With Emma Claire Edwards' father endorsing Malia Obama's dad, Sparrow can't help imagining two ten-year-olds (they're both nine now) giggling and eating popcorn as they watch Shrek 5 in the red plush White House movie theater. Now that's a play date. If Senator Obama picks John Edwards as his running mate, Malia and Emma Claire could also have sleepovers at Number One Observatory Circle.
... who lost their beloved grandfather, their Mom's Dad, on March 1, 2008. 87-year-old Vincent Anania, a true American hero, was born in Italy. He served with the U.S. Navy in Korea, where he won a Bronze Star, and in Vietnam. In 1958, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for piloting an aircraft that carried 13 others to safety after it had been attacked by two MiG jet fighters during a surveillance mission off North Korea. Now that's a grandpa to be proud of.
As John Edwards pulls out of the race today in New Orleans, Sparrowblog gives Cate, Emma Grace, and Jack a HUGE standing ovation for the fabulous job they did on the campaign trail.
We also send an especially loving farewell to Elizabeth Edwards, who took the time to comment on this blog, and is the epitome of courage and grace as she battles cancer. Peace be with you, Mrs. Edwards.
Photo Source: John Edwards 2008
MTV caught up with Cate Edwards in South Carolina, and asked if she had political ambitions. Turns out she might want to be a wonk someday but thinks her brother Jack might have inherited the cool candidate vibe from their Dad. Check out the video here.
Cate on being a First Daughter: "You're a spokesperson on what kind of a Dad he is." Including growing up with pancakes on Sunday morning.
She also fields tough questions about why her father is the candidate to choose over Senators Clinton and Obama, her Mom's battle with cancer, missing her brother Wade, Jack and Emma Claire's energy level, and her differences with her father over gay marriage.
Cate Edwards' car was hit from behind by another Chapel Hill driver, but can you imagine her parents getting that phone call? Thank goodness nothing happened -- that family's already endured plenty of suffering. Here she is on the campaign trail with a couple of adorable voters.
Photo Source: John Edwards 2008
A blog called Mom Logic describes the candidates' children as "unsung heroes." The post features some good quotes and photos but ends with an odd question, I think:
They say that behind every great man, there's a great woman. But when it comes to the run for president, behind every great man or woman, there are some hard-working kids...
“He always said to us, ‘We've gotten all kinds of blessings and other people haven't. We need to give back,"' said Cate Edwards in a CBS interview. "And that's something he always instilled in us."
...Check out our kids of the candidates photo gallery and tell us, who would you vote for based on children alone?
How's that for pressure? Now not only do you have to travel with your parent, you have to give good sound-bytes to the press, and look cute, too.
I like the fact that some of the wannabes are involved and others are trying to live like private citizens. Hey, this is America, people. Land of the Free. Except when it comes to the children of presidential candidates?
"Believe me, we'd love to have her," a Clinton aide admitted to the Houston Chronicle, but the Clintons have protected Chelsea's private life through the years as much as possible. Now, with Meghan McCain, Cate Edwards (needs a new blog post but she's busy at Harvard Law), Sarah Huckabee, and the Romney brothers outspokenly present on the web and the trail, and her mother's campaign in need of a boost, Chelsea's public silence seems more noticeable. It's going to be interesting to see when -- and if -- she gives a speech or an interview.
During the back-to-back Republican and Democrats debates on ABC tonight, the cameras found Meghan, Cate, and Chelsea, but where was Miss Sarah Huckabee? Not to mention Tagg, Josh, Ben, Craig, or Matt?
Lots of First Kids in Waiting are campaigning like crazy in Iowa: Chelsea, the Edwards three, the Romney five, and check out how tall the Obama girls are getting. Meanwhile, Meghan McCain's got her eye on New Hampshire's January 8th primary.
If you're wondering which First Daughters in the Running have been picking up buzz lately, here's what my stats show:
(Meghan McCain saunters into an empty screen wearing a red t-shirt that pictures her Dad's face, jeans, and boots with stiletto heels. In the background, the Mission Impossible theme song is playing.)
Meghan: I could tell you to get out there and vote for my Dad in '08.
(Cate Edwards comes in and circles Meghan, ending up back to back with her, both of their hands on their hips. Lots of attitude. Cate's wearing a blue t-shirt that pictures her Dad's face, jeans, and high heels.)
Cate: Or I could tell you to get out there and vote for my Dad in '08.
(Both girls pivot slowly to face each other, eyes narrowed. After a minute, they shrug and fist-punch, and turn back to the camera. The background music changes to Alicia Keys, No One, instrumental only.)
Meghan: But we won't.
Cate: Nah. Not here. Not now.
(From off-screen someone tosses them purple hoodies. The girls catch them, put them on, and zip themselves up. Now both of them are wearing identical purple sweatshirts bearing the Rock the Vote logo.)
Meghan: So we'll just stop with ... (Turns to Cate and smiles)
Cate: (Smiles back) Get out there and vote.
Meghan: It's a free country, people.
Cate: Rock the Vote in '08.
Meghan: I'm Meghan McCain, and I approve this message.
Cate: I'm Cate Edwards, and I approve this message.
(They exit chatting side by side, like BFFs.)
So far we've heard from Barack Obama and John Edwards, both Democrats. On December 3rd, 2007, John McCain, the Senator from Arizona will be the first Republican to answer your questions on MTV:
The dialogue will take place at 7 p.m. ET and will be the first to be simultaneously broadcast live on MTV, MySpace, ChooseorLose.com and on mobile devices via MTV Mobile; and translated live into Spanish via ImpreMedia's LaVibra ... So far, the hour-long forums have allowed students and online users to quiz the candidates on a wide variety of issues, from funding for the arts to Iraq, stem-cell research, their religious beliefs and gay marriage.
Check out how Obama handled a question about a movie based on his life:
Check out how the Boston Globe describes a day in the life of Ms. Cate Edwards and get vicariously exhausted:
After spending hours on campus or studying at Peet's Coffee & Tea in Harvard Square, Edwards retreats home to the first-floor apartment of a house near Harvard Square that she shares with her freshman roommate from Princeton, Sunjung Kim. Despite the breathless pace of her days, Edwards' nights are often spent with Kim, eating dinner while watching recorded episodes of the teen television drama "One Tree Hill." When she does party, Cate, who has a boyfriend in Washington, D.C., is often the one rallying her friends. She made it to at least two Halloween parties during the busy school week - first dressed as Meredith Grey, the whiny doctor from the hit TV series "Grey's Anatomy," and then as a schoolgirl. The next morning, Edwards was out the door by 8 on her way to court for a Legal Aid case.
The Romney Five and Cate Edwards accept comments on their blog posts after some moderation, but Meghan Mccain and her buddies don't take any feedback at all. When you don't enable comments, doesn't a blog by definition morph into a column or a diary? Call it something else, I think, because the communal blogginess of a blog is sucked out when people can't respond to a post. (Fine for me to get all huffy about it 'cause I hardly get any comments at all ... sigh.)
Hosted by Maria Shriver, five wives of candidates from both parties spoke on a panel in California about life on the trail. Petite Elizabeth Edwards, sandwiched between statuesque Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain, stole the show by quoting Sesame Street:
Scanning the tall, thin women arrayed beside her, Edwards said she was reminded of the "Sesame Street" song lyric: "One of these things is not like the others."
"Everyone is so beautiful," Edwards said. "Which one doesn't belong?"
The ladies also dished about paying off their kids in pets -- apparently, the Obama kids negotiated a guilt dog. "We can tell you," Mrs. Edwards said, referring to herself and Cindy McCain, campaign veterans, "you are going to end up with more animals."
25-year old (public) high school valedictorian, Princeton grad, Harvard Law School geek, Urbanista blogger, James Denton buddy (that's him in the photo to the right), and cover girl Cate Edwards has her own page on her father's site featuring a list of three fave reads:
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
A Widow for One Year by John Irving
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
And what's Cate listening to? "Collide" by Howie Day, "Forever Young"by Bob Dylan, and "Soulshine" by the Allman Brothers Band.
Photo Source: John Edwards 2008
Jill Lawrence of USA Today notices that some adult kids of candidates are campaigning like crazy (Meghan, Sara, Tagg and Bros) while others (Chelsea, Andrew, Hunter) are keeping a low profile.
Darlene Superville of the Associated Press takes a closer look at seven of the First Lady wannabes, summing up the field like this:
A political consultant, two lawyers and a pair of battle-tested veterans of presidential campaigns are in the thick of the fight for the White House, urging their spouses on.
Two of the prospective first ladies are managing life-threatening diseases. One would be the first woman of color with the title. A third recently completed her latest humanitarian trip, to Vietnam.
All but one of them are mothers, including of young children. One's a grandmother of 10, too.
Americans have a variety of women to get to know in the campaign, quite apart from the very well known former first lady who's running for president in her own right.
Elizabeth Edwards is described as "an insomniac, (who) surfs the Web or shops online when sleep won't come; ebay.com is one of her favorite sites. She ... is often caught commenting on other peoples' blogs." Hey! That includes visiting me, right here! Stop by again, Mrs. Edwards!
Before things really got underway at Harvard, Cate Edwards was blogging for her father in New Hampshire. Here's an excerpt:
... We'd set up a pancake breakfast for the attendees, where Mom had thought we should try jam instead of syrup. Apparently, though the pancakes were gone by the time I got there, they were a "roaring success." When we pulled up, Jack decided that he'd like to announce Mom and Dad's arrival. He got on the mike and said, in his deepest 7-year-old voice, "Please welcome Elizabeth Edwards, and the next President of the United States, John Edwards!"
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