Video Retrospective: Elizabeth And John Edwards Take On Media Stars (Coulter and other slime)

Video Retrospective: Elizabeth And John Edwards Take On Media Stars
January 30, 2008 -- 3:35 PM EST // //

Now that John Edwards has dropped out of the race, it's worth pausing to reconsider the role John and his wife played in what I think is one of the most under-appreciated stories of Campaign 2008.

Specifically: Thanks largely to the Edwards couple, aggressive push-back against right-wing (and even traditional) media figures went mainstream in Dem primary politics in a big way. Indeed, the Dem candidates adopted this sort of push-back as almost a de rigeur tactic, a way of throwing wrenches into the wingnut slime machine and simultaneously appealing to Dem primary voters, who can't get enough of this sort of stuff.

Let's recall that John and Elizabeth Edwards led the way on this. It began with John Edwards' boycott of Fox News, a move that was soon duplicated by other candidates, much to Fox's chagrin. It continued with Elizabeth's surprise attack on Ann Coulter on Hardball and her spirited emergence as a tormentor of other wingnut media stars and a kind of all around media noodge on her husband's behalf.

Some dismissed components of this as little more than whining designed to win John attention. But their gripe was sometimes legit, particularly when it came to the traditional news orgs' over-emphasis on the Hillary-Obama showdown and their willingness to traffic in winger-style narratives (see Haircut, $400). What's more, the pair made some strong points about our discourse in general, amplifying the liberal media critique. And it made for some great TV. So, without further ado, here's our video retrospective of Elizabeth (and John) taking on the media.

Elizabeth launches a surprise attack on Ann Coulter, takes her on for calling her husband a "faggot" and worse...

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http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2008/01/retrospective_e.php