I saw John Edwards in the shampoo aisle

waiting for hope

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Fri Apr-27-07 09:27 PM
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I saw John Edwards in the shampoo aisle

Yes, the presidential hopeful got two overpriced haircuts -- but when he's at home he goes to the local grocery store like everyone else.

By Erik Ose

April 27, 2007 | CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- My wife and I ran into John Edwards in the shampoo aisle the other night. No, really, we did. My wife didn't believe it was him at first. "Yeah, right," she said. "He's behind us ... buying hair gel?" But there he was, at the neighborhood grocery store. His 8-year-old daughter, Emma Claire, was with him, and she was busy devouring something with a straw. This was no staged press event, like George H.W. Bush's ill-fated trip to a grocer's convention during the '92 campaign, when he was famously accused of being amazed by a checkout scanner. There were no cameras, no entourage. Just a dad wearing a T-shirt and shorts, with his little girl, stopping by the store to pick up something on the way home. A dad who also happens to be running for president.

John Edwards has been in the news a lot lately. But it hasn't been for his universal healthcare proposal, or for his ideas about making it easier for most Americans to file their taxes. Not even for his wife Elizabeth's courageous fight against her recurring cancer and their decision to carry on with a presidential campaign. Edwards' most recent round of publicity has been all about his hair.

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There's a problem here, though. When the media spends time covering "issues" like a candidate's haircuts it blatantly overlooks what's really at stake: Whoever sits in the White House has enormous power to change things for America, for good or bad. Right now our country is falling apart, thanks to two terms under the worst president in history. We can't afford another George W. Bush. The media has a responsibility to help voters make sense of how the men and women running for the Oval Office would operate once they got there. Haircut stories don't cut it.

At a time when more and more of us are finding the American dream harder and harder to achieve, there's a lot for the 2008 candidates to address. To Edwards' credit, he is the first Democratic contender to release a detailed plan for achieving universal healthcare coverage. Rising healthcare costs and lack of coverage is the No. 1 issue most voters say worries them about their economic future.

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Let's not forgot the war in Iraq, now in its fifth year. Bush's war drains American lives and resources daily -- an estimated $8.4 billion a month that could be spent addressing needs here at home. Edwards has repeatedly apologized for his vote to go to war in Iraq, calling it a "mistake," and pledges to withdraw all troops if elected president.

For the record, we didn't see John Edwards pick out any hair products in the store. He used the regular checkout lane, chose plastic over paper, and put his own cart away before leaving. Edwards may have gotten two overpriced haircuts on the campaign trail, but when he's home, hanging out with his kids, he goes to the grocery store like everyone else. That should count for something. Especially at a moment when our country is in trouble because the Bush administration never cared about the interests of average Americans, the kind of people who shop at grocery stores.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/04/27/edwards/?source=rss

This candidate is for real - he's genuine and truly wants to be a public servant to the people of this country. This country needs honesty and transparency back in the White House and I believe Edwards to be the one to bring back that honor and dignity.