In an obvious attempt by the John Edwards campaign to improve John Edwards' chances of winning the 2008 Democratic Presidential Nomination, the Senator's wife, Mrs. Edwards, is operating as the attack dog, a role normally reserved for presidential running mates. First, it was the question of Obama's blackness and the country not honestly being ready for a black president. Then it was Hillary's unlikable factor which would surely motivate the Republican base to vote against her in record numbers. The conventional wisdom that is implied is that John Edwards is the most viable choice for the nomination, with his status as the mainstream white male candidate. While I know that it's a political strategy being played out by the Edwards campaign, I can't help but reflect back on a scene from one of my all time favorite movies, Blazing Saddles.
It's the scene where the all-white western town of Rock Ridge is excitedly awaiting the arrival of the new sheriff who unknowingly to them is Cleavon Little, who happens to be black. So when the incoherent guy in the lookout tower sees the black sheriff approaching the town, he tries to warn the town folks that "the sheriff is a...". However, the town folks can't understand what he is saying because he doesn't speak clearly and he also keeps getting grounded out by background noise. So maybe the same thing needs to occur the next time that Mrs. Edwards declares that Obama is a Black man and Hillary is an unlikable woman.
Sidebar: "The sheriff is a..." taken from a scene in the Mel Brooks film, Blazing Saddles. It's classically funny!
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