John Edwards
Not only women want John Edwards's head on a platter. I counted at least seven reporter/columnists in the Sunday N&O and NYTimes gleefully dissing him, saying they never liked the former senator in the first place. Aha! Pants on fire! For some reason, the same dedicated campaign hangers-on always found it necessary to quote the poor slob verbatim, as did his girlfriend who had all sorts of editing power: "I have come to the personal conclusion that I actually want the country to see who I really am." What a revelation!
Local activist (and former renter of dorm fridges--anyone else remember that?) Erik Ose has a piece today in Salon.com titled, "I saw John Edwards in the shampoo aisle." Maybe some other OP-area readers have had similar encounters, though I have not.
I'm pointing this out because, first of all, it's weird when you see the name of someone you know in the national news when you weren't expecting it (Ose, not Edwards!).
Further, does this have repercussions for our local economy? What if Orange County resident Edwards spent $400 on eight hair cuts at Moshi Moshi? Or on sixteen haircuts at Sid's? Or even more haircuts at the barbershop in Northside?
And now, onto the actual issue here: I have been wondering what local folks think about this issue, of our wealthy neighbor who is also advocating for the poor. Is this a problem? Contradiction? Or none of our friggin business?
(Elizabeth Edwards, if you are reading this... please forgive me!)
I swear Rosemary and I didn't plan this, but I just read and wanted to post about this article by my friend Micah Sifry about Elizabeth Edwards. He says she is the "only person who I think we can genuinely say is participating in the blogosphere, as opposed to just using it." One of his supporting examples is Eliabeth's visit to OP to answer some questions I had raised about the location of their new home and the status of their voter registration.
As usual, she responded openly and directly. As I wrote to Micah, Elizabeth is so smart and fierce and charming it's scary. Further proof was seen in her graceful handling of that clown Chris Matthews on live TV recently. I sometimes have complaints about her husband's policies (the same I have of almost every Democrat), but as a person I only admire her more the more I get to know her. I wish nothing but the best to the entire Edwards family.
The John Edwards campaign staff is moving into offices in Southern Village. From Dec. 28-30, Senator Edwards will be holding rallies in five different states, culminating with a rally here in Chapel Hill on Dec. 30 at 4 pm on the Southern Village Green. This will be a very special announcement. It is free of charge but attendees need tickets in advance. For free tickets, please visit www.johnedwardsevent.com . For questions, folks may call an Edwards staff person at (919) 265-7394.
It is very exciting to have this announcement happening in Chapel Hill!
Rosemary Waldorf
It was tucked deep in an Under the Dome item about Edwards hiring former Michigan Congressman David Bonior to be the manager of his Presidential campaign, but apparently it will be run out of Southern Village.
Chapel Hill's really hitting the political big time I guess! And Edwards' presence is already bringing celebrities to town, as Hardball will be hosted live from Memorial Hall next Tuesday.
Setting up shop in Chapel Hill and realizing the importance of hiring political help from Michigan in the same day make Edwards look pretty smart to me anyway :)
Wednesday's Daily Tar Heel has a front page story about John Edwards called "Edwards on the Road.†It has a big map of the USA plotting Edward's public travel schedule. The story comes to the conclusion that he is campaigning for President in 2008. Shocked? Not I.
Is John Hood an expert on John Edwards? I wondered this because the story quotes him about the nature of Edward's activities. Hood is President of the John Locke Foundation, a well known conservative think tank here in North Carolina - hardly an unbiased expert on the subject of liberal politicians.
Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday December 17, 2005
The second biggest item of national news coming from UNC this year
was the return of John Edwards to direct the Law School's Program on
Poverty, Work and Opportunity. Edwards is also a new resident of Orange
County, one whom I hoped might offer some insight into our local
efforts to address the problems of poverty. This past week I had a
conversation with him on that question.
A significant issue for us over the years has revolved around
efforts to site facilities to serve the poor. Edwards believes it is
possible for neighborhoods and communities to become more welcoming.
"It's similar to the way I talk about this in general," he said.
"[Helping] people who are struggling in poverty, it's not something we
do for them, it's something we do for us. It's not them and us, it's
all of us, people who are struggling want to be part of our community
and we want to give them a chance to do better."
According to the N & O, the future vice president of the U.S. might have his home away from Washington in... drum roll please... Carrboro.
"The candidate and his wife Elizabeth Edwards bought 102 acres of land four miles west of Chapel Hill on Old Greensboro Road June 24 for $1,316,500."
Lots of questions arise here. I mean, are we going to start seeing Secret Service agents infiltrating Weaver Street Market's Thursday night music night just before the Edward's family arrives for their tempeh burgers? And are the Edwards children going to be hula-hooping on the lawn?
And the big question.... can they really shut down Horace Williams airport if the vice president needs it to commute to DC?
Hmmmm....
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