Charles Shiflett Column July 18, 2004

All About The Hair

This Presidential election is over - all sewn up. With the selection of freshman U.S. Senator John
Edwards as his running mate, John Kerry has the presidency in the bag. It all comes down to hair -
Edwards has a head full while sitting VP Dick Cheney is follicle challenged. Even Kerry himself
pronounced that he and Edwards have “better hair “ than Bush/Cheney. With today's media driven
political campaigns, what you say or where you stand doesn't matter - it's all about marketing.

With all due respects to my friend Sonny Perdue, today's candidates for our nation's highest office
need to look youthful and energetic. Having a thick mane is part of equation, and chrome domes just
don't cut it. Off course, after you've been elected and proven your mettle, you can probably get away
with thinning and graying hair, but just to be safe you'd better keep some Rogaine and Grecian
Formula on hand.

It's been humorous to watch the media coverage following Kerry's announcement of Edwards. Very
little has been said of where Edwards stands on important issues - it's all about personal
characteristics. He's energetic; he's youthful looking; he's a great balance to Kerry's monotone
delivery; he's got a full head of hair!

Edwards may have a charismatic smile, but the message is the same as Kerry's: Bigger government,
higher taxes, and leftist social policies. If Ted Kennedy ran for President, I doubt there would be many
southerners riding on that train. Max Cleland voted in almost lockstep with old Teddy-boy… our
nation's poster boy for far left socialist politics. As a result, Max was sent packing two years ago.

So now John Kerry attempts to “balance” the Democrat ticket by choosing one of the most liberal
members of the U.S. Senate as his running mate. Americans for Democratic Action, a widely quoted
liberal organization that rates congressmen according to how they vote, shows this years Democrat
ticket to be even more leftwing than the Mondale/Ferraro team of 1984.

Of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate, Kerry is rated as the most liberal, while Edwards is rated as
the forth most liberal. And where does Komrade Kennedy rank? He's number five. So how does John
Edwards stack up on issues other than Iraq?

Each year he's been in the U.S. Senate, John Edwards received a perfect 100 score from NARAL - the
National Abortion Rights Action League. So we can safely say that he is NOT pro-life. In 1999,
Edwards voted to keep the gruesome act of partial-birth abortion legal. In 2003, Edwards skipped the
vote to ban the procedure.

Edwards also voted to allow federal money - your tax dollars - to be used to distribute morning-after
abortion pills in America's schools. Edwards appears to be a supporter of “gay rights”. He has stated
his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act and he supports same-sex partner benefits. Additionally
he supports gays in the military.

Edwards voted six times against President Bush's homeland security plan - choosing instead to side
with government labor unions. This is one of the issues that sunk Cleland. Edwards also strikes out on
tax relief. In 2003, Americans for Tax Reform gave Edwards a zero rating. Also giving him a big goose
egg was the National Federation of Independent Businesses. This isn't Wall Street - this is Main
Street. The NFIB consists of small mom & pop independent businesses that make up the backbone of
this nation.

Finally, the National Journal in its ratings of Congress in 2003 gave Edwards a zero for his votes on
conservative issues, while scoring him at 93 for liberal economic votes and 85 for liberal social votes.
The bottom line: John Edwards is a flaming liberal. Many political pundits have even expressed doubt
that Edwards would have been able to hold his first-term senate seat in conservative North Carolina if
he had chosen to seek reelection.

Some Democrats say that Edwards is the brightest star in the Democrat Party. If so, the donkey gang
is in serious trouble and probably needs to hire some new astronomers. If politics is a serious choice
made by adults, then when it comes to choosing a vice president - Dick Cheney is the winner hands
down. As a former five-term congressman and former Secretary of Defense, Cheney has the
experience to help guide our nation successfully through the war on terror. It seems John Edwards'
foreign policy experience mainly consists of eating breakfast at the International House of Pancakes.

So for those of you still swayed by Edwards' mop-top and large grin - just remember, Jimmy Carter
also had a big, toothy, southern smile - and we all know how that turned out.

Chuck Shiflett is a past chairman of the Bartow County Board of Education and former
Communications Director of the Georgia Republican Party.