Friday, August 10, 2007

John Edwards is Out to Get Himself

CHAPEL HILL - John Edwards and I now share hairdressers. I'm not talking about Joseph Torrenueva, the Beverly Hills-based hair artist who cut his locks from 2003 until March of this year, and whose expensive services have caused much political grief for Edwards. To atone for the $400 haircuts he regularly received from Torrenueva Hair Designs, Edwards has begun seeing the stylists at my neighborhood Great Clips, where the going rate is a far more reasonable $12. They've told me he's very down to earth, and a good tipper.

For someone who's been caricatured as a rich phony, John and his wife Elizabeth are about as regular people as you're likely to find in a presidential race. Most people by now know the basics of his biography, how he grew up as the son of a millworker, and was the first in his family to go to college. Even today, in the middle of the family's second campaign for national office, Elizabeth still shops at Target, and John takes the kids on expeditions to nearby grocery stores.

Edwards recently created a stir when his campaign released a video of an appearance he made July 26 before a group of voters in Iowa. In the video, he refers to "this silly, frivolous nothing stuff" in the media. "This stuff's not an accident," said Edwards. "They want to shut me up. That's what this is about."



His defenders have consistently slammed the press for covering the gaffes known as Edwards' "three H's" - his newly constructed 28,000 square foot house, $400 haircuts, and large salary earned from a hedge fund for the wealthy. Now Edwards has raised the charge himself, accusing the media of playing a game called "Let's distract from people who don't have health care coverage."

But is it accurate? Can John Edwards' stumbles honestly be blamed on mainstream media organizations out to get a candidate whose policy positions are seen as hostile to corporate interests? There are plenty of right-wing Edwards haters out there who have gladly used the media spin machine to magnify any bad news about him. And in light of the many challenges America faces in cleaning up after George W. Bush, the attention supposed character issues like the "three H's" have received is unfortunate. Still, a large part of the problem is Edwards' own poor political judgement.

After the 2004 campaign, the Edwards family moved from their house in an upscale neighborhood of Raleigh, N.C. to Chapel Hill, where housing prices are among the highest in the state. They bought land on the outskirts of town, and waited for their new home to be constructed, a sprawling compound that combines home and office space. The tax value of the house is $6 million, and totals 28,000 square feet. By comparison, the Clintons' Dutch Colonial in Chappaqua, NY has a square footage of 5,200, and was purchased in 1999 for $1.7 million.

About his work for Fortress Investment Group, a New York-based hedge fund, Edwards has said he wanted to learn more about the role of financial markets in helping alleviate poverty. Asked if he couldn't have just taken a class, he replied, "That's true." Edwards was paid a $479,512 salary by Fortress as an advisor during 2005 and 2006, and earned another $1.2 million in investment income from the firm.

It doesn't take a political genius to realize a job with a high flying hedge fund could hurt a candidate's anti-poverty credentials. Fortress greatly expanded its investments into sub-prime mortgage lenders while Edwards worked there, the type of predatory companies he regularly denounces on the campaign trail. "He didn't go through the portfolio," admits Elizabeth.

Edwards deserves the benefit of the doubt about his explanation that he didn't know how much his $400 haircuts cost. But he must have realized it wasn't cheap to fly a hairdresser to the stars around the country to cut his hair for more than three years. He may have been unaware of how Republicans have repeatedly used Democrats' fancy hair stylists to paint them as out of touch with average voters, although it happened to his running mate John Kerry in 2004. Regardless, Edwards was tripped up by his own bad judgement in getting such gold-plated hair treatment to begin with.



He also got into haircut trouble because his campaign team screwed up. His haircuts would never have become an issue if a staffer had not inadvertently billed two of them to the campaign during the first quarter of 2007, instead of charging Edwards’ personal account. Since no one in charge of filing his finance reports saw a problem with $400 haircuts, they became public knowledge, and the media reported on them. Like it or not, if you're running for President, your every move is under press scrutiny.

Beyond the "three H's," Edwards has fumbled through a series of campaign missteps that also call his decision making into question. Hiring bloggers who drew fire for anti-religious writings they'd previously posted on their personal blogs. Asking anti-war supporters to stage protests at Memorial Day parades, with a promise to post photos of the best demonstrations on a campaign-run website. Most recently, attacking Hillary Clinton for accepting $20,000 in campaign contributions from Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch and Fox executives, saying "the time has come for Democrats to stop pretending to be friends with the very people who demonize the Democratic Party." Predictably, Fox News wasted no time reminding the world that Edwards earned $800,000 last year from a book deal with Murdoch's HarperCollins unit.

When it comes to lifestyle, John and Elizabeth defend their choices by pointing out John worked hard as a highly successful trial lawyer to achieve their estimated $29.5 million net worth, and their family should be allowed to enjoy it. Giving every American the opportunities John Edwards has been afforded is one of his candidacy's central themes, an underpinning of Edwards' crusade against poverty.

Yet Edwards is taking a big risk by allowing displays of wealth to undercut his appeal as someone who knows what it's like to come from humble means. According to Drew Westen, professor of psychology at Emory and author of The Political Brain, a candidate's personal characteristics trump their policy positions every time. Voters look for emotional details that help them measure judgement, integrity, and leadership, rewarding consistent narratives about what values and vision a candidate possesses. The voting public doesn't decide between candidates by rationally weighing their platforms. This reality helped sink nominees like Kerry and Al Gore, even though their policies were backed by more Americans than those of George W. Bush.

I want to root for the guy who goes to the same haircut joint as me, even if he's a Johnny-come-lately to Great Clips. His '08 proposals are the most progressive of the major Democratic contenders, from providing universal health care to raising taxes on the super rich. But Edwards is making it hard with his unending string of self-inflicted political nicks and cuts. The next time he wonders who's really out to shut him up, John might want to sit down in our $12 stylist's chair and take a good look in the mirror.

(UPDATE 8/12/08 – Versions of this column were rejected by multiple media outlets, including the LA Times, New York Times, New Republic, Slate, Salon.com, and USA Today. Clearly they didn’t like the piece, but why? Maybe the news cycle was already saturated with stories about Edwards’ “three H” gaffes, or editors were giving Edwards a pass after he accused them on July 26, 2007 of trying to “distract from people who don't have health care coverage” by reporting on his campaign missteps. Footnote to the story: after getting a haircut once at the local Great Clips to comb over his $400 haircut flap, Edwards didn't visit again throughout the rest of the ’08 campaign.)

No comments:

Rogues Gallery

All Posts by Category

Tags

#ChapelHillShooting #MuslimLivesMatter (1) $400 haircuts (3) 1960s (1) 1980s (1) 1984 (1) 1988 elections (1) 1989 (1) 1990 elections (3) 1992 elections (1) 1993 (3) 1994 elections (1) 1996 elections (3) 1998 elections (1) 2000 elections (3) 2004 (7) 2004 elections (2) 2008 (32) 2008 congressional races (2) 2012 elections (3) 2014 elections (13) 2016 elections (7) 527 groups (1) 9/11 (4) 9/11 first anniversary (1) Abba Eban (1) Abbe Raven (1) Abbie Hoffman (2) ABC (1) abortion (3) action alert (7) activism (2) advertising (2) advocacy (1) affair (4) Affordable Care Act (1) affordable housing fund (1) afghanistan (2) Age of Obama (1) AIDS (1) AIDS victims (2) AIPAC (1) al gore (2) Al Sharpton (1) Alec Guettal (3) alienation (2) Alison Lundergan Grimes (1) alternative energy (10) Alzheimer's (1) amanda marcotte (2) American Left (4) Americans for Limited Government (1) Americans For Prosperity (1) Amnon Rubenstein (1) andrew young (3) Angelo Robinson (1) anti-communism (1) anti-gay bigotry (1) anti-gay violence (1) anti-immigration activists (2) anti-science (1) anti-Semitism (1) anti-vaccine (1) anti-vaxxers (1) anti-war (6) appeal to southern voters (1) apprentice (1) Ariel Sharon (1) Ashley Todd (2) assassinations (2) Astroturf (1) atheism (1) attack ads (5) attack on voter rights (4) Australia (1) autism (1) average Americans (1) baby boomers (1) baby formula (1) bank of america (1) bankruptcy reform (1) barack obama (24) Barry Commoner (2) BBC (1) Benghazi (1) Benjamin L. Ginsberg (1) Bensonhurst (1) Berkeley (1) Beth Ising (2) bi-racial coalition (1) Biden-Palin Debate (1) big banks (1) big money (4) bigotry (7) bill clinton (6) bill donohue (1) Bill Hedrick (1) Bill O'Reilly (1) billionaires (1) Billy Bragg (1) Black Cultural Center (1) Black Lives Matter (4) black voters (7) Blan Holman (1) block the vote (1) bloggergate (1) bloggers (1) blogosphere (1) Bob Dole (1) Bob Iger (1) bob johnson (1) body cameras (1) books (3) Borders (2) BP (2) Brad Blog (1) Brad Friedman (1) Bruce Braley (4) budget deficit (1) bush (7) Bush Administration (2) bush administration misconduct (3) bush donor (1) bush on steroids (1) bush v. gore (1) California (1) Camilo Padreda (1) campaign feud (1) campaign finance reform (8) campaign gaffes (2) campaign scandals (4) campaigns (1) can edwards win (3) canvassing (1) capitalism (2) Catalyst (5) censorship (5) Cesar Chavez (1) Chad Taylor (1) Channel One (1) chapel hill (7) chapel hill town council (3) Charlie Black (1) Charlie Crist (1) Chatham County (1) chemical industry (2) children (1) chris hughes (1) Chris Whittle (1) Christine O'Donnell (1) CIA (3) CIA recruiting (1) CIA torture report (1) citizen participation (1) Citizens United (1) civil disobedience (2) civil rights (7) civil rights movement (1) civilian casualties (2) Civitas Institute (1) class issues (1) Clean Up Congress (1) Clear Channel (2) Clinton Administration (3) code words (1) Cold War (1) colin powell (1) Colin Small (1) college campuses (2) colonialism (1) columbia (1) community reinvestment (1) community reinvestment act (1) concentration of mass media ownership (4) Concord (1) congress (7) conservation (1) consumer fraud (2) consumers (2) Coors (1) corporate accountability (8) corporate front groups (1) corporate giveaways (2) corporate greed (1) corporate influence (4) corporate media (2) corporate misconduct (8) corporations (8) corruption (1) counter-inaugural (1) CRA (1) cra-nc (2) Craig Hicks (1) CRomnibus (2) crony capitalism (1) cross burnings (1) Crossroads GPS (1) Cuba (1) cuban exiles (1) cultural imperialism (1) Dale McKinley (1) damage control (2) Dana Rohrabacher (1) dark money (3) Darren Wilson (2) David Ball (2) David Brower (1) David Dellinger (1) David Duke (1) David Horowitz (1) Deah Barakat (1) debates (1) Debbie Cook (1) demagogues (3) democracy (6) Democratic Convention (1) democratic nomination (15) democratic party (2) Democrats (2) Denis Hayes (1) deregulation (1) detainees (1) Dick Cheney (1) dictatorships (1) dirty tricks (4) discrimination (1) Disney (1) disparate treatment (1) diversity (1) divisive politics (3) Dominican Republic (1) Donald Rumsfeld (1) donald trump (4) dumpstering (2) durham (2) e-mail (2) early voting (2) Ebola (2) economic inequality (2) economic issues (1) economy (4) ed meese (1) Ed Rollins (1) Edison Project (1) edith childs (1) education (2) edwards affair (4) election day 2008 (1) election fraud (1) electoral college (1) Eliot Spitzer (1) Elizabeth Dole (1) elizabeth edwards (2) Elizabeth Warren (3) Emily Lawson (1) employee pensions (1) end racism (4) energy independence (9) entertaining ourselves to death (5) environment (15) environmental pollution (5) environmental racism (2) Eric Garner (2) Eric Holder (1) Eric Odell (2) Ericka Kurz (21) evan bayh (1) Executive Orders (1) expenditures (1) exploitation of 9/11 (2) Exxon Valdez (1) factory farming (1) Faux News (1) FBI (1) Fear (1) fec (1) feminism (1) Ferguson (3) Fidel Castro (2) field plan (1) financial house of cards (1) fire (1) Fire From The Mountain (1) firebombing (2) fired up (1) first openly gay elected official in south (1) Florida (1) florida recount (1) foreign policy (1) Fox News (1) fraud (1) fraudulent inauguration (2) Frederick Douglass (1) Free Speech Movement (1) freedom songs (1) friend (1) fuel efficiency (1) fundraising (2) gary hart (1) gay (6) gay history (2) gay marriage (1) gay-baiting (4) Gaza (2) gen. david petraeus (1) gender equality (1) general election (23) Generation X (1) George H.W. Bush (9) George Norris (1) george w. bush (12) Geraldine Ferraro (1) Germany (2) gerrymandering (1) get-out-the-vote (3) GLBT community (1) global warming (2) GOP (27) GOP Slime Machine (10) GOTV (3) government harassment (1) government secrecy (1) great recession (1) greed (1) Greg Orman (1) grocery store (1) ground game (1) ground zero (1) GSE's (1) guerrillas (1) guest workers (1) Gulf War (5) gun violence (1) h+r block (1) hackers (2) Hamas (2) Harriet Ann Jacobs (2) Harris Wofford (1) Harry Blackmun (1) Harry Truman (1) Harvey Gantt (6) hate crimes (1) hate-mongering (3) hatred (3) health care reform (4) hedge funds (2) Helen Caldicott (2) Henry Hyde (1) Henry Kissinger (1) Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1) hero (1) Hezbollah (1) hillary clinton (14) historical amnesia (1) history (1) hit the road jack (1) HMO's (1) Ho Chi Minh (1) hoaxes (1) Holocaust (1) home foreclosures (1) homophobia (1) housing (1) Howard Rich (1) HR 1461 (1) Huks (1) Human Rights Campaign (1) hurting communities (1) i feel pretty (1) iit’s a wonderful life (1) immigration (4) immigration action (1) immigration reform (3) Inauguration Day 2009 (1) Incidents In The Life of a Slave Girl (2) income inequality (1) Indigo Girls (1) industrial agriculture (1) industrial revolution (1) integration (1) intelligence community (1) international relations (1) Invasion of Panama (1) Iowa (4) iowa caucuses (1) Ira Magaziner (1) Iran/Contra scandal (1) iraq (2) iraq war (4) iraq war costs (2) Irgun (1) ISIS (1) Islamic State (1) Islamophobia (1) Israel (5) Israeli Labor Party (1) Israeli-Palestinian conflict (6) James Bay II (1) James Carville (1) james watt (1) January 20 2001 (2) January 20 2009 (1) jeb bush (3) Jenn Karson (1) Jenny McCarthy (1) Jeremiah Wright (1) Jerry Falwell (1) Jerry Rubin (1) Jesse Helms (13) jesse jackson (3) Jessecrats (1) Jesus de Galindez (1) JFK Assassination (1) Jill Biden (1) Jim DeMint (1) Jim Hunt (3) Jimmy Langman (3) job losses (3) joe biden (3) joe herzenberg (3) Joe Sestak (1) joe trippi (1) John Boehner (3) john edwards (12) john kerry (4) John Lennon (1) John Locke (1) John McCain (16) John Moody (1) john poindexter (1) John Raese (1) John Reich (1) John Sinclair (1) Joni Ernst (5) June 24 1973 (1) justice (2) justice for all (1) Justice for Mike Brown (1) Kansas (2) Karl Marx (1) Karl Rove (5) Kay Hagan (4) Kayla Mueller (1) Ken Calvert (1) Kentucky (1) Kirti Shastri (1) KKK (1) Koch brothers (4) Korean War (1) Ku Klux Klan (2) labor unions (2) Lakota Woman (1) Lamar Alexander (1) Larry Kissell (1) Latin America (2) Latinos (2) Lawton Chiles (1) lazy journalism (1) Lebanon (1) lee c. wilson (1) legal system (1) Lehman Brothers (1) lesbian (1) liberation theology (1) Libya (1) Likud (3) Linda Brent (2) Lisa Abbott (3) lobbying (1) Louisiana (1) love child scandal (2) lynching (1) macaca moment (1) MAJIC (1) Mandy Carter (1) Marco Rubio (1) Mark Chilton (2) Mark Kleinschmidt (1) Mark Penn (1) marketing (2) Martin Frost (1) Martin Luther King Jr. (1) Mary Brave Bird (1) Mary Crow Dog (1) maternity leave (1) Matt Czajkowski (1) max cleland (1) mayor of franklin street (1) mbna (1) McCain missteps (2) McCain VP (7) McCarthyism (1) McDesperate (4) measles (1) media (2) media bias (3) media failed to inform (2) media hysteria (1) media monopolies (3) medical insurance industry (3) Medicare (1) melissa mcewan (1) memorial (1) Menachem Begin (2) mentor (1) merger (1) Michael Bell (1) Michael Brown (3) Michael Stipe (1) Michele Bachmann (1) Michelle Bachmann (1) michelle malkin (1) Michigan (1) middle east (1) Miguel Recarey (1) Mike Castle (1) Mike Easley (2) Mike Hummell (1) military-industrial complex (3) Millennials (1) Milton Wolf (1) minimum wage (1) mission not accomplished (1) Mitch McConnell (3) Mitt Romney (6) Mobil (2) molly ivins (1) money (1) Moral Majority (3) MOVE (4) multiculturalism (1) multinational corporations (2) Muslim Americans (1) mybo (1) NAACP (1) Nat Turner (1) Nathan Sproul (1) Native Americans (2) nc (4) NC Legislature (1) NC MOBE 96 (1) NC PDP (1) neo-nazis (1) Nestle (1) netroots (3) New Left (1) New Orleans (1) New World Order (1) New York City (3) Nicaragua (2) no justice no peace (1) No More Bushes (1) nobama democrats (1) non-profits (2) North Carolina (23) North Korea (1) nuclear industry (3) Obama Inauguration (1) Obamacare (1) Obsession DVD (1) OCAW (1) occupied territories (2) October 28 2007 (1) offshore drilling (1) Ohio (1) oil (10) oil industry (6) oliver north (1) Omar Cabezas (1) online organizing (1) oppression (2) oprah (1) organizing (12) Orlando Bosch (1) Osama Bin Laden (1) ots (2) outrage (1) overconsumption (1) Palestine (1) pandagon (1) pat buchanan (1) Pat Roberts (2) Pat Toomey (1) patriarchy (2) Paul Wellstone (1) payday lending (1) peace (4) peace is patriotic (1) Peggy Young (1) Pennsylvania (2) Penny Rich (1) Peter King (1) petition (2) pharmaceutical industry (1) Phillipines (1) phonebanking (1) phony billionaire (1) picketing (1) PIRGs (1) PLO (2) police accountability (4) police brutality (5) police oversight (4) political committees (1) political consultants (1) political heroes (1) polls (1) pottersville (1) President Obama (4) presidential campaign (30) privatization of education (2) pro-war propaganda (1) profits (1) progressive Democrats (3) progressives (1) property (1) protest (2) protests (6) Public Citizen (1) public health (2) public opinion (2) publishing industry (2) pulp (1) pulping (2) PUMA (1) race card (1) race relations (5) race riots (2) racism (22) racist terrorism (1) radicals (2) Rafael Trujillo (1) rally (1) ralph nader (3) RALs (1) Rand Paul (2) ray charles (1) reading list (3) reagan's racism (1) recall elections (1) recession of 1991-92 (2) recession of 2008 (1) redbaiting (1) redistricting (1) refugee camps (1) refund anticipation loans (1) reproductive rights (1) Republican National Convention (2) republican party (2) Republican Study Committee (1) returns (2) revolution (1) rich donors (2) Richard Fink (1) Rick Santorum (1) Rick Scott (1) rielle hunter (2) Right Wing (11) right wing Republicans (11) RIP (3) rip-off (1) Robert McCulloch (1) Robert Mercer (1) Robert Redford (2) Robin Hayes (1) ronald reagan (2) Ruby Sinreich (1) rudy giuliani (1) ruling class (1) rush limbaugh (3) Sabra and Shatilla Massacres (1) Sam Brownback (2) same-sex marriage (1) Sandinistas (1) Sarah Palin (14) SAU (1) savings and loans (1) Scamdal (1) schools (1) Scientology (1) Scott Brown (1) SDS (2) SEAC (20) selected not elected (1) Senate races (10) sept. 11 (4) sept. 11 2002 (2) sexism (2) Sharron Angle (1) Sheldon Adelson (1) Shimon Peres (1) single payer health system (2) Six-Day War (1) slaveholders (1) slavery (2) Smithfield Foods (1) social movements (1) social networking (1) solar panels (1) soul music (1) south carolina primary (4) Soviet Union (1) spat (1) Sprint (1) Stand With Peggy (1) state governments (1) Steve Scalise (1) Steve Schmidt (3) stolen election (5) stop bush (1) StopBrownback (1) strange incidents (2) street theatre (1) Student Action Union (1) student activism (19) student voting (3) students (11) subprime lending (1) super PACs (2) superdelegate petition (2) superdelegates (2) supreme court (5) susan baylies (1) swine flu panic (1) Syria (1) take action (16) tax code fairness (2) Tea Party (8) Ted Cruz (3) terrorism (2) Terry Sanford (1) The Revolt (1) The Zionist Dream Revisited (1) these guys (1) third world (3) Thom Tillis (3) Thomas Frank (1) Threshold (8) tim kaine (1) Time Warner (1) tobacco industry (1) Tom DeLay (1) Tongass National Forest (1) Tony Coelho (1) Tony Mazzocchi (1) torture (1) Troopergate (1) trump was born wealthy (1) U.S. power structure (2) UNC-Chapel Hill (5) undocumented immigrants (2) unemployment (1) United Kingdom (2) universal healthcare coverage (6) unprovoked war (1) UpStairs Lounge (1) uranium mining (1) US foreign policy (2) US support for Israel (2) vaccines work (1) Vandana Ramaswamy (1) VANISH (1) veepstakes (4) vice president (6) Vietnam War (7) VOE (1) volunteers (6) vote packing (1) voter education (2) voter ID (1) voter intimidation (2) voter mobilization (1) voter registration (12) voter suppression (9) voter turnout (8) voter-owned elections (1) voters (7) voters for obama (2) voting (1) voting problems (1) voting rights (1) vp (1) Waldenbooks (2) Wall Street (2) walter mondale (1) war (6) war in iraq (5) war on terror (4) war on women (1) war profits (1) War Resisters League (1) war toys (1) war weary (1) waste (2) waterboarding (1) wealth (2) white supremacy (3) Whittle Communications (1) Winona LaDuke (3) Wisconsin (2) women (1) Woodrow Wilson (1) Woodstock (1) workers (1) workplace discrimination (1) World War One (1) xenophobia (2) Yippie! (1) Yitzhak Rabin (1) you're fired (1) young voters (1) youth (1) youth empowerment (2) youtube (1) Yusef Hawkins (1) Zionism (2)

Even More Outrage via Leftweets.org

Twitter Outrage News Feed