Edwards on Hardball - My Thoughts From UNC

[Infinite Hope]

Believe me, it's much better on TV. When you hear cheers in the background, it's so loud in the venue that you can't hear as they continue talking so I missed half of the show that way. I'll have to watch it on rerun. The main reason I went was to pass on my resume which I hope he got.

That being said, Matthews is a great entertainer before the show and during commercials and is fairly interesting. I really like the guy. Whatever you say about his show, be careful about judging him and his views as a person. He can be very blunt about his views off the show. My take on his views over time is that he's left-liberarian (Google Political Compass and take the quiz to know what I mean).

Even though Matthews lost weight, I never expected him to be as slender as he was. He's quite tall as well.

He had a certain confidence about him that he didn't have before. He was always confident, but he seemed to have added a special confidence that comes only from experience and that should help him a great deal.

Issue-wise, I'm very strongly leaning to supporting Edwards as I did in 2004. I've long said Africa is the future of our foreign policy for a variety of reasons including: their gradual rise to significance economically, politically, militarily; the increase in disease and famine; curbing the spread of terrorism. We need to invest in that part of the world or we will forever pay the consequences. Global stability in the long term depends on a stable Africa. It's that simple. Edwards is the only politician I have heard (among those running for President) who wants to make Africa a clear focus, especially in terms of poverty, disease, and genocide. To be fair, Kucinich would also qualify.

I might add more later.

[keopeli]

1. Thanks for the report!

As an entertainer, perhaps Matthews has value. As a journalist, there are a number of examples of clearly partisan behavior - not my cup of tea. Still, it would have been fun to have been there and see Edwards!

[Infinite Hope]

2. He likes to play devil's advocate, but I don't know that I'd consider him Republican.

He sounds very independent party-wise. That doesn't mean he doesn't bring his positions and beliefs into his shows and debates, but I don't believe he affiliates with one party over the other, especially the way things have gone the last 6 years. Rest assured, he can't stand Bush.

[chieftain]

14. He's a Republican through and through.

Any Irish Catholic who supported Nixon against JFK is most likely a Republican.If you read his book about Kennedy and Nixon you can see how Republican he truly is. Somehow Nixon comes off as the sympathetic figure and Kennedy the bad guy. I grant you that he is not a RW nutcase but his partisan attacks on Gore and others should leave no doubt as to where his party loyalty lies.

[Infinite Hope]

21. He isn't a modern Republican though. He's old-school and generally independent-minded.

He made very clear his contempt for today's GOP.

[chieftain]

23. I think you are right about that. He seems in the mode of long

ago Republican "liberals" like Rockefeller and Scranton.

[mentalsolstice]

24. I yearn for those old Repubs!

Not that I would vote for them...but they kept us Dem kids in line!

[Diane R]

3. John Edwards seemed to have an 'edge' I hadn't seen before.

I don't know if he is trying to reflect a more serious image, if he was in a cranky mood, or just more experienced, but he seemed to be quick to go on the defensive.

I didn't catch what Elizabeth Edwards said to interupt Edward's comment about the John Kerry joke. But I read her book and was a little taken aback by how cool she seemed towards the Kerrys.

I think they have spent every day since the '04 election gearing up to run again and they're making some changes.

[Infinite Hope]

4. I agree.

I definitely noticed a difference in Edwards.

I didn't catch Elizabeth's comment either. I missed it in person and it wasn't clear enough to hear on TV when I just watched the last half of the rerun. Anyone know what she said when she put her hands on John's lap?

[hopein08]

15. "You don't want to go there" was what she said, I think

I'm 99% sure.

[BeccaGrim]

22. She stopped him..

I watched the show on the Internet on MSNBC and I think she said something like "Don't go there John" in response to Matthews trying to get him to comment on Kerry's unfortunate remarks (joke, grant you) about how you get sent to Iraq. Matthew's was trying to get him to explain Jon Kerry which was bound to just be a problem for Edwards. It was funny when she did it. It was like watching a real moment between the two of them, like what they are probably like at home.

I read her book too and I was struck by a couple of things. First off, I think that they were upset about how little time the Kerry's speant campaigning in states they thought that they wouldn't win in (i.e. the South) and also I think that something has obviously happened between the Kerrys and the Edwards that has cooled things off. John Edwards has made no secret that he thinks they conceded too quickly.

Sorry about any spelling mistakes..I'm writing this very quickly!! :>

[solara]

5. I remember thinking, when Kerry conceded in 2004

that John and Elizabeth seemed extremely disappointed and even upset that Kerry didn't continue the fight in Ohio but said nothing about it publically.

But that might just be me.


And I agree... I think they are going to be fierce in '08 and I applaud them both!

[beaconess]

10. Elizabeth cut off John as he was starting to explain what he thought Kerry really meant

with the joke. It was smart of her since nothing good ever comes out of trying to explain what someone else meant. I don't think it made her seem cool toward the Kerrys - she just seemed to understand that her husband was walking into a trap and she pulled him out of it.

I thought it was good.

[dmosh42]

6. Yeah, I noticed Edwards being edgy...

I had the feeling that he wanted to say more than he was allowed to. Tweety was using the time to make the show about himself.

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

7. I agree with Edwards having an "edge" yesterday.

Everytime I had seen him on tv or giving a speech, it was always upbeat. On Hardball it was more serious and...I can't think of an adjective to describe it. It was a different Edwards.

[Infinite Hope]

8. Poised? Collected? n/t

[hopein08]

16. He seemed annoyed to me.

Especially when Elizabeth was on stage and kept interrupting him. Like when Tweety said something to the effect of "Does she always bust your balls like this?" when she talked about how politicians, espeically him apparently, can't tell a joke. And then when Tweety said (like an idiot), "What happened to Stepford Wives?"

I remember hearing that part of the reason Senator & Mrs. Edwards didn't campaign together much during the campaign (aside from being able to cover more ground apart) was that it was decided that their personalities were too strong together and he'd get lost (or something like that). Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Infinite Hope]

20. You could be right...

Though I got the impression he really appreciates her personality and was giving her a little room to talk at times and sitting back...it was hard to tell.

[ellenfl]

9. kick for later eom

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. I'm glad you got to see him live

Though it's too bad that crowd noise makes listening difficult, you can pick up things about a person seeing him life that don't come across as well on TV.

Regarding Africa, to be fair, you should also give Wes Clark a mention along with Kucinich. Clark has been fighting to help Darfur for a long time. Below is a link to his Op-Eds, speeches, and radio interviews about Darfur going back to May 2005 (I of course recognize that John Edwards has also made this an important issue). Plus Wes Clark was the highest ranking U.S. military officer at the Pentagon to argue passionately at the time that the United States needed to intervene to stop the genocide in Rwanda.

Clark on Darfur:
http://securingamerica.com/taxonomy/term/59

[venable]

12. Clark has been good on African issues

that's one reason, among several, that I think he needs to be an important part of the country's leadership.

(Finally, though, I prefer Edwards in the top slot, and think he's got the best chance of turning this country around.)


There can never be another Rwanda. Except that there is. Which is why we must act now, and decisively to organize relief and protection.

I do agree with Edwards, though, that the peace-keepers should not be American, or European. The rest of the world has seen enough of our guys in uniform with guns. That doesn't mean we can't take the lead in making something happen. Now.

The awful thing is that we are still having to discuss it on a website in late 2006. This tragedy should have been addressed a very long time ago.

[JABBS]

13. another thread on edwards yesterday

Can be found here.

[Infinite Hope]

17. Having seen in person his comedy during commercials and before the show...

everyone realized his humor in certain statements that seem to offend so many on here. The crowd loved it and mind you it's a very pro-Edwards, pro-Democrat, and pro-liberal crowd at UNC. Those questions, while ridiculous, were part of his humor. I can see how his humor could be seen as something else without having seen the pre-show warmup and comments between commercials. Everyone knew it was just silliness, even John and Elizabeth. It was a fun time.

[spooky3]

19. I especially liked EE's response to why doesn't she run for Prez?

"I was junior class president in my high school and all anyone ever did was complain to you!"

[Imagevision]

18. Edwards and the Mrs. both came across intelligent and confident!!

[Doctor_J]

25. Matthews is one of Smirk's worst enablers

he shoulders alot of the responsibility for the disaster that * has been allowed to wreak over the last 6 years.

[Gloria]

26. Watched the clips....Edwards hit a home run for me when he said that

campaigns should be publicly financed.
Edwards seems less "boyish"--perhaps with the tough illness Elizabeth is fighting, he's aged. I liked his new presence.