John Edwards

Dome memo: Memories and mailers

bniolet — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:01:18 -0400

REMEMBER WHEN: Between hazy memories and conflicting stories about repairs to former Gov. Mike Easley's home, the State Board of Elections hearings offered plenty to talk about this week. The hearings gave a glimpse into the type of people who drive big time politics: one Easley supporter said he couldn't remember anything about two $50,000 checks he wrote to the N.C. Democratic Party.

BOUNCE BACK: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina sent a mailer to members urging them to rail against the public option for health insurance. The mailer backfired, leading recipients to lobby for the option. Next time, the insurer might consider using a little reverse psychology.

ALMOST READY: U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat who has been reluctant to stake a position on health care reform, already supported a public option provision similar to the one being advanced in the Senate.

IN OTHER NEWS: Elizabeth Edwards told a Washington-area television station that her marriage to John Edwards could be considered "a great love story." Patricia Gerrick, former chief investment officer for the state pension fund, asked her employees to help with her daughter's homework.

E. Edwards: 'a great love story'

bniolet — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:42:11 -0400

Elizabeth Edwards told a Washington television station that she is focused on living and that her marriage to John Edwards is for life.

Edwards told WJLA-TV that she does not want to give her cancer any more days than it has already taken.

"I hope it's not true but that's the likelihood. Cancer will probably win. Why would I give it anymore days than it may already take? That's the choice I make," she said.

Edwards declined to say much about her husband's affair with a former campaign worker.

She says only that her husband has been supportive and that they are still writing their story.
Said Edwards, "John said, 'Perhaps not the great love story that we hoped, but maybe a great love story nonetheless.' [It's] 'till death do you part -- because that's what I want."

Elizabeth Edwards

bniolet — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:37:49 -0400

Dome Memo: Karma and love

bniolet — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:36:03 -0400

BOOMERANG: As stunts go, the Republican Party's "Conservative Voter Survey" ranks right up there with some of Evel Knievel's work. A wheelbarrow full of surveys was meant to show how many people don't like Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat. Over at Perdue's office, staff members sifted through the surveys and found plenty of irate voters upset with Republicans as well as a campaign contribution that was intended for the Republican Party.

I LOVE YOU, MAN: Republican Sen. Richard Burr's economic development summit in Durham will be remembered as a great moment in political reconciliation. Burr and the man he beat almost six years ago, UNC system President and Democrat Erskine Bowles, traded fawning, appreciative comments about each other. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination next year to challenge Burr will surely be seeing lots of Bowles' comments in TV ads.

PRO, CON: In Washington, Burr decried the stimulus package. In North Carolina, at a fire station that was getting a grant from stimulus funds, Burr celebrated it.

IN OTHER NEWS: Sen. Kay Hagan and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller are pushing for a coin to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro civil rights sit-ins. Perdue says a 20-year old affair by the head of the highway patrol is irrelevant to his job qualifications. The Gallup Poll has found that John Edwards’ standing in the minds of Americans has dropped further than Sammy Sosa's image after the slugger was discovered corking his bat.

'Mork' takes on Edwards

bniolet — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:56:33 -0400

When comedian Robin Williams was at DPAC the other day, he couldn't resist taking a few shots at former North Carolina senator John Edwards and his problems.

Williams said that Edwards had gone from North Carolina's "favorite son" to "father of the year," Rob Christensen reports.

And he said that some of the proceeds of his Durham concert would go to the "John Edwards Day Care Center."

Edwards approval falls off cliff

bniolet — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:38:33 -0400

John Edwards' approval rating among Americans has fallen 27 points, the steepest drop Gallup has measured since 1992.

In January 2008, the Gallup poll held Edwards at a 48 percent approval. Twenty-two months and one big sex scandal later and Edwards approval was 21 percent.

Edwards decline puts him atop the list of celebrities who have, mostly because of personal or professional troubles seen big drops in public approval, according to Gallup. Edwards peers include Jesse Jackson (24-point drop after a spike in approval from a diplomatic mission), Sammy Sosa (24-point drop after a bat-doctoring scandal), Tom Cruise, (23-point drop after lots of bad PR) and Martha Stewart (16-point drop after an insider trading scandal).

The Gallup survey of 1,013 Americans was conducted Oct. 1-4 and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

My ex-senator has a first name...

markjohnson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:47:48 -0400

Who says John Edwards no longer has influence? He's still providing fodder for "Saturday Night Live."

Edwards was a punch line in a "Larry King Live" spoof focusing on famous men getting in trouble with their "weiners." The N&O's Brooke Cain writes on her blog that it's a sketch that would have made Oscar Mayer proud.

Dome Memo: Weight, time management

bniolet — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:20:12 -0400

BY THE POUND: The State Health Plan sent information to its 660,000-plus members giving details on its plans to hike rates for smokers and obese people. The mailing probably prompted a series of early New Year's resolutions.

BAD WATER=GOOD POLITICS: U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, and Richard Burr, a Republican, have been pushing for benefits for Marines and their families who were exposed to toxic tap water at Camp Lejeune in the 1980s. Before long U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Democrat, was ready to introduce a House version of the bill.

NOT NOW: Gov. Beverly Perdue was one of six Democratic governors who did not sign a letter urging health care reform. Turns out there wasn't an ideological reason. Perdue was too busy on a business recruiting trip to give the letter a read.

IN OTHER NEWS: A conservative advocacy group is copying the Amway business model. U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell gets a fundraising boost from Vice President Joe Biden. John Edwards' name causes an awkward moment at the U2 concert in Raleigh.

Stupid host tricks

bniolet — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:23:39 -0400

So David Letterman's late unpleasantness has Dome thinking a lot about glass houses.

Letterman, of course, has taken one or two jabs at John Edwards over the years. Famously, the late night king of Top 10s, monkey cams and watermelon drops mussed Edwards expensively coiffed hair.

Once Edwards extra-marital affair hit the news, Letterman has mostly gone easy on Edwards, according to a roundup of Edwards jokes. (Leno appears to really, really enjoy picking at Edwards). Dome has previously noted a couple of cracks.

Over the years, Letterman has picked on Eliot Spitzer, David Vitter, Bill Clinton and Gary Hart, the AP's Frazier Moore notes.

"Big weekend for Gary Hart," cracked Letterman when the Hart scandal broke: "He was campaigning his brains out."

Moore asked politicians to take a shot at Letterman. None did.

Edwards, of course, should feel free to submit a Letterman joke in the comments section.

Letterman Edwards small

bniolet — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:18:38 -0400