Asked whether he hoped to shift the playing field away from the Clinton/Obama battle, Edwards said, "I hope the entire earth shifts in a different direction. I hope someone is running because they want to serve. I want the best human beings possible to run. But change has nothing to do with candidates -- it has to do with getting Americans involved."
Steve Medlin, a former law school classmate of Edwards' at the University of North Carolina, looked on from behind the news crews, smiling. Medlin was visiting from Concord, N.C., with his three sons, two of whom are Marine sergeants who did yearlong tours in Iraq.
"This is one of the finest men I know in the world," Medlin told Salon. "I was so happy when he ran for senator, because he was a fellow everyone knew was an honorable, straight-up guy." Comparing Edwards with Al Gore, another good-looking ex-senator from the South and possible 2008 contender, Medlin offered, "Al Gore came across as so sanctimonious ... Johnny's not gonna lecture anybody. Does he have a chance? Absolutely. Obama is premature. Hillary's negatives are phenomenal. He's gonna slide right in."
The only time Edwards came even close to a negative tone was when he was asked about his lack of experience. "It's a fair question," he allowed, and certainly one he was prepared for. "Look at [Donald] Rumsfeld and [Dick] Cheney," he said. "Both of them had extraordinary experience -- but we've seen that experience does not equal good judgment, and experience is not the same as having a vision, and experience does not guarantee adaptability. We've seen absolutely no capacity to adjust, to move with the world's changes."
But Edwards, perhaps in an attempt to appeal to Southerners and moderates, seemed to put limits on what any president, and the federal government in general, should be expected to do. Nevertheless, he criticized President Bush for his failure to respond to Katrina.
"If I'd have been president, I would have had someone coming in my office every day, and I would have asked him, "What did you do yesterday? What do we need to do today?"
And he urged people to look beyond the government for solutions. "We don't want to hope that the next leader of America will solve all of our problems."
Again and again, he returned to what could be done by the kinds of private organizations often touted by the current administration. "I've walked around New Orleans and I've seen a lot of good work being done, and most of it has been by faith-based, charitable organizations and volunteers."
Such sentiments, and the scattered projects of faith-based organizations, were probably cold comfort to local residents who were hoping for something a little more tangible. Cathy Roberts, a Ninth Ward resident whose house was also destroyed by the floods, had walked over to Orelia Tyler's house to see who had won the latest media-attention lottery. Eyeing the camera crews around her, she said, "I get so angry when people tell me I ought to call Oprah, or Ellen, to try to get some help rebuilding my house. But I can't even find Internet service, how am I supposed to find them?"
Although Roberts says she paid almost $200,000 for her home, Louisiana's Road Home program valued it at only $160,000 -- and offered her $88,000 to rebuild it. "How do you do that math?" she asked. Before the cameras were turned off, a group of volunteers went busily back to work on her neighbor's house. But Roberts didn't approach them to ask for help. "I don't need extra hands, baby," she said. "What I need is money."
About the writer
Cynthia Joyce is a writer living in New Orleans.
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