Some Time Out for Elizabeth Edwards
By SusanUnPC on April 15, 2008 at 7:25 PM in Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Women and Children
We’ve written many times about Elizabeth Edwards at this blog: in “Elizabeth Edwards Prefers Hillary’s Healthcare Plan“; in my report on an earlier L.A. Times article indicating her preference for Hillary’s health care plan; in “Kneecappers,” which includes an account of Elizabeth’s impressions of Obama at a meeting at the Edwards’s home; and in “From FactCheck.org: Obama’s ‘creative’ clippings,” which references Elizabeth’s condemnation of Obama’s misleading health care radio ad in Iowa. (There are more stories about Mrs. Edwards’ views here.)
A fortunate blogger was given the opportunity to interview Elizabeth Edwards, and has written a remarkably readable and cohesive piece, published April 14, about the interview and the woman who we’ve all come to admire. (For the record, I always considered John Edwards my strong second choice for president. I wish it were he remaining the race against Hillary Clinton because, then, I would have far fewer concerns about the eventual victor in the Democration nomination process.)
The blogger is Morra Aarons at BlogHer blog. Here are some excerpts:
… When [Elizabeth Edwards] spoke at Harvard’s Kennedy School last week the thrust of her public address was this: campaign coverage focuses less on substance and more on personality. In a race dominated by two “mega-celebrities,” she used Senator Joe Biden as an example of media slight that created an avalanche of negative effects on one “by any measure a serious candidate.” Biden had but one appearance on the front page of the New York Times. There were more news articles about Elizabeth than about ten of the presidential candidates! The “narrative template” of the media’s choosing was an African American man and a woman. And the media went there, and the result was sky-high ratings for election news.
I remember those days well. It was indeed odd to see such highly experienced men like Sen. Joe Biden and Sen. Chris Dodd in the debates, barely getting a chance to speak but, when they were allowed, contributing much to the discussion.
Those were the days when we had an embarrassment of riches in our candidate choices. Now, not so much.
More Elizabeth and Morra:
“Who got to decide this?” she asked about the media’s anointment of certain candidates over others. “Whoever decided this probably also decided that Fred Thompson was a serious candidate for president.” She pleaded for less Britney Spears, who even graced the Atlantic Monthly’s cover, and more dissection of critical issues like health policy. Instead we get “strobe light” journalism to make the sound bite. You have to craft a “zinger,” she noted. Mrs. Edwards can master the zinger but she is a truly thoughtful person and I wish she were running for president. So much for journalistic objectivity, there, but I’m no journalist.
The Atlantic Monthly‘s editors put Britney on their cover? Then I’m glad I didn’t renew my subscription.
But the real issue of that paragraph is that the media grab “hot” subjects for the sake of entertainment — believing their readers and viewers prefer to be entertained than informed. Is that true? Do the media have us pegged?
In our (readers’ and viewers’) defense, I do believe that incidents such as the brouhaha over Barack Obama’s remarks about small-town Pennsylvanians are important in that they reveal the real attitudes and character of the candidate. I.e., Obama’s attitude about small-town residents was revealed. So how did he react? It was that phase that tested his character. And it was a test he failed, in my opinion.
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Lastly, although there’s much more to the interview, I’d like to conclude with this section about the ideas that John and Elizabeth Edwards came up with during their campaign, and which they would like to see realized — so much so that they are willing to contribute to that realization:
One of the things that John and I tried…OneCorps. As you’re working, you’re out there, meeting with the other volunteers. We need to think about this post-Election period and where will people turn their energies. Our hope was that people would turn their energies to their communities. We hoped people would turn towards a potential candidate, great potential candidate… say “how can we help them” In particular try thinking about it outside the progressive community- thinking, ‘I’m gonna do an anti-poverty project and I’m gonna go to that Baptist Church and see if they want to do it with us and build the bonds there’…and maybe doing something else that would appeal to another group. People get used to working with one another to make the communities better and stronger.
We try to do it through OneCorps, it helps, people feel like they’re part of a bigger network if we have something [formal]. Whoever is the candidate, win or lose, one of the things they should do is build that operation into something that’s more civic-minded. The problem is that the way you do that is you use your email list, and the email list is a commodity that civic organizations are unable to afford. One of the things I want us to be able to do is to donate the list to OneCorps…
Politicians have a political agenda, so it’s important to incorporate those who aren’t running again. But “if people understood their own power and their own ability to change their communities…. It’s especially important if McCain wins the election because he’s against government activity that supports the work of organizations like OneCorps. …
It is a fine idea. One that could foster not only community involvement and spirit but also a sense of purpose that brings the nation together.
And I’m appalled to learn that John McCain opposes the creation of a networking community group.
Read all of the interview.
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
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