E on C: "I don't think he has any idea of the struggles that people face"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5435976

Running against Vice President Dick Cheney

Couric: “Let me ask you about Dick Cheney. Do you know him well?”

Sen. Edwards: “No.”

Couric: “What do you think of him?”

Sen. Edwards: “My personal interaction with him, he's always been perfectly cordial and polite. He called me on the day that Sen. Kerry named me as his running mate. He was very cordial and polite. I think he is out of touch with the lives of most Americans. I don't think he has any idea of the struggles and problems that people face most days in their lives. I think as a result of that, it's very hard for him to, going forward, to provide the kind of vision of hope and opportunity that this country, I think, is entitled to, and need. But we have dramatically different views of the world. I mean, I come from a family where my father worked in a mill in rural North Carolina. I was the first person in my family to … be able to go to college. And I've had more opportunities than anybody could ever hope for, that I would've ever dreamed of. And because of that, I feel an enormous responsibility to … provide those same opportunities to all other Americans.”

Couric: “You don't think Dick Cheney wants to provide …”

Sen. Edwards: “I don't see any sign of it, if it's true. The real question is, in governing, what is it that drives you every day when you get up? For me, it's thinking about all those people that I've grown up with along the way who I want to see them, their families, their kids, their grandkids, get the same kind of chances I've had. I mean, I've grown up in the bright light of America – that's the truth – and I want to make sure others get that same chance.”

[JayS]

1. Strange.

A politician that answers a question directly and honestly. What is this world coming to? :)

[gratuitous]

2. Good responses from Edwards!

My response to Couric's inane question would have been, "Tell me, Katie: I've been going on for 45 seconds about why I think Mr. Cheney is out of touch with the needs of the vast majority of the American people, and you seem to think differently. What can you point to that indicates that Mr. Cheney really knows about the struggles and problems of the middle class and the working class? His secret energy task force meetings? His duck hunting forays with Justice Scalia? His 24-7 access to professional medical help that other folks are literally dying for? Explain to me how you sit here in your air-conditioned studio day after day, year after year, with 18 people at your beck and call, making you up, catering to every need stated or anticipated, and tell me you have the first inkling of what 250 million Americans have to deal with daily?"