Edwards on Paris Hilton
Posted: Thursday, June 07, 2007 3:45 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats
From NBC's Andrew Merten
Well, kind of ... After
Edwards delivered a national security speech today, reporters asked him about ...
Paris Hilton! Although he declined to comment on the heiress’s abbreviated incarceration, he did draw a parallel to his “Two Americas” stump speech about poverty. Citing statistics on income disparity, he said, “That gap's not healthy. It's not healthy for our economy, it's not healthy for our democracy, and I think we need to do something about it -- without regard to Paris Hilton.”
In his speech, Edwards repeated his assertion that the “War on Terror” is nothing more than a political slogan, saying: “There's been a great deal of high-level rhetoric and not a serious discussion of what steps have to be taken to keep this country safe.” Explaining what he would do differently than the Bush Administration, he called for a more direct line of communication between the president and military leadership, with less filtering through civilian officials.
Speaking with reporters after his short speech, Edwards reiterated that he does not believe the country is safer from terrorism than it was before 9/11. He went on to distinguish himself from Democratic presidential opponent Hillary Clinton, saying: “ I also do not believe that we should be embracing essentially what the Bush Administration is saying -- when they say that America is safer.”
