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: 05-12-2004
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 1:50am
Ok, djie, then why, praytell, is this war in Iraq ok with you? how is it justified. WMD's are not there, so why is it ok? and why was it ok to go in the first place? HOw is this ok?
Avatar for papparic
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 2:19am
Care to clarify which countries you mean by "foreign country where everything you do is controlled"?

Or do all countries other than the US fall into that category...since they are not the US...so by definition....

I've lived in a lot of "foreign countries", in fact, for most of my adult life. You'd be surprised at the freedoms other countries have, some of which the US doesn't have. (Like freedom from a government that continually tries to whip its population into a frenzy of fear of everything "foreign". Or sets ever higher colors of terror alerts over "rumors of wars")

Us foreigners take our freedoms seriously too. The only government that threatens us, happens to be the one led by Bush and Cheney.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-21-2004
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 2:30am
How can you trust someone who lies to you about very important things (sending people to war) and continues to lie to you? I just don't get how this behavior earns trust.
Donna

"Patriotism means to stand by the Country. It does not mean to stand by the President." -- Theodore Roosevelt.

Donna
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2004
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 9:44am
Forgive me if this has already been said since I arrived late to the discussion and couldn't read all of the replies. Personally I think both men did great in the debates but overall Cheney was the winner. Edwards loved to bring up Haliburton and all of Cheney's money especially when discussing taxes. He claims he will go after the top dogs so to speak which he implied was people like Cheney. Well, doesn't that include trial lawyers? Don't they make fairly good money themselves? While I think there are many problems with Haliburton, I also have a major problem with lawyers filing claim after claim and pocketing so much money from it. I was recently told by an insurance adjustor that even if they have previous history of people filing numerous claims, the accident/damages not being great, no injuries at the site, etc, they still pay off if the people get a lawyer. To them it is much easier to pay then to fight the trial lawyers in court. That is why there are so many commercials stating "Been Hurt, Call....." Something has to be done.

Lastly, I want to say the final thing that made me not choose Kerry for president is not his flipflopping, abortion standing, or even war standings, but the fact that both Edwards and Kerry are not present at so many of the votes. I don't care how minial the issue, they have a job to do and must be present to do it. If they can't even do their jobs now then why should I trust that something more important will come up when we need them as a Pres./Vice Pres? They fault GW for being at a school and not rushing when 911 happened but what would they have done? Would this warrant their attendance or be one of the excused absences in their minds?
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-18-2004
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 12:08pm

<>


You know, here in Germany, you cannot make up a name for your kid when it is born.

Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-18-2004
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 12:10pm

Hi kahlanne!


Welcome to the board!

Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board

Visit My Website!

Email me!

Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2003
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 12:26pm
>>The fact remains that we have nearly twenty thousand troops in Afghanistan, which is both geographically and population wise a much smaller country<<

To the contrary,

Iraq is considerably smaller than Afghanistan.

Afghanistan : 647,500 sq. mi.

Iraq: 432,162 sq.mi.

Iraq also has a smaller population than Afghanistan

Afghanistan: 28,717,213 (July 2003 est.)

Iraq: 24,683,313 (July 2003 est.)



From www.nationmaster.com


Edited 10/8/2004 12:31 pm ET ET by blueishxx

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 2:14pm
Actually,

Just because you have a foreign policy Pro in the family doesnot mean one would learn it esp. in George W Bush's case. His father specifically said we cannot go into iraq because there is a lack of proper exit strategy, but Did the little George learn. NO!!!

Avatar for momeebear
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 3:50pm
That is interesting, Miffy.......only now I'm dying to know what crazy, made up name you're planning to bestow on your child? Or is it just that you CAN, if you want to?? ;-)
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-24-2003
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 3:54pm
I think Bush has said he doesn't care about Osama's whereabouts time and again because he's embarassed that his administration hasn't found him yet.

It's like an effort on his part to dismiss a gigantic failure.

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