What Will Russert Say Now?

NBC's Tim Russert had some harsh word for Democratic presidential candidates when they refused (led by John Edwards) to participate in a debate sponsored or co-sponsored by Fox "News." Heck, Hannity even blamed us bloggers for their decision. Powerful, aren't we? Now that the Republican candidates are running from the YouTube debate like chickens expecting to get their necks wrung, I wonder if NBC's Tim Russert will take them on in the same way? How 'bout it, Tim?

Check out what he had to say about Dems.



This is cross-posted at Tondee's Tavern.

There Are No Accidents

Edwards makes it clear: big government, lobbyists and rich corporations are not about to shut him up or drown him out.

Edwards on Top in Iowa

Edwards, Romney lead new KCCI poll, Clinton and Obama have slipped.



This is cross-posted at Georgia Women Vote!

Edwards in Atlanta: Photographs Are Here!

Here are a few pictures from the Edwards event in Atlanta on Tuesday. We had a great crowd!

Sen. John Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards

Sen. John Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards, Chuck Byrd, Sheriff Brown

Left to Right: Lauren Benedict, Caroline Moise, Carol Binns, Elizabeth Edwards, Melita Easters and Amy Morton
This is cross-posted at Georgia Women Vote!

Rural Georgians Step Up for Edwards

Georgians may be voting red, but, when it comes to presidential politics, we're giving blue. The most recent FEC filings show that in Georgia, for the first two quarters of 2007, Democratic presidential candidates out-raised Republicans by more than half a million dollars.

Though Obama continues to lead the field of Democratic candidates and nip at the heels of Mitt Romney, John Edwards also has some impressive numbers, raising significantly more outside of metro-Atlanta than other Democrats, and in many areas more than the nearest Republican, Mitt Romney. Here are some quick numbers per new FEC interactive site. (They have seriously misplaced Columbus on this map, but otherwise, it really is fun to play with.)

All Candidates: $3,401,717
Democrats: $1,953,545 (57.42%)
Republicans: $1,448,171 (42.57%)
Romney (R): $762,159
Obama (D): $749,544
Edwards (D): $605,513
Clinton (D): $402,586
Giuliani (R): $360,250

Giving Outside Metro-Atlanta (sample)

Middle Georgia (312xx)
Total: $60,525
Edwards: $49,150
Romney: $4,000
Obama: $2,267
Clinton: $ 500

Middle Georgia (310xx)
Total: $58,030
Edwards: $35,635
Romney: $ 8,250
Clinton: $ 5,195
Obama: $ 250

Columbus (319xx)
Total: $34,906
Edwards: $18,270
Clinton: $8,525
Romney: $ 4,211
Obama: 0

Savannah (314xx)
Total: $72,734
Edwards: $19, 174
Romney: $16,925
Obama: $6,965
Clinton: 0
(Dodd also raised $18,400 in this zip)

Athens (306xx)
Total: $63,489
Edwards: $26,889
Romney: $18,300
Clinton: $7,675
Obama: $2,375

This is cross-posted at Georgia Women Vote!

Edwards on GMA

John Edwards kicked off his "Road to One America Tour" this morning with a Town Hall Meeting coordinated by Good Morning America. I did not see the whole thing, apparently running throughout the show, but I did see the clip where he is asked to add to his 2004 Letterman Top Ten List of Things You Will Never Hear a Presidential Candidate Say. He quipped, "How much is a tip on a $400.00 haircut, anyway?" Funny. Good that he can laugh at himself.

Step Up for Edwards

I need your help to move this thermometer.

How about helping raise a few grassroots dollars for John Edwards this week? This is a campaign where your small change can literally translate to big change for this country. In honor of Elizabeth Edwards July 3rd birthday, we have a goal of raising $500.00 this week, and $5000.00 over the course of the campaign. Your contribution-no matter how big or small-would help us reach that goal. Maybe you've never given to a political campaign. Maybe you think your $5.00 doesn't matter, or that political giving is only for the high dollar donors. You'd be wrong. Your contribution, no matter how big or small, can make the difference. This is the week when the pundits will decide, based on "the money race," who is "in" and who is "out." Let's tell the pundits that Edwards is in it to win it, and we're there to help.

Just one click, is all it takes.

If you need help deciding whether this is the candidate to back, take a look at this his performance against possible Republican nominees. And, remember, he's not first in the money race, but neither was John Kerry, the eventual nominee who loaned his campaign millions in December of 2003, just so he could compete in Iowa. And, compete he did. He won there and went on to win the nomination. Of course, Edwards is already doing well in that early critical state. So, what are you waiting for? Click away, and let's move that thermometer to $500 this week!

What Really Matters: Hair Wars

News bulletin. In 2006, Hillary Clinton paid nearly $3000 to hair stylist Isabelle Goetz ($1500 in April of 2006 and $1000 in May, plus another $442 in expenses). Add to that the $3,000 Clinton paid to Hollywood makeup artist Barbara Lacy, and you'll see why how fast the Clinton campaign has burned through it's mega millions is a bigger story than what they've raised. John Edwards has gotten expensive haircuts, too, and today the AJC is devoting ink to a haircut he got in Atlanta in 2004. Now there's some heavy-duty reporting.

I personally think that we have more important things to discuss, like a President who has commuted the sentence of a man convicted of obstruction of justice, or the soldiers dying daily in Iraq while both our President and our Congress do nothing to end the war, or in Georgia, a young man who is sitting in prison for ten years for having consensual oral sex, but, for those of you who think that what a candidate pays for a haircut is really much more important than a substantive discussion of the issues, here's the breaking news: None of the folks running for President are paupers. The Clinton's have a net worth of about 50 million dollars. Most, if not all, of the viable candidates are millionaires, but the only one who is speaking consistently about poverty and what we need to do help, for instance, the one in five children in Georgia who live in poverty is John Edwards.

That Hillary Clinton described the expense of her hair stylist and make-up artist as "media production expense" really gets at the core issue. We have devolved into a nation of drones who watch while Paris Hilton is released from jail, noting what outfit she was wearing but failing to notice that she spent more time in jail than Scooter Libby. The Republicans are salivating at the opportunity to choose Fred Thompson, you know, the nice D.A. from Law and Order, the B-list actor with the thin resume' who is a walking subliminal cue that will make the music from the show go "Da Dum" in voters minds as they check off his name on the ballot. After all, who's going to protect us better than the nice D.A.? This is what we've become.

Look, I could not care less what Hillary and John spend on hair cuts and stylists. The fact is this is a media-driven race, and these are rich people. It's not Edwards' (or Clinton's) personal cash that will help end poverty- it is their ability as President to impact policy. But, hey, the GOP is counting on us to keep feeding the "Reality-TV, Don't-Make-Me-Think" media machine. Wouldn't want to disappoint, would we?

This is cross-posted at Georgia Women Vote!