Obama Unveils Plan To Cure the Ills of Urban America

Senator Obama of Illinois rolled out a plan to cure the ills of urban America, just as one of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, John Edwards, wrapped up a three-day trip focusing on America's poor.

In a speech yesterday in the capital's poorest neighborhood, Anacostia, Mr. Obama scolded official Washington for turning a blind eye to obvious problems lurking not far from the city's monuments and tourist meccas.

"The streets here are close to our capital, but far from the people it represents. These Americans cannot hire lobbyists to roam the halls of Congress on their behalf and they cannot write thousand-dollar campaign checks to make their voices heard," Mr. Obama said, according to prepared remarks released by his campaign. "They suffer from a politics that has been tipped in favor of those with the most money, and influence, and power."

Mr. Obama proposed national funding for a series of programs that he said have been proved to assist the urban poor. He said he hoped to "replicate" in 20 cities a widely acclaimed New York-based nonprofit that provides health care, after-school care, tutoring, and other services, the Harlem Children's Zone.

The Illinois senator also called for in-home nursing services for first-time expectant mothers, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, and doubling funding for so-called reverse commute programs that help city dwellers get to suburban jobs.

While nearly all of the initiatives Mr. Obama outlined yesterday seemed to involve more government spending, he said liberals share some blame for the current predicament facing the poor. "There were also some ineffective programs that were defended anyway, as well as an inability of some on the left to acknowledge that the problems of absent fathers or persistent crime were indeed problems that needed to be addressed," he said.

Mr. Obama stressed that his concern about inner-city problems was long-standing. "This kind of poverty is not an issue I just discovered for the purposes of a campaign," he said. He noted that as young man he worked as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side.

Still, aides to Mr. Edwards suggested that their candidate's focus on poverty prompted the Illinois senator to schedule a policy speech on the issue.

"John Edwards is the guy who's been shaping the race," Mr. Edwards's deputy campaign manager, Jonathan Prince, said during a press conference call set up to discuss a new advertisement. "If we can influence the campaign and bring other candidates into the discussion, so they're also talking about poverty, that's a good thing."

A spokeswoman for Mr. Obama, Jennifer Psaki, said his speech was scheduled more than a month ago. A political analyst in Washington, Stuart Rothenberg, said Mr. Prince's assertion about Mr. Edwards driving the debate had some merit. Whether that role as a catalyst will benefit the former North Carolina senator politically is another question, though.

"The voters don't care who started talking about the Iraq war, poverty, or health care, they care about where you end up and whether you have some internal contradiction," Mr. Rothenberg said.

In an attempt to distinguish himself from Senator Clinton and Mr. Obama, Mr. Edwards has staked out aggressively liberal positions on the war, trade, and labor issues. He has also sought to win over Democratic voters looking for substance by offering a series of detailed policy proposals. "We think voters will appreciate that leadership," Mr. Prince said.

Mr. Rothenberg said Mr. Edwards would likely find that group to be a small one. "There is a constituency in the Democratic Party that likes him and will give him credit for being on those issues first. The problem is that's not most of the party," he said.