Salon: The smile vs. the scowl (Edwards-Cheney)

[kskiska]

The Edwards-Cheney debate will offer one of the starkest contrasts since Clay fought Liston.

By Tim Grieve

It was late January in Columbia, S.C., and a friendly crowd was turning ugly on John Edwards. The event should have been a natural for Edwards, a town-hall meeting where the Democratic presidential candidates could talk one-on-one with average people -- poor people -- about the problem of poverty. But a few minutes into Edwards' time onstage, the moderator turned against him. "You talk about 'two Americas,'" he said, but isn't it true that you're a millionaire trial lawyer with a couple of multimillion-dollar homes?

The crowd smelled a phony in their midst. Their hoots and "gotcha" groans drowned out the first bit of Edwards' response, but the senator kept talking. He told the crowd about how he was born the son of a mill worker, how his father had to borrow money to bring him home from the hospital, how he had worked his way to a better life by representing little people against big corporations. He told them that the Bush administration was eliminating opportunity for poor kids like the one he once was.

The moderator tried to cut him off, but Edwards wasn't done. "You have to let me finish," Edwards said. "You asked me the question." Edwards turned back to the crowd. "I grew up the way you grew up," he told them. "I come from the same place ... I will never forget where I come from, and you can take that to the bank."

By the time Edwards was finished, he had turned the crowd around. The jeers became shouts and then thunderous applause, and Edwards left the hall in triumph.

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/07/07/edwards/index.html

[MI Cherie]

1. A glimpse of what is coming!

The choice is clear!





OR