Why did John Edward's campaign have to pay for the Dem response to shrub?

[RiverStone]

Maybe I missed the boat on this one, but I thought the Democratic response to Shrub's babbling bullshit was always paid for by the Democratic Party (DNC)? I remember Jim Webb giving a wonderful Dem response; that might have been to The State Of The Union --- thought he did a great job, but I don't think the Webb campaign paid for it?

John Edwards responded on MSNBC - watching it on JE's web page, next to the video of his response tonight - there is the following disclaimer:

Buying this kind of airtime is expensive, but we believe that President Bush's address must be countered with a strong voice in opposition to the failed policies that have kept our troops in harm's way for far too long.

Please consider making a contribution to the campaign to help us meet the costs of the address—and to help John's campaign continue to grow.

link:

http://johnedwards.com/watch/iraq-address/


QUESTION: Are not the costs of some Dem responses to Shrub's National addresses shared by the Democratic party at large?


ON EDIT: missed Jack Reid's official response, though did catch JE's - confused no more!

[SharonRB]

1. Jack Reid gave the Dem response

Edwards paid for a campaign commercial.

[RiverStone]

7. Thank you!

Yep --- missed the boat.

How did Jack Reid do?

[kansasblue]

12. Jack Reed

http://reed.senate.gov/

[Klukie]

2. He is not in congress

[Justitia]

3. The official Dem response was given by Sen Jack Reed of RI. -eom

[truebrit71]

4. Because it wasn't the official Dem response...

eom

[Connie_Corleone]

5. Edwards didn't give the official Dem response.

His was a paid commercial. The Democratic Party isn't going to let a presidential candidate give the response anyway.

And Edwards is not in Congress.

[bagimin]

6. It was his choice...

his campaign money.

[babylonsister]

8. They didn't, but Rachel Maddow said it. Mr. Edwards, by buying time,

had control of the message.

(Sis) He was very smart and successful.

[EFerrari]

14. And Rachel is right

Jack may have given a message, but John gave HIS message. That is smart and the way to succeed.

[Blackhatjack]

9. There was an official Democrat Response.... But Edwards Brought the Message That Congress Must Act

... that Congress must act to end this war now, not after a new Democratic President is sworn in in January of 2009.

Unlike Joe Biden, who appears on TV continuously, Edwards had to make his own way on TV to deliver his message... which is the message of the people.

Bush must be stopped. Congress must act. We must stand up to Bush TODAY.

[babylonsister]

11. Edwards had the freedom to chat; he's not beholden to the Congress.

So he could tell the truth. I thought it was smart.

[in_cog_ni_to]

10. It was a Campaign ad. I think the strategy was BRILLIANT.

Great time to buy an ad.

[Lex]

13. That was EDWARD'S response, not the official DEM response. nt

[Hoof Hearted]

15. Because a) it wasn't the Dem response and

b) He wanted to have his say in a dignified, presidential-looking setting without having to take questions about it afterwords.

For that, he had to shell out the buckaroos.

He could have been a guest with K.O. or somebody else but there would have been interruptions, and he would have had to answer questions. He was obviously going for something different.