The mainstream media has taken up the mantra on Edwards.

[denverbill]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=4&u=/nm/20040715/od_nm/campaign_edwards_date_dc

Edwards Chooses Fast-Food Joint as Romantic Date


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He's worth millions and could afford the fanciest restaurant in town, but Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites) and his wife celebrate each wedding anniversary at a fast-food joint.
<snip>

The millionaire trial lawyer described his wife as the "love of my life" and Mrs. Edwards said it was her husband's optimism rather than good looks that first attracted her.

----------------------------------

These assholes should have the brains to realize exactly what they are doing. Who the fuck called Cheney a 'fat-cat multimillionaire CEO' or Bush a 'twice failed businessman millionaire'.

It's pretty fucked up when even 'Oddly Enough' news is spewing propaganda.

[Guaranteed]

1. Yeah, I could swear that he's a US Senator now. nt

[AlinPA]

2. This is what we are faced with: The media is biased toward Bush*.

[aden_nak]

3. So just to be clear. . .

Edwards sucks because he's really rich, and therefore can't connect with "ordinary" Americans. He also sucks because despite being rich, he still does certain things like "ordinary" Americans.

[GreenArrow]

4. what's wrong with this?

It paints Edwards as a regular guy, who could eat anywhere he wants but stiil eats greasy hamburgers at the joint down on the corner. His wife loves him for his personality and optimism rather than his good looks--he's not just a "pretty" face (personally, he makes my skin crawl, but oh well...).

It shows him as frugal

[truthspeaker]

6. I think the bolded part is the problem

Prefacing Edwards with "millionaire trial lawyer". When was Cheney every described as "millionaire defense contractor" or Bush as "millionaire oil heir".

[GreenArrow]

11. it's drawing a contrast between his money

and his taste/habits/actions. While he might have bags O' megabucks, he's still an ordinary guy who eats out at Wendy's.

[denverbill]

13. Exactly.

Particularly because that is the mantra of the Republican Party. Edwards is called nothing BUT 'millionaire trial lawyer'. He will be called that endlessly and repeatedly for the next 5 months by the Republican Party and conservative dominated media.

So who ya gonna vote for? The 'millionaire trial lawyer' or the Vice-President of the United States? That's the choice the media wants you to have. Why not give us the choice between the Senator from North Carolina and the 'fat-cat Halliburton CEO'? It would be just as fair.

[denverbill]

7. What are you talking about?

The story is a nice, cutesy type piece.

So why the hell did they feel it necessary to label him as a 'millionaire trial lawyer'? He's been a US Senator for 6 years. Do they still call Bush Governor? Is Cheney still CEO of Halliburton?

No, Reuters is deliberately slapping a label on Edwards that they know brings negative connotations. I can only assume it's deliberate, since it has absolutely NO relevance to the article.

[GreenArrow]

12. a millionaire lawyer who eats at Wendys

the contrast between his moolah and his choice of eateries is the point. For all his money, he's still an average Joe.

[denverbill]

16. My problem is not with Edwards. It's with the article.

Fine they wanna do a nice puff-piece on Edwards and his 'ordinary guy' eating at Wendy's? OK. Go for it.

But sliding the 'millionaire trial lawyer' line into the article is exactly the same as Bush mentioning 9-11 5 times in his pre-Iraq-war speech and State of the Union. Before those speeches most Americans did not associate Saddam and 9-11. After the speeches, most did. It was no coincidence. If you hear something repeated often enough, you are likely to believe it. If you hear Saddam and 9-11 mentioned in the same breath 10 times by someone in authority, even if they don't directly connected the two, a connection between the two develops in your head.

Every article in the mainstream press that labels Edwards like that is a victory for Republicans.

[GreenArrow]

17. okay...

and if you are a reader who knows nothing about John Edwards, wouldn't the fact that he had made his money as a trial lawyer be somewhat germane? I mean, that was his career, wasn't it? I suppose they could have simply said "millionaire John Edwards..." but that isn't nearly informative to the average reader who may be interested in learning something about John Edwards. There are no negative associations directly qualifying "trial lawyer" in the piece. Now maybe they could have said "millionaire lawyer" and left it at that, but the message taken away by the average reader would still be that this guy might be a millionaire, but he still likes to eat at Wendys, just like me and my wife/husband.

How 'bout this one?

Millionaire Texas oil-man likes to snack on Pork rinds.

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. Great! Now we can label Cheney and Bush

the millionaire salaried corporate former CEO of Halliburton and the billionheir oil man with a track record of failed businesses. No regrets.

[Literate Tar Heel]

8. actually I think it's complimentary

it meshes well with his presentation as a common man from a rural town ... there are plenty of people in poor rural areas for whom even going out to somewhere like Wendy's is kind of a big deal, or at least something different from eating at home like they do almost every night ... I think the article shows just how free of pretensions he and his wife really are, how the fact that he has become wealthy hasn't really changed who they are

[elehhhhna]

9. he lives the American Dream!

Study showed last year that Americans (versus other nationalities) have , like, double the expectation/fantasy that they will "become rich". They sure aren't fantasizing about reincarnation, i.e., being born a Bush.

Obama Barack, same story.

[GreenArrow]

14. Exactly!

.

[soup]

10. Oddly Enough -

FLORIDA (Rooters) - He's worth nothin' and can't afford to pay attention, but Democratic voter Mr. soup (news - web sites) and his wife celebrate most wedding anniversaries at a nice restaurant where food is actually brought to the table.
<snip>

The broke-ass Mr. soup described his wife as the "love of my life" and Mrs. soup said it was her husband's good looks that first attracted her, not his lack of wealth.

geesh :eyeroll:

[greenbriar]

15. Edwards probably took her there for their first date

when they were in college.


hubby and I met while working at Sonic and we LOVE going there when we could go to OUTBACk every night if we wanted