Here are a few clips to wake y'all up this morning:
I wonder if in these benighted PC days you could even have a TV show where one of the main characters was a car with the Stars and Bars on it.
Posted on 07/12/2002 4:44:46 AM PDT by RippleFire
Edwards: 'Cooter' for House
By WASHINGTON
Maybe it was the giant Rubik's Cube that hung from the ceiling. Or the oversized paintings of Madonna, Mr. T and Boy George that adorned the walls. Or the folks running around with names like Cooter and Mudcat.
But there was something undeniably surreal about U.S. Sen. John Edwards' appearance this week at Polly Esther's, a retro dance club in downtown Washington.
At one point, the North Carolina Democrat found himself on stage, doing his best to clap in rhythm as one of the hottest blue-grass bands of today entertained the crowd. Ben "Cooter" Jones, a former "Dukes of Hazzard" star running for Congress, belted out the vocals.
The occasion was a Wednesday night fund-raiser hosted by Edwards' political action committee, the New American Optimists, to bolster Jones' Democratic bid for a House seat from Virginia.
Jones, who played an amiable mechanic on the '80s TV series, previously represented a Georgia district in Congress but has since relocated to Virginia, where he runs a museum called "Cooter's Place" that features Hazzards memorabilia.
In remarks to a crowd dominated by young professionals, Edwards called Jones "a terrific candidate" and proclaimed it was "a great honor for me to be here tonight."
Edwards and Jones were brought together by a pair of former campaign aides to Virginia Gov. Mark Warner -- Steve Jarding and a sidekick whom everyone calls "Mudcat." The two now both work for Edwards' PAC.
Last year, Jones campaigned for Warner in rural areas, where the straight-talking actor retains much of his celebrity appeal.
In an interview before Wednesday's event, Jones said he would be willing to do the same thing for Edwards if the senator takes a serious stab at the presidency.
"I've been very impressed with him," Jones said. "He understands the heartland of America. He's also a very attractive guy. In that sense, he's Kennedy-esque, in a sort of Southern way."
While acknowledging Edwards has "a hell of a hill to climb" to become president, Jones had little good to say about other Democrats positioning themselves for 2004 bids.
Asked if he found any of the others appealing, he said: "I like Joe Lieberman. He's a good man. Beyond that, no."
The actor, it's worth noting, has a few Tar Heel connections.
Jones was born in Tarboro, but "they ran me out of North Carolina when I was 3 weeks old," he said. Actually, Jones' father was a railroad man, and it was time to move on.
Jones returned in the early 1960s and attended, on a sporadic basis, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"They listed me at one point in the Class of 1965," Jones said, "but I never saw a diploma. That didn't matter to me, though. I had started making money as an actor."
Wednesday night apparently won't be the last time Edwards tries to play up connections to rural America.
A banner that hung above the stage referred to the New American Optimists' "Tour for Rural America."
An aide hinted that a string of PAC-sponsored concerts by the Lonesome River Band may be on the way, including some in North Carolina.
Here are a few clips to wake y'all up this morning:
I wonder if in these benighted PC days you could even have a TV show where one of the main characters was a car with the Stars and Bars on it.
I am obliged to post this IAW FreeRepublic Hottie Reference Rules...
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