Southern_Hope's Journal

Johnny Reid in Eire, PA

https://southern-hope.livejournal.com/419115.html

From the Eire (PA) Times-News: Triple Star Power
Former presidential candidates, press secretary talk politics in Erie
By John Guerriero

They started with high hopes for the highest office in the land.

But Democrat John Edwards and Republican Fred Thompson wouldn't be their parties' nominees for president.

The voters took care of that early in the marathon primary season that ended this month.

As Thompson, speaking about his own campaign, said in his deadpan delivery: "There's no accounting for the judgment of the American people. Sometimes they just don't get it right."

But for one night in Erie, Edwards and Thompson commanded the stage -- along with former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer -- during the 103rd annual meeting of the Manufacturers' Association of Northwest Pennsylvania.

The association unveiled its new name during Wednesday night's sold-out event at the Bayfront Convention Center, which included a performance from jazz musician Chuck Mangione. The association now calls itself the Manufacturer & Business Association.

Politics was the association's theme in keeping with this year's presidential election, during which Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama will seek the White House.

Edwards, the former U.S. senator from North Carolina; Thompson, the actor and former U.S. senator from Tennessee; and Fleischer spoke on a stage adorned with red, white and blue drapes and a replica of two white columns.

Images of American stars projected on the walls and stage of the convention center's exhibit hall, where outside stood party convention-style signs with the names of all 50 states.

As the crowd of association members and guests filed out of the hall, Cal and Mary Lou Neithamer were among those who said they enjoyed the event.
"It was nice to hear both sides in a very well-presented format," said Mary Lou Neithamer, 66, a retired Erie legal assistant.

"It's encouraging to see the growth in interest in this kind of event," said her husband, Cal Neithamer, 82, a retired GE Transportation marketing manager and retired executive director of the Americans for the Competitive Enterprise System.

Edwards, the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2004, Thompson and Fleischer all predicted a close election on Nov. 4.

Edwards, poking fun at his bid for the presidency as well, said he runs into people who frequently tell him that they supported him.

"If all these people were actually for me, what am I doing here?" he said.

And Edwards said when he got out of the race in late January, he figured that would accelerate the process of choosing a Democratic nominee by a matter of weeks. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama battled all the way through until the final primaries in Montana and South Dakota on June 3, after which Clinton suspended her campaign and backed Obama.

Edwards said the campaign began as Clinton's to lose. "The great thing about politics is that nothing is predictable," Edwards said.

Edwards said he finished second to Obama in Iowa, and Clinton made her comeback with a win in New Hampshire. Then they went to South Carolina, where Edwards, referring to his Southern drawl, said, "I thought talking like this would be an advantage."

Advantage, Obama.

"I expect this election to be close, but I expect Barack Obama to be elected president," said Edwards, who campaigned on Erie's bayfront in 2004.

As for McCain, Edwards said he thought the Republican's candidacy was dead in summer 2007. "But he came back, he won the nomination, and he earned it," he said.

At a news conference before the event, attended by Fleischer, Thompson and association Chairman Timothy Shuttleworth, Thompson said that McCain remarkably had gone from the front-runner in some polls and plunged to the bottom before emerging as the nominee-in-waiting.

"I even beat him in Iowa," Thompson said on the stage, flashing his humor.

Thompson said personality will play a large role in the election. Thompson said that in the primaries and caucuses, McCain had shown resolution, "guts and determination" through a life that included his being a prisoner of war.

Thompson said that Obama's downside is inexperience "in a very, very dangerous world." The latest polls, Thompson said, show that McCain is within the margin of error that makes the race too close to call.
The outcome could depend on what happens in the months ahead, Thompson said. "It's a long time between now and November," said.

Fleischer, who delivered the daily White House briefings to the press from 2001 to 2003, said that McCain emerged as the GOP's presumptive nominee by dividing and conquering.

McCain kept his independent base, while Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Thompson were splitting the conservative vote.

That makes McCain a strong candidate "in a year in which Republicans, I'm sorry to say, are in big trouble," Fleischer said, referring to congressional races.

"This again has all the hallmarks of a 50-50 campaign," he said.
JOHN GUERRIERO can be reached at 870-1690 or by e-mail (john.guerriero@timesnews.com).

*hopes this embed code works for the little bitty video clip they posted...*