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June 22, 2007
Edwards in NYT
I guess news about my support of Johnny Edwards has gotten out, huh? ;)
Thanks to everyone writing in about today's above-the-fold hit job on Edwards in The New York Times. Yes, I saw it - thanks to Louie for giving me the first look! - and no, I don't think it's all that a big deal.
Here's the conversation I had with a (conservative) co-worker (and lawyer) today:
caps: I'm not sweating it.
fellow worker: that's the thing, I mean, I have questions about its appropriateness but overall, who the hell cares. But they are making it seem EEEVIL
caps: He's a lawyer; he should know how to work non-profit law.
fellow worker: bingo
caps: He could do worse stuff. No bodies involved, no sex, no little kids, no murder.
caps: Whatever. His proponents - like me - will argue that playing non-profit law like a fiddle to make sure poverty stays on the national political agenda is commendable.
fellow worker: you know it is an unnecessary hit piece when it closes with a quote basically saying "well, he didn't do anything exactly wrong, but, you know, he might have if he had done more
caps: Exactly. And the timing is so intensely suspect, because Edwards gave a speech last night at Cooper Union in NYC talking about predatory credit practices. No mention of that in the NY Times print edition; nope, they relegated the real policy news to their online blog. Gimme a break.
Besides, I'd much rather have a President wringing the legal system dry in order to keep poverty front and center in the national conversation than, say, to dispense with the Geneva convention, or keep secrets secret, as revealed re: Cheney yesterday.
Bottom line: Edwards played it (admittedly) close in order to ensure that (a) somebody would be talking about poverty, an issue he cared about, in the 2008 race and (b) that somebody would be him.
We'll see what kind of traction this gets nationally, but I guess I'd be surprised if it had real legs. After all, as the last paragraph of the story says: "But Mr. Edwards spent the entire $2.7 million he raised for OneAmerica, including $532,000 raised by the 527, on himself, an increasingly common trend among politicians."
So he didn't do anything wrong, and everyone else does it, too. Big story.
UPDATE: As pointed out by the good folks over here, even the conservatives are defending Edwards on this one:
[T]he tone and the placement of this story (left column, page A1) just smacks of the Times putting a hit on Edwards by trying to create controversy where there really is none - at least not yet.
Ask yourself this: since when has the New York Times been in the practice of criticizing people who choose to set up philanthropic organizations to help the poor and highlight the problem of poverty and inequality in American society?
Posted by caps at June 22, 2007 11:59 AM