A John Edwards Campaign Update

Just a bit of information here – nothing in depth…

This Yahoo News story tells us that actors Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon are going to campaign with Edwards in Iowa, with actresses Jean Smart and Madeleine Stowe having already done so (Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne appeared for Edwards also).

Yeah, yeah, “who cares about celebrity endorsements,” I hear you ask. And that’s a good question for anyone, but also for the people of Iowa who probably don’t care about anyone not from their area coming from out of town and trying to persuade them (and I don’t blame them either).

And it’s a particularly good question given that Valley News Today of Des Moines has come out for Edwards here (I’ll be honest and admit that Edwards reached a bit too far in saying he’d deny health care to members of Congress if they opposed him; I’d like to see that, but even his campaign admits they can’t do that – sorry for this link to Howie Kurtz of WaPo, but I have to do it).

But what good does it do to show up for a street fight and leave some of your weapons in your pocket?

And by the way, I hope Bacon stays on the trail with Edwards when the candidate appears in Philadelphia; the actor is the son of the late, renowned architect Edmund Bacon and has some clout in this area. And Edwards will need that going up against a primarily hostile corporate media landscape around here, including this Inquirer column with a headline wondering why he’s even still in the race.

(Oh, and by the way Inky, Jimmy Rollins is great, but popups with audio are seriously uncool at the workplace - try something else!).

Also on the subject of Philly media blowhards, I present this item from Herb Denenberg, who made his name around here as former PA insurance commissioner (here) and TV consumer affairs reporter before his pro-Israel bias overtook his senses for good after September 11th and he went certifiably nuts (here). So given that, Denenberg has to use whatever threads of credibility he still has to do his demagogue thing against all things and people Democratic.

(And by the way, I can remember a day when The Philadelphia Bulletin was known and respected by all as a newspaper of integrity that never would have lent its name to the type of garbage foisted by Denenberg here.)