John Edwards wins over a South Carolina Republican voter

Edwards said the election was about "standing up and fighting for the middle class," to help lift people out of poverty and push for universal health care.

"The United States of America is better than this, and our parents and our grandparents struggled and sacrificed so that they can make this country what it is capable of doing," Edwards said. "Now the question is: Will we rise up and show the same kind of grip and fight and strength and determination that they did? The answer is I believe we will."

"It's going to happen as we spread through these primaries, including right here in South Carolina," he added. "I think you are going to stand up and say 'yes.'"

Edwards' message resonated with Darrell Clinton, who describes himself as a staunch Republican who's now putting party politics aside to support Edwards.

"He's a good mainstream politician looking out for the little guys," Clinton said. "So often the guys at the top are taken care of, the guys at the bottom are taken care of, but there's a lot of people in the middle ... hurting."

Edwards was happy to get Clinton's support.


More below...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/12/edwards.sc/?iref=mpstoryview

:)

:hi:

It's nice to see at least one Republican "little guy" finally waking up to the notion that the Republicans are NOT looking out for his/her best interests.

I wish we could clone that guy!

Happy '08! :toast:

That should be the headline.

http://carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=4511

January 02, 2008
CHAPEL HILL — Win or lose in the presidential campaign of 2008, John Edwards will have one thing to cheer about: That pesky Chapel Hill neighbor that his wife complained about last spring will be gone.

Last April, Elizabeth Edwards made national news when she criticized the family’s across-the-road neighbor, Monty Johnson, for pulling a gun on trespassers and for not maintaining his “slummy” property.

"I don't want my kids anywhere near some guy who when he doesn't like somebody, the first thing he does is pull a gun out,” she said at the time. “It scares the business out of me."

Johnson, however, has sold his 42 acres, which contain occupied mobile homes and deteriorating buildings located directly across the road from the Edwards 100-acre estate just outside Chapel Hill. Johnson and his family have moved to South Carolina.

On May 9, Chapel Hill businessman Cowan Griffin, doing business as KCAJ, LLC, gave Johnson a written offer to purchase the property for $1.6 million, the exact asking price that Johnson had placed on the property through a “for-sale-by-owner” real estate listing service.

Johnson, a 56-year old retired landscaper, said the land had been in his family since before the Great Depression. Johnson lived on the property and earned extra income from leasing the 12 mobile homes and an auto repair shop located on the property.

He received national media attention in April 2007 after Elizabeth Edwards referred to him as a “rabid, rabid Republican,” and called his property “slummy.” Johnson said he was already planning a move when Edwards made her comments. He said real estate taxes were getting too high in Orange County and he anticipated problems living across the street from the Edwardses...

..He gave numerous interviews, but interest in his relationship with his neighbors eventually died down. He accepted Griffin’s offer and quietly moved away.

“I felt sad about letting people down by moving, but I did what was best for my family because the Edwardses would continue to be a problem,” he said.

Edwards and his family moved into their custom 28,200-square-foot home in 2006. The house, which includes a recreational building attached to the main living quarters, also is probably the largest in the county according to local tax officials. The tax value of the home is $5. 7 million, but that is based on a 2005 revaluation year.

The rambling structure sits in the middle of a 102-acre estate on Old Greensboro Road west of Chapel Hill. The heavily wooded site and winding driveway ensure that the home is not visible from the road. “No Trespassing” signs discourage passersby from venturing past the gate.



The main house is 10,400 square feet and has two garages. The recreation building, a red, barn-like building containing 15,600 square feet, is connected to the house by a closed-in and roofed structure of varying widths and elevations that adds another 2,200 square feet.


The recreation building contains a basketball court, a squash court, two stages, a bedroom, kitchen, bathrooms, swimming pool, a four-story tower, and a 1700 square-foot room designated “John’s Lounge.”

construction, I don't quite see what your point is?

Bill's presidential terms. Wasn't that warm and fuzzy?

believe that we were happy when our neighbor, whose house was completely neglected from the day we moved in many years ago, moved out. Glory, Hallelujah! In a neighborhood zoned R-1, she kept what she claimed was a boarding house, but what was really a couple of apartments. She lived in the basement. At this time, the house is occupied by two families. The neighbors are quite and thoughtful. The house is kept in good shape (not completely surrounded by junk) and we are very happy. I hope that our former neighbor was able to find a small apartment somewhere that she could actually manage to maintain.

After she moved out, we learned from some legal documents that a realtor gave to us, that the neighbor had been convicted of a serious crime. Considering that she had a very bad temper, the neighborhood is probably safer without her. We may be our neighbors' keepers, but that does not mean that we have to like everything they do. I would not want to live near a person who pulled his gun on trespassers.

This story got pushed several times over about two months last year. The first couple of times got limited coverage and then it reappeared a few weeks after Elizabeth's cancer reappeared. The original articles portrayed Elizabeth as rude, elitist, rich, and unwilling to even speak to her neighbors and I remember that one version even alleged she might be a Yankee, so it's obvious they don't share our values and wouldn't deserve our votes.

This BS was used when he ran for Senate, reappeared in 2003-4 with things like the "My neighbor John" email and whisper campaign.

At least once, the trespassers were with Duke Power. Monty might also have been "confused" about where the property lines are. The Edwards property includes an "orphan" piece across the road from the main parcel. I looked at the land records and that parcel became detached when the road was re-routed many years ago. The road has been in its current layout since long before I lived out past there 40 years ago. I think the change to the road might predate Monty and me. Monty's land was already consolidated in a partnership or LLC before the articles last year.

This article is a tiny bit better than the ones last year but still wrong. At least it gives more details about the house, etc. Because the barn/rec/office is technically considered part of the house because they are connected by an enclosed walkway, it distorts the size of the house. The house is still large but not that unusual in this area, particularly if the barn was replaced by stables. A couple of that type properties are currently on the market in the county, a couple more with less land.

They are simply anti-corruption and pro-fairness. Go, Edwards.

five years of campaigning looks like it is paying off.

One (of the 2) huge reasons that the corporate right is so afraid of Edwards, is that he wins the battleground swing states with his appeal to, not only independents, but even some Republicans. Regardless of how much the corporate media try to label his as "far left", the corporate media fails to convince voters. And this truth is driving them crazy!!

Perhaps the biggest right wing, corporate meme is the false notion that "the center" is inhabited by pro-corporate, pro-war DLC types.

The reality which has the most potential to destroy corporate authoritarianism is the reality that the BROAD spectrum of Americans - - including the middle class and small business, mainstream America has been betrayed by the corporatists controlling the GOP, and struggling to control our own Democratic Party.

The fact that middle class independents and even Republicans are rejecting their mantra (despite the constant media repetition), and that the most populist, anti-corporate, anti-special interest Democrat, John Edwards, is also the MOST ELECTABLE,and is capable of carrying not only Florida & Ohio, but even a few RED STATES, has the corporatist shaking in their boots!

They know that if their false memes of "centrist = corporatist" and "centrist=pro-war" are exposed as the right wing myths that they are, their Rasputin-esque, psychic control over the electorate will evaporate.