A telling moment occurred during a Sunday morning interview with Democratic flavor of the month Sen. John Edwards.
Halfway through Edwards’ recitation of focus-grouped responses to predicable questions, ABC broadcast journalist George Stephanopoulos asked Edwards to name his favorite philosopher noting that candidate George Bush once said Jesus Christ was his favorite.
Edwards paused for a remarkably long time and you could virtually see the calculation taking place within his coiffed head:
“this was not on the Q&A . . . I’m being compared with W, must differentiate . . . what’s my answer . . . think, what’s my positioning . . . smart, but regular . . . intelligent but not intellectual . . . heavyweight but good ole boy . . . what philosopher reflects my positioning?!”
Georgie was just about to say, “ah, Senator Edwards . . . are you still with us?” when the political debutante offered up Terry Sanford as his most influential philosopher.
For those of you not familiar with the great wisdom-seekers of The South, Sanford is a former governor of the state of North Carolina.
Many might say that a professional politician from a second tier province in the Southern United States might not measure up to say Thomas Aquinas much less Jesus Christ, but I certainly wouldn’t be one of them.
My only problem is that I just can't think of anyone named Terry as having any potential at all for greatness.
Poor John Edwards. Oh, the lure of the White House. It makes reasonable men to foolish things.
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