BANGOR – Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards spoke on Saturday to the middle class, saying he knew firsthand their concerns and had learned the values of hard work by working alongside his father in the textile mills of North Carolina.

Joined on stage by his parents, Wallace and Bobbie Edwards, the vice presidential candidate said he has lived the American Dream.

“The truth is, I have grown up in the bright light of America, but that light is flickering,” Edwards said.

He blamed George W. Bush for threatening the American Dream and the future of the country.

Edwards engaged the approximately 1,000 people at the Bangor waterfront in his speech by asking them whether they wanted four more years of war, job loss, and rising health care costs, or whether they wanted a fresh start for the nation.

Republicans don’t think that Kerry will provide a fresh start for the nation, or for Maine, and criticized his liberal policies in comments made after the rally.

“On issue after issue, Senator Edwards is at odds with the people of Maine,” State Sen. Carol Weston said Saturday in a press release. “Mainers want a stronger economy and new jobs, but he’s voted for higher taxes and continued runaway litigation. Mainers want more affordable and accessible health care coverage, but the senator has repeatedly blocked common sense medical liability reform to bring down premiums and costs.”

Edwards also accused Bush of supporting large corporations, including pharmaceutical and oil companies, rather than the American people.

“You cannot stand up for big drug companies, big insurance companies, big HMOs, Halliburton, big oil companies, and the Saudi royal family and still fight for the American people,” Edwards said. “You deserve a president who’s going to fight for you every single day.”

The recently released tape from Osama bin Laden was another hot topic for the senator.

In the tape, bin Laden admitted responsibility for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“We, as Americans, Democrats, Republicans, independents, we have a very clear message for Osama bin Laden. We are going to hunt him down and hold him accountable for what he did on Sept. 11th,” Edwards said.

Later in his speech, he accused Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney of mishandling the war and their justification for it.

“Why do George Bush and Dick Cheney continue today to blur the line between Sept. 11 and Saddam Hussein?” Edwards asked.

Republicans, on the other hand, lauded Bush’s efforts in the war and in building a safer America.

“Maine deserves better leadership and we have it in President Bush,” Dwayne Bickford, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, said Saturday in a press release. “He is committed to building a safer and more prosperous America over the next four years.”

Because Maine is one of two states that can split its Electoral College votes, the campaigns have paid it particular attention. Campaign surrogates, including the Bush twins and first lady Laura Bush, and John Kerry’s stepson, Chris Heinz, have visited Maine recently.

No protestors could be seen at the waterfront area, which was a switch from when Edwards appeared in September at the University of Maine and about 100 Bush supporters turned out to protest.

People did, however, chuckle when the Bush-Cheney cement mixer – a known political billboard in town – continued to drive back and forth throughout the event across the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge in the background.

Dan Burgess, a senior at UMaine, said Edwards’ Bangor campaign stop on Saturday had a lot more energy than his earlier visit to Orono. Burgess also said the smaller crowd size made the event “a lot more intimate.”

“We had seen [Edwards] at Orono, and we wouldn’t miss a second chance,” Anna Suddy, 69, of Veazie, said after the rally. She attended the event with her husband, Albert, and the couple said they are voting for John Kerry for several reasons, including his policies on health care, the war, and improving the economy.

“Bush has done such a terrible job with everything,” Albert Suddy, 73, said. “We’ve got to get him out of there.”