Figuring It Out: Flashback Friday

Since I didn't blog yesterday I thought I would use my Flashback Friday to incorporate what I did yesterday into what I did a year and a half ago. This is a picture of me, John Edwards, and my beautiful friend, the Miss Karrah Tines. We worked at a theatre in Florida whose owner is very influential in Florida politics. He held many rallies, events, and things for different candidates and he was always so kind to allow any of the actors to come free of charge to the events. This event was the second time that I got to meet John Edwards. This particular event was a fundraiser for Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida), who was up for re-election in November 2006. He won handily against Kathleen Harris, who I am sure you all remember from the 2000 voting fiasco. Anyway, Edwards came to the event to throw his support behind Nelson. One thing that has always struck me, besides his obvious good looks, is how charismatic and intelligent this man is. His speaking ability reminds me of Bill Clinton. They also draw from similar beginnings. Clinton was from a town called Hope. His father was killed before he was born and his mother was a nurse. Edwards was born in South Carolina to a millworker (I'm not sure what his mother did?) Both men came from meager beginnings, worked and studied hard and made it to the top and they both use(d) that in their campaigns.

I have to say that I have not decided yet which candidate I'm backing and I don't think I'm going to for some time. I'm not in any rush and I think we would all benefit by taking a moment to breathe and really get to know the candidates. That brings me to what I did last night. I'm not sure if you heard that both Newt Gingrich and the former Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo came together and decided that there needs to be more aggressive debate on the issues with the candidates for president and in the country as a whole. Well, they did and we now have the Cooper Union Dialogue Series. The first candidate to accept an invitation was John Edwards. I

would recap for you, but I think it's a better idea for you to either read a transcript or see a video. I am looking for a good copy of it on the internet so that you can also watch. I'll let you know when I've found it. (BTW- I took this photo to the right, I think it's pretty good). I have to say, I like John Edwards. I think he would strengthen any ticket as a vice president, but his lack of experience on foreign relations makes me a little nervous. One weird thing that happened at the debate, completely unrelated to Edwards, was some young adults who happened to be in front of me in line got kicked out. During the question and answer period (the questions were all posed by Brian Lehrer of WNYC), these people decided to start chanting "Impeach Bush, Impeach Bush." One of them was shouting other things as well about the war, but from where I was sitting it was indecipherable. I think there were only three of them and they were just there to be disruptive. And as Brian Lehrer pointed out he wasn't sure why they chose to scream at a bunch of people who probably felt the same way. They were escorted out because they refused to stop disrupting the debate. It was a bit of drama, not necessary, but interesting. Here are a few more photos from the evening.