John Edwards is in Seattle today to take questions from AFL-CIO members as part of the labor group's new process for presidential endorsements. Edwards appears at noon at the Machinist's Hall. He also has an event in Everett.

He chose Seattle for the event. The AFL-CIO let the candidates pick the city they wanted for their meetings with the rank and file. It's an interesting choice for Edwards. Campaigning for the Democratic nomination four years ago, Edwards largely ignored Washington state. I wrote in February 2004:

As 2003 closed, and it was clear Edwards was not campaigning in the state, his money dried up; he raised $3,900 in the last three months of the year, according to records filed with the FEC that includes no small donations.

The Edwards campaign, as has been the case throughout the race, did not respond to telephone calls asking for comment on its Washington operation.

Edwards finished fourth in the Democratic caucus, behind John Kerry, Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich.

One difference between then and now is Joe Trippi now works for Edwards. In the 2004 race, Trippi was the Dean campaign manager. Seattle was a very big deal for Dean. I wondered if Trippi had anything to do with a renewed focus on the state. But Trippi told me this morning:

"The theory does not hold."

The event was on Edwards' schedule before Trippi joined the campaign. But he was glad to see it, and thinks Edwards has a natural base here.

"There's no question that if you look at where John Edwards is on everything from poverty to putting an end to the Iraq war, that in Washington state, and Seattle in particular, it's clear our message is resonating there."

In recent days, that message has focused on his anti-war stance. Trippi said that if President Bush vetoes the Iraq funding bill Edwards wants Congress "to send the bill right back to him and keep sending it to him. That is a very strong message that is getting through to people and we're going to get that message out in Seattle and Washington state." It's clear Edwards hopes to make inroads into the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party. As Trippi said, Edwards "really wants to end the war right now. He's not iffy about it."

There are also more practical reasons to campaign here in an election cycle that is front-loaded like never before.

"If you went through last cycle you learned a lesson and that is you can't just campaign in a few states, you have to be everywhere. And Washington proved that point in terms of the Edwards campaign last time. "There isn't that Dean candidacy soaking up the oxygen in the state like in 2004, and Kerry had the momentum."

The union meeting is open to members of AFL-CIO unions. Tickets were distributed by the county labor council.

I'll post more after the noon event.