John Edwards, Man of the People!

So I guess a day after Mr. Edwards made some hostile comments directed at Wal-Mart, one of his staffers attempted to use the weight of Mr. Edwards' name to get Mr. Edwards' kid a PS3 from Wal-Mart on the day of its release. I think the claimed disassociation of the over-zealous staffer from Mr. Edwards' own wishes is perfectly reasonable, but there's one or two comments in that story that I find particularly amusing. First:

In the call, he repeated a story about his son Jack disapproving of a classmate buying sneakers at Wal-Mart. "If a 6-year-old can figure it out, America can definitely figure this out," Edwards said.

So in other words, your own six-year-old is already a self-righteous jackass? I just have a really hard time imagining this anecdote in a favorable light: suppose you are a Wal-Mart shopper. Most such folks do so for economic reasons: Wal-Mart provides things almost universally at lower prices than any of its competitors. As a consumer, it's your right to choose where to shop based on such prices. And your son comes home from school one day, upset, possibly crying, because one of his "friends" criticized him because of where you bought his shoes! First of all, how the heck does a kid get away with such impertinent and rude behavior? Second, why is John Edwards retelling this story in a favorable light??? If I found out my kid was doing that, she'd receive a swift and decisive rebuke, and if I ever told anyone the story, it'd be an illustration of the mistakes I'd made as her father!

And to think, this man came awfully close to being the Vice President of the United States of America. And he's already a senator!

I also like Wal-Mart's response:

"While the rest of America's working families are waiting patiently in line, Senator Edwards wants to cut to the front," the Wal-Mart statement said.

Is it unfair, assuming the whole incident was the work of one over-zealous staffer? Sure. But oh man, what a zinger!