Edwards says he’s undecided about presidential run in 2008

Ex-Democratic VP candidate, senator also criticizes Dean’s recent comments

Kevin Wolf / AP

Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards speaks at an event in Washington on Thursday.

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updated 10:02 a.m. ET June 5, 2005

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards said Saturday that he has not decided whether he will run for president in 2008.

The former U.S. senator from North Carolina said his family is focused on the recovery of his wife, who was diagnosed with breast cancer the day after the 2004 general election.

“Our first priority right now is making sure Elizabeth gets well,” Edwards said at an annual state Democratic fundraising dinner. “There’s a lot of work left to be done.”

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Edwards also disagreed with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean’s controversial comment in a speech to liberal activists Thursday that many Republicans “have never made an honest living in their lives.”

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“The chairman of the DNC is not the spokesman for the party,” Edwards said. “He’s a voice. I don’t agree with it.”

Dean: U.S. safer under Democrats
On Saturday, Dean continued his barrage on conservatives while visiting Montana, lambasting the Bush administration for its fiscal irresponsibility and war on terror.

He said President Bush needs to get tough on real threats to national security, nations like North Korea and Iran that claim to have nuclear weapons, rather than nations like Iraq, where no weapons of mass destruction were ever found.

“I would make the argument that America is safer when Democrats are in the White House, than when Republicans are in the White House,” Dean said in a speech to Democratic supporters.

There was no immediate response from the GOP to Dean’s comments Saturday, but RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said after Thursday’s speech that Dean’s “priority is to generate mudslinging headlines rather than engage in substantive debate.”