Thursday, December 28, 2006
Not Just Another Pretty Face [Kellyanne Conway]
A day of charitable remembrances of the late President Gerald Ford as an “ordinary man” buried the breaking story of someone who would like to follow in his footsteps.
Today the campaign of John Edwards, former U.S. Senator (D-NC) and the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate in 2004, confirmed that he is again running for President.
A preview of tomorrow’s announcement, which will occur in one of the hardest-hit areas of Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, occurred today when Edwards showed up in full regular guy regalia (blue jeans, khaki shirt and shovel) to help a woman still living in a FEMA trailer on her property rebuild her home.
John Edwards’ candidacy should be taken seriously by Republicans and Democrats alike.
Edwards as Everyman is silly, of course, since he is millions of dollars removed from that humble textile worker’s son he plays on the stump. Still, his appeal is real to certain constituencies, as evidenced by the exorbitant verdicts he extracted as a trial lawyer from the same juries who elect presidents and his surprise showing in the early primaries and caucuses in ’04.
As Democrats and bored pundits gaze over the collective Barack-Hillary ‘08 navel, wondering if Barack’s race and lack of foreign policy experience actually make her gender and slightly less lack of foreign policy experience seem more acceptable, or if Hillary’s support of the war in Iraq and general humorlessness deepen the appetite for someone “fresh and different,” Edwards has been busy.
He’s been far away from Washington and the anemic congressional approval rating his former colleagues have earned, crisscrossing Iowa and new Hampshire to deliver the types of talks, polite head nods and back slaps across that motivate precinct captains, grassroots coordinators and party leaders to help you get competitive in the early contests. And he’s pushing the kind of “social justice” agenda that has attracted legion Independents and caught fire even among some younger evangelicals and moms who in this past election were less reliable for the GOP than in years past.
With the departure of former Virginia Governor Mark Warner from the presidential hustings, Edwards is the only Southerner running in the Democratic Party, whose last two successful presidential candidates were from the South. He’s easy on the eyes, which matters more to more voters than they care to admit, crusaded against Wal-mart before it was de rigueur, and long ago apologized for his vote in favor of the joint resolution authorizing U.S. force in Iraq.
John Edwards should be stopped. His “Two Americas” platitudes are misguided and his policies dangerous to economic freedom and entrepreneurship. This will thrive out of the spotlight for too long if he is casually dismissed by the wristflickers so caught up in the Barack Bubble, Hillary Hoopla, McCain Mania or Romney Rumblings that they fail to see who else is lurking in their midst.
12/28 12:07 AM
