Posted on 06/05/2007 12:47:53 PM PDT by SmithL
Savannah, Ga. (AP) -- The wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards on Tuesday compared him to another North Carolina politician known for his blunt candor — conservative icon Jesse Helms.
Elizabeth Edwards, speaking to reporters before a giving speech in Savannah, Gal., invoked the name of Republican Helms when asked if her husband could appeal to conservative Southern voters.
"I remember one-time somebody saying, 'That John Edwards reminds me of Jesse Helms,'" she said. "They didn't agree on a single policy, I don't think. But here's what they agreed on — that people should know where they stood."
Elizabeth Edwards said her husband has been honest with Americans in saying he made a mistake by voting in the Senate to authorize the invasion of Iraq. She said John Edwards blames himself, not faulty intelligence that suggested Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
"Certainly every woman loves to hear a man admit, now and again, that they were wrong," she told reporters. "And John's willing to do that."
Elizabeth Edwards was in Georgia to address about 250 people attending a conference of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.
John Edwards served as North Carolina's junior senator under Helms until the Republican retired in 2003 after 30 years in office.
Helms' outspoken opposition to legalized abortion, homosexuality and a national holiday marking Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday elicited the wrath of Democrats and moderates.
His wife's favorable comparison aside, John Edwards has been known to speak critically of the longtime North Carolina lawmaker.
"I'm now the senior senator from North Carolina instead of Jesse Helms, which is a very good thing for this country," John Edwards said during his first presidential campaign in 2004 at a debate in New Hampshire.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Best laugh I had all day!
Edwards is not worthy to wash Jesse’s BVDs.
Hilarious!
I’ve met Jesse. John is no Jesse.
“”But here’s what they agreed on — that people should know where they stood.” “
Wow, is she some English major, or what?
Setting him up to hear Fred Thompson say “I knew Jesse Helms, Senator, and you’re no Jesse Helms!”
Has she considered a career in stand-up comedy? This is freakin’ hilarious!
‘She said that with a straight face?’
No, its bloated as usual....
What an insult to the legacy of the great Jesse Helms.
I could have sworn he had passed away. He’s alive at 85.
Yeah, Breck Girl? Well now you're a FORMER senator from North Carolina instead of a sitting senior, which is an even BETTER thing for this country.
Democrats don't even say that about Edwards.
I've known a few liberals who compare him (unfavorably) to Dan Quayle.
Even Kerry realized Edwards was an idiot and a 2 bit conniving snake.
Yea, and Boy George reminds me of John Wayne.
Yeah, but can Edwards say “homosectual”.
From Wikipedia:
On April 2, 2006, Helms’s wife of sixty-three years, Dorothy Jane “Dot” Coble Helms, announced that he is afflicted with multi-infarct dementia and had been moved to a convalescent facility near their Raleigh home.
She's just making that up.
Same as Hillary saying she got through difficult times because of her "faith in God".
It's election time and there's absolutely nothing these people won't say.
(See Obama implying the threat of a black riot.)
Lady, your husband is no Jesse Helms.
I miss Jesse Helms. I hope he’s enjoying his retirement.
Yeah and Hitlery is just like Mother Teresa
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