Edwards' cool levels debate field

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Registered: 08-05-2004
Edwards' cool levels debate field
206
Tue, 10-05-2004 - 1:56am
Here's the original link: http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/politicians/edwards/story/1699641p-7949529c.html


By ROB CHRISTENSEN, Staff Writer

RALEIGH -- If Vice President Dick Cheney thinks he'll be facing the "Breck Girl" - the epithet Republicans like to pin on John Edwards - he may be in for an unpleasant surprise in their debate Tuesday.

Edwards is a canny fighter who outprepares his opponents, according to lawyers who have faced him in the courtroom. He isn't afraid of more experienced adversaries, has a large bag of rhetorical tricks and connects with audiences.

"If I'm going in a knife fight, and I have my choice, I am taking John Edwards," said Jim Cooney of Charlotte. "John doesn't like to lose."

Cooney ought to know. He dueled with Edwards in 10 cases.

Cooney is one of many Tar Heel lawyers who debated Edwards before a jury during the 1980s and 1990s, when Edwards made his fortune as a trial lawyer before being elected to the U.S. Senate.

Their advice for Cheney: Under no circumstances take Edwards lightly.

Edwards' strengths:

* He prepares thoroughly.

* He connects with his listeners in their language.

* He makes complex arguments easy to understand.

* He takes his opponents seriously.

Edwards made a living off more experienced lawyers who saw his mop-haired choirboy looks, small-town charm and wide grin and took him for a lightweight. That's one reason he rarely lost a courtroom debate.

And in some respects, the Cheney-Edwards debate also would seem a mismatch. Cheney is the very image of experience and authority -- a former White House chief of staff, defense secretary, congressman and corporate CEO.

But former rivals say Edwards has a history of besting people like Cheney: white-haired, "pillar of the community" corporate lawyers, respected doctors and all sorts of experts. He also has a history of taking on large institutions -- hospitals, insurance companies, trucking firms -- and coming out on top.

If Cheney goes after Edwards' inexperience in government, several lawyers said, he'll be walking into a trap.

"He's made a career of going up against the experts, leaders in their fields, whether it's medicine or epidemiology or engineering," Cooney said. "The first time Cheney gives him the lecture -- 'Well, young man' -- it will be interesting to see how he handles that. Various experts have tried it before, and it has not worked very well.

"He is well-experienced in going up against people who are experts and who believe very strongly that they know a lot more than he does."

Made-for-TV style

Intense preparation is Edwards' trademark, and few expect him to be stumped or surprised by a question. Nor can he be rattled easily.

"I would be surprised if he is intimidated by Dick Cheney," said Tex Barrow, a Raleigh lawyer who has faced Edwards. "I have never seen him intimidated by anybody. ... He will be very well-prepared and be very passionate about his positions."

Edwards has never been regarded as a great courtroom orator in the Clarence Darrow mold. His style is more conversational. It is a style that is suited for more intimate settings like the courtroom -- or the TV studio -- than a large hall.

Indeed, some say Edwards' vice presidential acceptance speech in Boston in July was a bit flat.

"In many regards the debate will be a more natural setting. ... It's just his background," Barrow said. "It's one on one. The courtroom is a lot more intimate exchange than a speech to several thousand people."

He also rarely hammers home a point, preferring to lay out the evidence and let the jury come to the conclusion where he led it. His style is to distill the major points, removing the jargon, so that everyone understands his points.

"He'll use 25 years of experience in talking to jurors and look into that television camera ... and make every person in the living room think he is talking to them," said Billy Richardson, a lawyer who has worked with Edwards on cases. "He is secure enough to let them form their own conclusions. That is a powerful technique."

One of his favorite techniques, the lawyers say, is to ask the rhetorical question of the type Ronald Reagan asked in his 1980 debate: Are you better off than you were four years ago?

Nor is Edwards afraid to take someone apart. He just does it with Southern charm and a smile.

"It is not John's style to be mean or sarcastic," said his former law partner, David Kirby. "John has the ability to destroy a witness or a witness' position in a polite manner."

Edwards once dismantled an economist -- testifying for the opposition -- whose sons he had coached in soccer and with whom he had been friendly.

The North Carolina lawyers who have watched Edwards in the courtroom say there is no way that he will take Cheney lightly. They also say that Cheney would be foolish to prepare lightly for Edwards.

"Knowing John," Cooney said, "he has played out all the angles that Cheney could launch and his response to Cheney's attack, and how Cheney will respond to that, and how he would respond to that. He plays four or five moves ahead -- like chess."


Staff writer Rob Christensen can be reached at 820-4532 or robc@newsobserver.com.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 9:33pm
>>I disagree on star wars, a working nuclear missile defense system would certainly make me feel more secure in this day and age, considering that we no longer have that mutually assured destruction thing going with our current enemies-they don't seem to mind dying all that much. But there's no denying that Kerry's record is cumulatively anti-defense spending and anti-war, which would be respectable if that's what he truly believes-problem is at the moment he's trying to make that record disappear and portray himself as a strong military, tough on national defense type guy.<<

There are lots of far fetched programs that would make things a bit easier on us, but they are also pipe dreams. A missile defence shield is not practical. Anyone who watches Star Trek, and I'm one... would love to see the defensive technology they imagine... but we are nowhere near such technology.

You say Kerry is anti war, and I say "yay!" The flip side, the impression I get at times, is that neoconservative live for war - unless they are called upon to serve, then it is a bad idea. A president should go to war as a last resort... they owe it to us all... and this president was itching to look like a big hero (and have action dolls made of him.)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 9:37pm
Elections coming... try everything...
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2004
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 9:38pm
"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 10:00pm

<<"Elections coming... try everything...">>..... are you implying that I'm grasping at straws or something? FYI I'm not. I don't understand your one-liner.


I cóuld have responded with an equally lame: "Elections coming....deny anything", but.........


I was responding to Allianor's <<"Sounds to me like W has lost interest in OBL.">>. Just thought I would find óne link to the efforts that are being done as we type to capture OBL. There are many more where this one came from.

Djie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 10:02pm
Hey, I just thought it showed respect. nothing wrong with that.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 10:08pm
Girl, there is nothin wrong with likeing who you like!!! thats what makes the world go round. If we where all attracted to the same type life sure would be boring? But ya! I was beeing silly, just to lighten things up. I also think its sexy when a guy is devoted to his wife even if she looks older and is a little over weight, makes me think higher of that guy, that he dose't let the standerds of the magazines dictate who he wants.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 10:14pm
Hey, it was on msnbc hardball with chris mathews in 2002 or 2003, they re-showed it last night, after the debate.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 10:15pm
Amen!!! sister!!!!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 10:37pm
We do get it, but if we listened to ol dickey, we would be running in the streets in a blind panic pulling our hair out! oops where is my duct tape and plastic?????? And if we believe the REP party we will be struck again if Kerry is elected? we are gonna be hit again reguardless of who is in the white house, our borders are wide open!!!But you can not live your every waking moment by being afraid, you have to live life to the fullest!!! Americans act like they are the only people to deal with terriost? Look at the horror the IRA has caused, look at the homas, people still live their lives. why does this administration need to on a daily basis instill terror in us all? I mean do you function better that way? I dont! OSB's hate of our socity is going to cause another attack, he is probly sittin at old prince bandhars house right now just waiting .Or is that Bandhar Bush as some of the family call him?
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 10:39pm
Hey I don't think they are dorks!!! just athletic challanged!!! pc!! pc!!but they do have their share of hotties.

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