In his speech, Edwards stated, 

I don't want to see us stay back, wait for the primary, wait for the election, and hope that the next person that gets elected is going to solve our problems, because I don't think it's realistic and I don't think it's going to happen.  I think instead what we should do, all of us, not just me, is we should take responsibility; we should take action.  Not later.  Now.  We should take ownership of our own country.

Edwards addressed the ongoing war Iraq, rejecting what he called "the McCain doctrine, surging thousands of more American troops into Iraq."  More broadly, he emphasized the need to re-establish America's leadership and moral authority in the world, pointing to areas such as genocide in Darfur and global warming.  Edwards urged the audience to join him in fighting poverty.  "I don't think it's okay that we have 37 million people who wake up in poverty every day in America," he stated.  "Not in the richest nation on the planet."  (more)