Barack just concluded an economic policy speech in Raleigh, North Carolina. The speech marks the kick-off of a two week tour focusing on the current economic crisis and the need for new economic policy:

You don’t have to read the stock tickers or scan the headlines in the financial section to understand the seriousness of the situation we’re in right now. You just have to go to Pennsylvania and listen to the man who lost his job but can’t even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one. Or listen to the woman from Iowa who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can’t pay the medical bills for a sister who’s ill. Or talk to the worker I met in Indiana who worked at the same plant his father worked at for thirty years until they moved it to Mexico and made the workers actually pack up the equipment themselves so they could send it to China.

… We did not arrive at the doorstep of our current economic crisis by some accident of history. This was not an inevitable part of the business cycle that was beyond our power to avoid. It was the logical conclusion of a tired and misguided philosophy that has dominated Washington for far too long.

Also on hand for the speech were John and Elizabeth Edwards:

Read the full text of Barack’s prepared remarks . . .