John Edwards has purchased airtime on MSNBC tonight immediately following the presidents speech. He will rebut the president and call for an immediate end to the Iraq War. The following e-mail was sent by Joe Trippi from the Edwards campaign:

A MESSAGE FROM JOHN EDWARDS ‘08
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tonight, after President Bush makes yet another argument for
continuing the war in Iraq, John Edwards will speak directly to the
American people in a nationwide address on MSNBC.

Our campaign has bought airtime on MSNBC immediately following the
President’s address at 9 p.m., and John Edwards will challenge the
President’s remarks with a strong call to the nation to end the war
now.

Please watch in that timeframe — and forward this e-mail to your
friends, asking them to watch as well. Each of us has a
responsibility to make sure that President Bush and Congress
understand that the time for excuses has run out. John Edwards will
deliver a strong message tonight on our behalf. It’s time to end
this war and bring our troops home.

Buying this kind of airtime is expensive. But we believe that
President Bush’s address must be countered with a strong voice in
opposition to the failed policies that have kept our troops in
harm’s way for far too long. Tonight, John Edwards will continue
to lead, and make the case to the nation that we cannot wait for an
election to change course in Iraq — we as citizens must make
Washington understand that the time to end this war is now.

Don’t miss John’s address tonight on MSNBC, immediately following
the President.

President Bush will be on every network for free tonight. Our
campaign will have to pay for the time on MSNBC so that John Edwards
can challenge the President’s failed policies. Please consider
making a contribution to the campaign — to help us meet the costs
of paying for tonight’s address — and to help John’s campaign
continue to grow.

At Pollster.com you can find the latest Advantage/Majority Opinion statewide surveys of voters in Florida conducted 9/6 through 9/1. The results:

Among 500 Democratic likely voters, Sen. Hillary Clinton (at 36%) leads Sen. Barack Obama (18%), and former Sen. John Edwards (9%) in a statewide primary. All other candidates receive less than 5% each, and 21% are undecided.

Among 500 Republican likely voters, former Sen. Fred Thompson leads former Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads (27% to 21%) in a statewide primary; Sen. John McCain trails at 9% and former Gov. Mitt Romney 8%. All other candidates receive less than 5% each and 25% are undecided.

News
- John McCain is going on a ‘No Surrender’ tour, defending the War in Iraq and attempting to revive his campaign. During a conference call with bloggers the Senator called MoveOn.org’s recent ads against General Patraeus ’scurrilous’.

- Yesterday saw a heat-up on the trail as Giuliani attacked Clinton, Romney attacked Obama and the Democratic Party went on the offensive against the Republicans, the administration and military leaders.

- Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is once again hinting he will run for president. What will it take? A commitment of $30 million from donors and “whether I think it is possible to run a campaign based on ideas rather than 30-second sound bites” which reads to me as… a commitment to $30 million dollars. A source close to Gingrich says the key timeframe for Newt to move is Oct. 15th when all candidates must pay $500 to be on the ballot in Utah.

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Only John McCain had agreed to take part in a spanish language debate similar to one Democrats recently participated in and so it has been cancelled. With that said, I am not surprised.

The top four Republican candidates have a hard enough time convincing conservative voters they will share their values, especially on immigration. McCain seems to be resigned that his stance didn’t help but the damage is done. Appearing on a spanish language channel isn’t going to help the rest.

With that said 40% of hispanics went for President Bush in 2004. It is an increasingly important voting block that Bush, a Texan who understood the importance of the border and the people from the other side of it, was able to court them in a way that his increasingly anti-illegal-immigration party won’t be able to.

From ABC News:

Praising Gen. David Petreaus’s testimony before Congress on the state of the war in Iraq, Romney, R-Mass., said his first thought was “thank heavens Barack Obama wasn’t president.”

Romney went on to say that had Obama, D-Ill., been president, he would have pulled troops out of Iraq, and given Osama Bin Laden a safe haven.

Rudy is attacking Hillary, Mitt is attacking Obama, I love when we get closer to primary season!