The Offensive Continues...

People, even those from our camp, have been pretty critical of John Edwards lately. Over the past three weeks, there have been a lot of stories that ask, "Where is John Edwards?"

And over that same amount of time, there have been a lot of Democrats wondering, "Why isn't John Edwards throwing punches in this race?'"

The answers?

1) "It is tough to find Edwards unless you are willing to stay in something other than a top-tier hotel. Even the biggest chains feature only their knock-off brands in the towns where he goes. Sometimes you have to settle for a Motel 6. But Edwards is going after the swing voters where they live. His recent Pennsylvania stops covered a suburban swath where nearly 20 percent of the state’s likely voters reside."

2) "From what I’ve seen of Edwards, he would have to set himself on fire to generate more heat in his campaign appearances"

This according to Craig Crawford, a writer for Congressional Quarterly.

Crawford's piece flies directly at the chatterbox wisdom that John Edwards hasn't been visible and that he keeps playing up his good-guy-who-ain't-going-to-say-anything-mean-about-the-other-fella routine. And it says explicitly what I have been thinking for awhile.

Don't believe that John Edwards has been heating up his rhetoric?

“Sen. Kerry says he sees two Americas,” Cheney has been telling GOP audiences. “It makes the whole thing mutual. America sees two John Kerrys.”

Crawford reports Edwards' response in a small little town called Chillicothe, Ohio.

“Dick Cheney may think that’s funny, but out here in the real world, you’re living it,” he said. “I wonder if the 230,000 people in Ohio who lost their jobs think that’s funny?”

I wonder if the 4,800 Pillowtex workers in Kannapolis, North Carolina think that's funny. I wonder if the 1.6 million North Carolinians living without basic health care think that's funny.

I bet the guy who took Dick Cheney's job at Halliburton is laughing though. Laughing all the way to the bank with his $7 billion no-bid contact.

That's the problem with Republicans in this election. They underestimate the intelligence of voters. They run juvenile attack ads and try to package their ridiculous laugh lines as reason enough to cast a vote against John Kerry. North Carolina knows better.