My In-laws went to an Edwards speech last night...."He's like Bobby"

[underpants]

The speech was in Blacksburg (Va. Tech) and he was an hour and a half late. My wife had told them about him and suggested that since it was fairly convenient the should go see him. The loved the speech and shook his hand and had him sign something to my wife.

My in-laws are best described as New Deal Dems. He is retired (and therefore she is too) from the railroad and an all union guy. Long time contributors to the Democratic party and he had coffee at the local McDonald's every week with a bunch of guys and their local state Representative who is also their lawyer (I'll skip the name as that may be too much information).They are like many in the Roanoke area.

He is supporting Kerry, he likes him well enough and thinks Kerry is going to win the nomination.

My wife asked her mother what she thought of Edwards-"Oh he is wonderful so full of energy and so hopeful....."

My wife (looking at me) asked her who he reminded her of. Unsolicited my mother-in-law said-"He reminds me a lot of Bobby"......RFK that is.

[Punkingal]

1. I am so glad to hear someone else say that...

I said that months ago, after the first Dem debate, and I was laughed to scorn here. But I still think it is true.

[underpants]

2. It's not the looks it's the energy

And my in-laws know. They LOVED Bobby Kennedy. My father-in-law has said that when he was assassinated it was the first time he every questioned want America was about and had become.

The parents of another friend of mine actually sat down after RFK (and MLK earlier) over a bottle of wine to decide if they wanted to stay in this country anymore. The did stay but due to his job they could have left and never needed to return.

RFK had that much affect on people.

[Punkingal]

7. I loved RFK, too,

and my husband did, especially. He always says Bobby is the biggest "what-if" ever in our history. I think Edwards has a lot of the positive energy of the Kennedys. I was referring to that, also, as well as his appearance. In my view, Bobby was the last national candidate to call on us to bring our better selves forward, and really mean it. I could see Edwards doing that, also.

[OHdem10]

4. Like Bobby with no gravitas

No disrespect here but RFK had an aura of seriousness strength which are not reflected by Edwards. While Edwards can beconsidered an attractive candidate to some , question how well he can do in a general when Rush and R Wing have named him the "Breck Girl

I keep getting that old quesy feeling--when he stands beside Bush,on foreign policy . Will he be able to say anything but "Me Too"?

The Media admits they are pushing Edwards to try to create a two man race.

This is not intended to flame. but think hard folks.

[AP]

9. Like Bobby except Edwards knows of what he speaks. His empathy comes from

experience.

It wasn't something he had to acquire after observation. It is something born of knowledge and experience.

Gravitas? Fuck that. Like FDR said, Happy Days are Here Again.

Or as Cornershop says, Funky Days Are Back Again
(T. Singh)

Well, it seems like the funky days, they’re back again
Funky funky days they’re back again
And we’re en vogue again
Before the gurkers get called up again

Seems like the funky days are back again
And the party’s got a double ee at thee end again
We’ll be armed in dungareen chords again
Happy days are here again mar friend

Been a long journey, long long tymes
Many roads we couldn’t climb
But once again, the name of the game is funky and it’s funky again
Seems like those funky days are back again
Funky with a “y” and it’s back again and back again
We’ll be wearing dungareen cords again walking down that road
With a smile on our faces
Holing only embraces
Embraces to hold us cos we’re getting funky again
And we’re funky again
Seems like those funky days
Are back again
My friends we’ll be wearing dungareen cords again, walking down that road

When we say party we mean it to end on the double ee

Funky roads are back again
Funky drinks are back again
Zip-zap guns are back again
Big shoes are back again
The middle eight is back again
Funky feet back again
Tax in the post is back again
Worker strikes are back again and we’ll be

and we’ll be doing the airplane wheel — dancing
Swinging like an airplane wheel — moving
Funky days are back again mar friends
Funky days are back again

“Ben, you just show them how funky it can get when funky days are back en vogue again.”

[DU9598]

3. RFK

I have always said that he is our modern-day RFK. You are not alone in your thinking.

[mmonk]

5. I just don't understand all this

It's so funny but a little perplexing as well.

[LibInternationalist]

6. Unfortunately,

he doesn't have the experience that RFK had in '68 (or the emotional connection w/ JFK)

[AP]

10. Unlike Bobby, brother never got him a kick-ass job. He got 'em on merit.

Kick ass.

[DerekG]

8. Edwards is NOT RFK...

Bobby yearned to end poverty in America: he drew our attention to the atrocious living conditions of the American Indians on reservations; to the plight of the migrant workers in California; as well as to the hellish ghettos in the inner cities.

Bobby Kennedy remains the white knight of liberalism, the man who would have ended Lyndon Johnson's madness and curtailed the ascent of the right wing.

No disrespect, but Edwards is a pretty boy who hasn't addressed any of the issues plaguing our society: he hasn't discussed the need to gut the Pentagon; he hasn't offered a solution for ending our occupation of Iraq (of course, he has blood on his hands in this respect); he hasn't discussed the dismantling of the Great Society and New Deal. He's just another Clinton.

Bobby quoted Aeschylus and Emmerson with haunting sobriety; Edwards blithely smiles as the world around crumbles.

[ShaneGR]

11. Uhhhh..... all he talks about is poverty

It's his entire message!

[AP]

12. Edwards is only candidate talking about poverty, so according to your test

he's very much like Bobby.

"The need to gut the pentagon"? The problem with the Pentagon is that we spend too much money on weapons programs and not enough on people. The armed services is not only important for the safety of America, but for transferring a lot of economic, political and cultural power (and oppotunity) to the children of the poor and people who work for a living. Edwards is more down with those twin aims than just about any candidate.

[Edwards4President]

14. Edwards has been talking about poverty

in ways very few politicians are doing.

He's been talking about it day in and day out and addressed it so eloquently during his victory speech the other night that he brought people to tears:

"Now I want to take just a moment on this night of extraordinary celebration of a great political victory to talk just for a moment about the millions of Americans who will not go home, go to bed and celebrate tonight, the millions of Americans who struggle every single day just to provide for their own families.

"Tonight – tonight, somewhere in America a 10-year-old little girl will go to bed hungry, hoping and praying that tomorrow will not be as cold as today because she doesn't have the coat to keep her warm; hoping and praying that she doesn't get sick as she did last year, because it means 24 hours waiting in an emergency room to try to get medical care; hoping, hoping that her father, who lost his job when the factory closed and has not been able to find steady work, will actually get a job that allows him to provide for his family.

"She's one of 35 million Americans who live in poverty every single day, unnoticed, unheard. Well, tonight we see her, we hear her, we embrace her, she is part of our family and we will lift her up.

"And she is, and her family is, like millions of Americans that work hard every day, who struggle to get by. These are the Americans no one pays attention to, they're unheralded, they're unnoticed.

"The truth of the matter is this: They are heroes in our America. They are the reason I'm running for president of the United States."

[BootinUp]

13. Sure he has energy

I don't dis-like Edwards, I just didn't connect with him like with Clark. I don't know much about Edwards. His voting record concerns me. His lack of experience concerns me.

Can anybody here make a case that Edwards voting record resembles a Kennedy's record? I just don't think Edwards is liberal enough for me.

[AP]

15. Lie #2. Senator Edwards Voted to Support President Bush 71.5% of the time

Lie #2. Senator Edwards Voted to Support President Bush 71.5% of the time - 76% of the time in 2002

Truth : Senator Edwards voted against the President 58.7% of the time, according to Congressional Quarterly's (independent) analysis. He voted against Bush more than any other Senator.

http://www.amestrib.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10793280&BRD=2035&PAG=461&dept_id=238101&rfi=6

Here are some of the votes which are part of that 58.7:
S.743, Naming a Post Office, S.620, Requiring sprinkler systems in fraternities, S.941, Establishing a National Heritage Area

[elsiesummers]

16. My mother (who is a Senior Citizen) told me he reminds her of RFK

When she first saw Edwards - saw him on tv - back before he was running - told me she thinks he "could inspire young people like Robert Kennedy."

She was locally active in some of the efforts to desegregate way back when (especially picketting and dining out with Blacks). She had the pants scared off her when they deported a black, gay, German friend of hers who was also politically active. She had warned him not to hang out with one of the organizers so much because she saw the organizer followed around by unmarked cars wherever he went. Anyway, now she votes but that is about it - the whole thing sort of politically freaked her out and she has told me from day one that it is dangerous to speak out against any American War. Interesting perspective she has. Has definitely influenced how I view politics.