The $64,000 Question!

Do Hard Labor With Edwards, For A Fee
By Don Frederick and Andrew Malcolm

Presidential campaigns are very creative at linking with voters -- especially when it comes to obtaining their names and e-mails for fund appeals. Remember helping pick Hillary Clinton's official campaign song? Barack Obama's campaign invited selected donors of small amounts to dinner. John McCain sends a copy of his new book in return for a donation.

John Edwards' newest gimmick? He wants five people to join him next month for some hard labor: helping build in a poor New Orleans neighborhood. But it'll cost you. The catch is, in order to do this volunteer work, he'd like you to give him money for the privilege.

"Help John rebuild New Orleans with a [campaign] contribution today," says an e-mail from David Bonior, campaign manager. Exactly how giving money to Edwards helps the New Orleans neighborhood is not explained. But Bonior adds, "By giving between now and the end of the quarter on Sunday, Sept. 30, you -- and four other supporters -- could have the opportunity to work alongside John. . . ."This campaign is about creating big, bold change on the issues that matter -- so we're not offering you gimmicks," the Bonior e-mail continues.

"We're not offering you a fancy dinner. And we're not offering you the chance to hobnob with celebrities and former presidents."

Just the chance to buy a chance to sweep and hammer with a former senator.

A smaller line of type just like this at the end of the Edwards e-mail says, "No purchase or contribution necessary to enter."

http://www.latimes.com/

I know. It must be reflective of my Neo-Conservative status that I don't understand, but how does this huckster offer a chance for Demmie Dupes to enter a sweepstakes to 'win' a chance to work for a fee they're going to pay HIM--and then say "No purchase or contribution necessary to enter."???

And how is a campaign contribution to EDWARDS going to help the people in New Orleans? (Is he going to buy the materials for their homes--with other people's money--and then try to take credit for it because he happened to hammer in a few nails between sound bites?)

Well, all in all, I'd say this magnanimous gesture on his part is par for the course: Charging other people to do 80% of the work, while he takes in 100% of the 'found money'--and grabs 100% of the credit--while doing 20% of the work, and paying for nothing himself... (And there's not any chance that those housing materials are really going to be donated by--or hornswoggled from--someone else, now, is there, John?)

How many houses does he think he and four other people can build--after ALL those donations pour in from those trying to 'win a chance to work with' a man as great as all that? I hope he lets us know...

"We're not offering you a fancy dinner. And we're not offering you the chance to hobnob with celebrities and former presidents." Well, I believe that (they're not even gonna feed you!)--and John is right; he couldn't possibly be called a 'former president'!