U.S. senator was in the nation's capital Thursday to help U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy push for an increase in the federal minimum wage.

The pair, joined by about 100 supporters, held a short rally in a park outside a Senate office building.

Kennedy, a darling of liberal Democrats, seemed nearly an afterthought for many of the supporters. They wanted Edwards to shake their hands, pose for pictures, sign their posters. A nearby rally of parents with autistic children wrapped up (there are a lot of rallies on Capitol Hill), and the moms and kids wandered over to hear the commotion.

Afterwards, the parents pressed Edwards about their cause and asked for more autographs. A contingent from North Carolina yelled for Edwards to run for president.

Oh, he's running. And he's continuing his national travels and appearances.

Thursday afternoon, he taped an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Last night, he planned on giving a speech about the minimum wage.

He is scheduled to be in Georgia today for another speech, then in several Iowa cities over the weekend.

Edwards and Kennedy called on the Senate to take up Kennedy's proposal to raise the wage over two years rom $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.

"In my view, this is the great moral issue of our time," Edwards said. "I think it's an absolute abomination that Republicans in the Senate have fought against Senator Kennedy's bill."

The call for a minimum wage increase touches on an issue dear to the heart of Edwards, who served one term for North Carolina and then became the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2004.

Since leaving the Senate, Edwards has taken on the problems of poor Americans. He is the director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill.

"The point of what I'm doing here today is continuing the fight against poverty," Edwards said after the rally. "We've been lobbying on this thing for a long time."

One place Edwards wasn't planning to be Thursday was in senators' offices, talking about the minimum wage or other issues. Now that he's out of the Senate, he said, he'd rather travel on his pet causes.

But it's tough to get away when you're a star.

One of Edwards' last autographs after the rally Thursday was for a child of about 8, who offered up a poster she had been holding at the nearby autism gathering.

"Will you sign this for me?" she asked.

Edwards gave her his trademark grin. "Sure, sweetheart."

No-tax-hike pledge

An anti-tax group based in Raleigh is asking state legislative candidates to sign a "Taxpayer Protection Pledge."

The pledge, issued by Americans for Prosperity, calls on candidates to state that they will "oppose and vote against any and all tax increases" during legislative session that begins in 2007.

Francis DeLuca, state director of the group, said in a release that candidates are already returning signed pledges.

"It is obvious that all fiscally responsible candidates are anxious to sign our pledge," he said.

Dole loses bet

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland will be enjoying some North Carolina barbecue soon thanks to a friendly wager she had with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Dole and Mikulski had a bet on the outcome of the national championship game between the women's basketball teams at Maryland and Duke. Had Duke won, Mikulski would have given Dole some Maryland crab cakes.

But Duke lost. So Dole, a Republican, has to deliver some North Carolina barbecue to her Democratic colleague.