Tag Archive for 'John-Edwards'
In a chat yesterday on Washingtonpost.com political reporter John Solomon tried to make the case that the media’s fixation on Mr. Edwards’ haircuts was justifiably. Here’s the question and Solomon’s answer:
Floris, Va.: As someone who frequently writes about John Edwards’ sartorial expenditures and his finances in general, what is your opinion of his YouTube commercial that was broadcast during the Monday night debates?
washingtonpost.com: John Edwards - Hair (YouTube, July 23)
John Solomon: It clearly has been effective because more than 128,600 people have clicked on it since it debuted. And most Americans would agree with its message that issues like Iraq, the economy, health care and fighting terrorism are far more important that personal grooming habits or hairstyle. That said, the fact is the haircut story got new life because Edwards did not give a full and complete account when the questions first arose. He acted like he didn’t know the hairstylist, that the $400 haircuts were an abberation and that he didn’t know such clippings cost so much. His response only prompted his hairstylist to correct the record, divulging Edwards had been getting such haircuts since 2003 at costs as much as $1,250 a piece. Hairstyles may not be important to presidential voters but credibility and candor usually are. And that is the issue that extended the haircut story.
For those who haven’t seen this video, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1qG6m9SnWI
Italics mine. Please Solomon. This was all about…telling the truth? What a dumb excuse, though admittedly coming from a reporter known to pretty much suck. Look, its fairly obvious why the media has fallen over themselves to repeat the haircut story at any and every opportunity: its because John Edwards has made economic inequality a centerpiece of his campaign. Solomon and his friends want to howl about expensive haircuts because they think it makes Edwards look like a hypocrite. Also why they mention his house, etc. Essentially the rule seems to be, according to our elite media, that if you are rich then you can’t talk about the poor or the Washington Establishment will try to tear you down. Mr. Solomon, if you arent too busy recycling press releases, might I direct you to a video the Edwards campaign came up with? I think they meant it for you.
I think I’ll write more tomorrow on tonight’s debate but let me just say right now that I, like John Aravosis, thought Senator Edwards’ “candidate video” was brilliant. If you didn’t catch it live here it is again. Well played Senator.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1qG6m9SnWI[/youtube]
“Sen. John Edwards began what he’s calling his poverty tour today. He’s visiting people who have no money and no hope. His first stop: John McCain’s campaign headquarters,”
–Jay Leno, via a convoluted series of people
Yesterday I mentioned my love of Elizabeth Edwards. Well now its increased all the more. Chris Matthews had that scum of the earth Ann Coulter on his show yesterday (brilliant choice Chris) and guess who called in? Why Elizabeth Edwards, thats who. The video is provided here (violating my previous policy of including YouTube videos after the jump cause I think this is so good). I think its safe to say that Ms. Edwards comes off quite well and Ann, if possible, comes off like something you’d scrape off the bottom of your shoe after walking in the sewer.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xYcUQiJ3sk[/youtube]
Other thoughts on the whole affair:
Paul Waldman linking Coulter to Mitt Romney
The Carpetbagger
Rick Perlstein
John Aravosis at AmericaBlog
UPDATE: I should also mention that, predictably, one of the first emails I got this morning was from Ms. Edwards soliciting contributions while citing her appearance. Very canny.
Unlike Kos I can’t say for sure that Elizabeth Edwards would be my candidate if she were running for President, but I can say I’d be very inclined towards her. The fact that she, without reservations, supports gay marriage, makes her pretty cool in my book:
“I don’t know why somebody else’s marriage has anything to do with me,” she said. “I’m completely comfortable with gay marriage.”
Yes, exactly. It is frustrating that her husband, the one who actually is running for President, is not as far along as she is (he supports civil unions). Wouldn’t it be kind of cool if Ms. Edwards ran for the Senate against Senator Dole (an empty suit for the most part)? I hope Ms. Edwards’ health is doing alright.
John Edwards might own $19 million worth of sunken treasure. Seriously.
Watched the entire Edwards press conference and the two big pieces of news are obviously that 1) Elizabeth Edwards' cancer is back and 2) (and much less importantly) Senator Edwards is not suspending his campaign (contrary to the information cited in my previous post). Here's what the WaPo is reporting concerning the cancer:
Elizabeth Edwards' doctor told reporters she has metastatic Stage IV breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. Medical tests yesterday confirmed that her cancer has spread to the bone, the couple announced.
"The biopsy showed the cancer had returned" and spread, John Edwards said. Nonetheless, he added, "We are very optimistic about this."
The cancer is not curable but it is treatable, John Edwards said.
This is, obviously, not good at all. I won't pretend to be a doctor or anything but from what I've heard in talking to people with some experience in these matters its not good. Again I suppose all that can be done is wish the Edwards family well and hope for the best.
As for Senator Edwards' decision to keep campaigning, I'm not really sure what I think. I don't think he would make that choice without consulting his wife but then, from what I know of Ms.Edwards, I wouldn't expect her to say anything but that he must continue. Senator Edwards did say:
"Any time, any place I need to be with Elizabeth I will be there—period."
and while I believe this to be the case (as it absolutely should be) it puts him at some sort of disadvantage to his opponents who (thankfully) do not have the same tragic problem to deal with. I'm not sure exactly how its possible to be a candidate running for your party's nomination and a supportive husband all at once, though I am confident that if anyone can pull it off its Senator Edwards.
I can't stomach getting in to the politics of this news but I will pass along that several people at my office who could stomach discussing this in cold political terms all agreed that this was a positive for Senator Edwards' political chances. Take that for whatever its worth.
Other notes: Ben Smith over at the Politico has a post up explaining how he got the Edwards thing completely wrong (this is where I got my info but I also saw numerous other organizations predict the suspension of the campaign as well). And here's one story of Ms.Edwards' kindness, I imagine we'll be seeing many more of these types of stories told in the next few days.
I'm still processing my thoughts on the whole matter and I'll probably be returning to this as things come together.
Some what in the interest of being balanced (I linked to Senator Obama's video the other day) here's a video John Edwards did that explains in part why he's running for President. I remain neutral on the canidates but Mr. Edwards has a compelling message, not to mention I'm a fan of his "Tomorrow Begins Today" slogan. Anyway, judge for yourself:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1etlZaf6zUw&eurl=[/youtube]
Wow, the first Dem primary debate will be April 26, 2007 at South Carolina State University. Doesn't that seem really soon/early? That's only a couple months away and at the moment we've only got Edwards, Richardson, Biden (ha) and Kucinich (haha) in the race (I think). I'm assuming that Obama and Clinton will most likely have declared their intentions by then, Al Sharpton is making noises about running and perhaps Gore will have made a final choice (though not likely). Hard to believe this stuff's already about to get kicked in to high gear, 2004 doesn't seem that long ago but here we go. Should be fun.
(via Kos)