TRAILING SEN. JOHN EDWARDS
An Invitation Leads to an Education
I usually don't follow the Presidential primaries too early in the game—until this time. One reason, of course, is that they are coming at all of us so much earlier. Another was a phone call and invitation that drew me into it right after the Iowa caucus.
My daughter-in-law, Terri Truex, who lives in Henderson NV, had become involved in Sen. John Edwards campaign. She gained the reputation there as a super-volunteer, a tireless worker willing to help whenever she could. Ultimately she is concerned about where the country is going and sees Sen. Edwards as the best choice for our future. When the Senator came to the Las Vegas area she drove him around in her van, taking him back and forth to events, hotels and the airport. Since he normally sat in the front passenger seat she was able to talk to him a bit.
Terri was impressed with how genuine and caring he is, and is very enthusiastic about his candidacy. She mentioned The Light Connection to him and asked if he would be interested in talking to me. He said, “yes.”
Having a conversation with one of the top candidates in the race for the Presidential nomination was not really on my list of potential articles for February, but it soon was.
I came up with some questions that weren't too repetitive and then my education of what it was like to be on one small leg of his campaign trail began.
I first went to Nevada right after the New Hampshire primary, because Sen. Edwards had planned to go there then. The plan was for me to be in Nevada Wednesday through Friday noon—talk to Edwards during that time—and then go to Sedona for the seminar and conference there. I was on the “meet and greet list.” Edwards, however, went to South Carolina. Before making the long trek to the West, he wanted to stay in the East and get in his stops there. I was beginning to see how spontaneous primary schedules can be.
That meant my first trip to Nevada I was catching up with an aunt and uncle, Diane and Byron; and also visiting with Terri, husband Max, and their great kids, Nicole and Mike. Visiting relatives was not what I was there for, but something I really enjoyed. In addition I met with Edwards media liaison and trying to arrange a meeting.
Before Edwards arrived in NV I needed to leave for Sedona, which was also quite a trip. That included a short talk with Rev. Michael Beckwith and Rickie Byars Beckwith, visiting another relative and a party with a group of friends. When it came time to leave Arizona, I called to see if it made sense to stop in NV on the way back to San Diego. Nope. No John Edwards in NV.
After a few days back home I got word the Senator was coming to Vegas and there was another opportunity to meet him. My flight was two-hours late and got me to Vegas on Wednesday, about 5 pm, a week after my first visit, but just minutes before he was speaking to a Veterans group. Waiting for my ride in 44-degree weather, I had a few minutes to find a sweater and jacket in my bag before rushing off to hear him.
The first meeting was small, about 50-60 people, and thankfully started late. Edwards spoke and took questions from the Veterans. Being a vet too, I raised my hand, but was not called on.
Afterwards I was able to meet him for a minute and had my picture taken with him, but did not have a real chance to talk. He was off for the main event of the evening. Next he spoke to members of the Steelworkers Union. That hall was about the size of a high school gym and was packed.
Terri and her daughter Nicole were my guides for all this and we had the choice of giving up our good seats or seeing Edwards greet his volunteers before the event. Terri and I gave up our seats and again I met the Senator and shook hands again along with 20+ others.
After that I joined the other media at the back of the hall. They were either very unfriendly, very focused or both. Most were wearing either black leather jackets or suits. After Edwards spoke and answered questions from the audience, he left so people would leave the hall. During that time the media set up their cameras and microphones in front of where he had been speaking and he came back out once the crowd had cleared.
I positioned myself right in front of him between two cameras, about 4-feet away from him and joined the press conference. They didn't raise their hands. In fact, whenever it sounded like Edwards was winding down or he even paused for a second, someone new would jump in with a totally new topic and question. Did I say some one ? It was more like a chorus of 15+ people all talking at once and trying to talk louder than the next person. If you talked the loudest and just kept talking—and if the Senator looked your way—then the other voices would fade away. Sen. Edwards looked my way once when he was in the middle of answering a question. It think it was one of those, haven't I seen you somewhere before looks, but I didn't get a question in.
During his talk Edwards mentioned that the day before Sen. Obama had talked about the ideas that came from President Ronald Reagan. Edwards assured the audience that if he were in the White House he would not be praising Ronald Reagan as an example to follow. Reagan was not an advocate for working people, Edwards said.
While leaving the hall Terri and I were asked to join a group of people holding Edwards signs and stand behind one of the “suits” who was filming for the local television news. I joined but held the sign in front of my face, of course, to maintain my journalistic integrity. We heard him tell the TV camera, “in Las Vegas tonight, John Edwards attacked Barack Obama. Details at 11.”
I was beginning to discover what kind of journalist I was not. A trip to Bellagio's to see to watch water dance with the music and then discovering that inside there was a waterfall made of two tons of chocolate—even after we visited—made much more sense than joining the press corps.
At 8 am the next morning there was another standing room only meeting for the general public in Henderson. Before the meeting I cornered the press rep for Edwards to talk about the meet and greet list. I was told he was canceling his meetings to travel, but I could ask questions at that day's press conference.
While I was pressing for alternatives, the ABC guy came up and interrupted asking if there were going to be any one-on-one's. “No.” While formulating what else I could ask for, the CBS guy was turned down too.
I kept thinking about how the TLC guy, me, would fit in and then joined the press conference after Edwards spoke. Without my bullhorn, however, . . .
It was Thursday and the Nevada caucus was on the coming Saturday. One of the reporters asked if Edwards felt Nevada important. He said he did, but before he could say why another jumped in and challenged him with—“but you're not even going to be here Saturday, you're leaving Friday.” Edwards responded that if the reporter took a look, he'd discover that he had spent more time in Nevada than any of the candidates—which signaled the end of that question and a chorus of new questions before one won out.
It was like that. The media focused on the slips and sound bites. Not really interested in any depth, fullness or continuity. It was fascinating and I'm glad I went. I got to see what it was like to be part of that particular madness—the news media I mean to say—and see how it translated into air and press coverage.
Instead of ‘meet and greet' time, Edwards got on a plane for LA, followed by trips to Reno and Elko, before returning to LV late. The next morning, Friday, he would leave early after saying good-by to the volunteers. I left Thursday.
As the hall cleared however, I saw that I could talk to other people the media was ignoring. Jean Smart, who was on the TV series Designing Women, had joined the Edwards campaign that day and we talked for a few minutes. No dumb blonde, she was fun to talk to and strong in her support of Edwards.
I also met actress Madeleine Stowe, at the first Veterans meeting. She told me she was moved by Edwards' candidacy. While she appeared shy at first, she was outgoing in her support of Edwards at the meetings, walking up to strangers, talking to them and thanking them for supporting him.
It was great talking to both ladies, but again not my main purpose.
It was a fun trip, and ultimately an opening occurred. I heard that Edwards responds to emails while flying. I asked his media person, Adam Bozzi, to send him an email with my questions with the request that Edwards read my four questions and respond to whatever question he wanted. My thanks to Adam. Edwards responded. For a moment I caught up with Sen. Edwards. Just not the same moment I was with him in Vegas.
Thanks Terri for the invitation. It was a great experience and an education.
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