http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/shapiro/2003-12-31-hype_x.htm-snip-
"What Edwards has going, though, is potentially the most potent economic message of any Democrat in the race. No candidate is more scornful of the Washington insider class of lobbyists and influence peddlers. "These lobbyists have such power in Washington," Edwards told the crowd in Waterloo. He talked about how the lobbyists go to senators and say, "I need your help on this bill and, wink-wink, I'll see you tonight at the fundraiser." Then, with his voice rising to a crescendo, Edwards declared to fervent applause, "We ought to cut them off at the knees.
It is tempting to depict Edwards as a Southern populist and leave it at that. But, in truth, his core argument is subtler. Edwards, who is worth in the neighborhood of $20 million, is not railing against wealth. Rather, he is declaring war on what he regards as the culture of special privilege that has thrived in George W. Bush's Washington. Edwards decries tax cuts for the wealthy, contracts for Halliburton in Iraq and special favors for drug companies in the Medicare bill."
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