In at UNC !!!!!

[PresClay_00]

it's called "Introduction to Ambulance Chasing."  I hear next semester it's goign to be "How Not to Run a Presidential Campaign" and "Speaking out of both sides of your mouth."

At least Bush's association with common people is working the farm, not telling them he feels their pain.

Johnny Boy sucks and the state is glad he's no longer a senator.

[dropdimes]

Yes clearing brush on a a sprawling ranch you bought through no skill of your own. Failing businesses that you had no right even being involved with and a few photo oppurtunities of you pretending to be everyman. Yeah just your average hard working american, that does everything in his power to screw the actual hard working people of the country. Easy to identify with.

[PresClay_00]

Didn't say easy to identify with.  Said doesn't falsify his associations with the everyday man.

[mattb23]

Didn't say easy to identify with.  Said doesn't falsify his associations with the everyday man.

Please. You actually think any real "everday" farmers associate with Bush 'cause he puts on a big belt and clears the brush? If it weren't so sad, the notion of Bush the common man, of Bush the outsider would be truly hysterical. Elite prep schools, Yale, Harvard, grandpa's a senator and, oh yeah, daddy was president. But I'm a Washington outsider, just a common man of the land. Did you know that Bush is afraid of horses? That there are no real farm animals or crops on the ranch? I suppose that to the extent that your everday farmer considers the clearing of the brush to be crucial to his/her identity, then his or her associoation with Bush isn't "falsified."

Meanwhile, no matter what you think of Edwards as either a person or politician, the fact of the matter is that he made his way through life with absolutely none of the advantages that guaranteed that Bush would prosper. To the extent that Edwards talks to the families of manufacturing industry workers who are trying to send their first child to college, he's speaking from real, accurate life experiences.

Whether or not Edwards was a good senator, whether you view his legal career as ambulance chasing that helped bankrupt doctors or as giving a voice to the little guy against the big corporations, and whether he is/was qualified to be president or vice president is certainly a debatable matter on the merits. But the notion that, based on their life experiences, Bush's association with ordinary Americans is more real than Edwards's association is truly laughable. Of course that's different than what folks perceive. I don't dispute that Bush is seen by many as a fairly ordinary guy (though I don't think this is based on the widespread belief amongst farmers that Bush is one of them)--he's been very successful in projecting that image. It just doesn't have the slightest bit of truth to it in reality.

Edit: I should add that while I am not a Bush supporter, I don't think his persona is fraud. Like I don't think he's secretly this high society, word-parsing, nuanced, intellectually complex person. He is who is he is and I say in all seriousness that he does have some admirable personal qualities. But that doesn't change the fact that he's always had the luxury to be able to take on whatever identity he feels like (i.e. skull and bones member, failed congressional candidate, failed oil man, failed corporate executive, the perfect last name to front the Rangers' ownership group, etc.).

[DumbMe]

Woohoo, Congratulations!! Maybe I'll see you this fall!

[birdysails]

Congrats, fireplace.  We all knew you would make the cut!  I hope I can join you next year!!

[kristay]

YAY!!  Congratulations!

[TheZooker]

Didn't say easy to identify with.  Said doesn't falsify his associations with the everyday man.

Please. You actually think any real "everday" farmers associate with Bush 'cause he puts on a big belt and clears the brush? If it weren't so sad, the notion of Bush the common man, of Bush the outsider would be truly hysterical. Elite prep schools, Yale, Harvard, grandpa's a senator and, oh yeah, daddy was president. But I'm a Washington outsider, just a common man of the land. Did you know that Bush is afraid of horses? That there are no real farm animals or crops on the ranch? I suppose that to the extent that your everday farmer considers the clearing of the brush to be crucial to his/her identity, then his or her associoation with Bush isn't "falsified."

Meanwhile, no matter what you think of Edwards as either a person or politician, the fact of the matter is that he made his way through life with absolutely none of the advantages that guaranteed that Bush would prosper. To the extent that Edwards talks to the families of manufacturing industry workers who are trying to send their first child to college, he's speaking from real, accurate life experiences.

Whether or not Edwards was a good senator, whether you view his legal career as ambulance chasing that helped bankrupt doctors or as giving a voice to the little guy against the big corporations, and whether he is/was qualified to be president or vice president is certainly a debatable matter on the merits. But the notion that, based on their life experiences, Bush's association with ordinary Americans is more real than Edwards's association is truly laughable. Of course that's different than what folks perceive. I don't dispute that Bush is seen by many as a fairly ordinary guy (though I don't think this is based on the widespread belief amongst farmers that Bush is one of them)--he's been very successful in projecting that image. It just doesn't have the slightest bit of truth to it in reality.

Edit: I should add that while I am not a Bush supporter, I don't think his persona is fraud. Like I don't think he's secretly this high society, word-parsing, nuanced, intellectually complex person. He is who is he is and I say in all seriousness that he does have some admirable personal qualities. But that doesn't change the fact that he's always had the luxury to be able to take on whatever identity he feels like (i.e. skull and bones member, failed congressional candidate, failed oil man, failed corporate executive, the perfect last name to front the Rangers' ownership group, etc.).

I'm from the deep South, grew up in a trailer park, and know his target demographic very well.  The fact is, appearances on TV 'at the ranch' in his pickup truck, and especially his appearances at NASCAR events, are sufficient to convince common people he is one of their own.  Your points above sound eerily similar to some of the points I tried to raise to my neighbors back home, but they could not be swayed.  Kerry was the 'ol rich guy' while Bush was the commoner.  Odd, huh?

I too am a huge Edwards fan, but his showing in the VP debate was pretty average.  I was a little dissapointed, Cheney did a great job of painting him as a young and inexperienced candidate.

[BIG H2001]

God who gives a @#!*!!  Shut the hell up with the politics on this thread.

[Fishdog]

I care about politics.
I'm sort of wishy-washy about Edwards. His term as a NC senator wasn't exactly sparkling (more or less a setup for the presidential run), but good lord, look at what we have now. Elizabeth Dole, who does absolutely nothing, and was elected because of her name, and Richard Burr, who defeated the exceedingly more qualified Erskine Bowles simply because his entire campaign was based on attacking Bowles' relationship with Bill Clinton. Bowles actually visited the rural county where I work three times during the campaign, and we talked with him each time about the decline of manufacturing in the south. It didn't take long to determine that this guy knew what he was talking about (to be expected from the guy who essentially drafted the financial plan that led to a national budget surplus). Burr never came once, and now he's a senator, because you've gotta love that negative campaigning (his radio ad tries to tie Bowles and Clinton to "Red China").
But anyway, here's what I'm wondering...with the whole "ambulance chasing" thing. What is the deal with the vilification of personal injury lawyers. I'm not interested in becoming one myself, but I really don't understand why PI lawyers are laughed off and corporate attorneys are the gold standard in the legal world. Really, who's worse -- the trial lawyer representing the family of a kid killed by a toy that a company rushed out the door knowing that it was unsafe, or the corporate lawyer trying to cover that company's rear end?
I don't get it. In other news, Carolina will make it to the Final Four.