Former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) announced today more details of his "Road to One America" tour.

The tour will take Mr. Edwards through 12 cities in 8 states, campaign aide David Bonior told reporters.

He will start in New Orleans with a walking tour of Hurricane Katrina ravaged neighborhoods and then do a town hall with residents.

Calling the three-day tour, which starts Monday, "ambitious," Bonior noted none of the states have early primaries.

He said Edwards wants to "highlight the new face of poverty" and show that poor people are "not just statistics."

Among the policy issues Edwards will discuss on the tour is raising the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2012 and improving education.

The tour will go through some of the poorest counties in the country, including some in Mississippi, Arkansas and Virginia.

"We want to force this issue into the debate," Bonior said. "Political leaders are not talking about this issue."

-- Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times