After John Edwards built his new mansion, it became clear which of his alleged two Americas he belongs to. While his wife Elizabeth seems ready to but up a wall around their America to keep the other one out, it seems that the Edwardses' exclusionary elitism is grating enough to make the other America move away.
Elizabeth Edwards says she is scared of the "rabid, rabid Republican" who owns property across the street from her Orange County home -- and she doesn't want her kids going near the gun-toting neighbor...Funny that ACORN or the other liberal groups that look out for the poor are silent about a rich family behaving so snobbily towards a man of lesser means. So the rich folk move in and drive the poor folk out - that must be how the two Americas works."I wouldn't be nice to him, anyway," Edwards said in an interview. "I don't want my kids anywhere near some guy who, when he doesn't like somebody, the first thing he does is pull a gun out. It scares the business out of me."...
Edwards views Johnson as a "rabid, rabid Republican" who refuses to clean up his "slummy" property just to spite her family, whose lavish 28,000-square-foot estate is nearby on 102 wooded acres.
Johnson, 55, acknowledges his Republican roots. But he takes offense to the suggestion he has purposefully left his property, including an old garage he leases for use as a car shop, in dilapidated condition.
Johnson said he has lived his entire life on the property, which he said his family purchased before the Great Depression. He said he's spent a lot of money to try and fix up the 42-acre tract.
"I have to budget. I have to live within my means," Johnson said. "I don't have millions of dollars to fix the place."
Johnson, who has posted a "Go Rudy Giuliani 2008" sign on a fence just 100 feet from the entrance to the Edwards' driveway, has criticized Edwards for the scale of their nearby home. The property and home, which includes an indoor basketball court, an indoor handball court and an indoor pool, is valued at $5.3 million.
The Edwardses are still putting the final touches on the property, which they purchased in 2003.
"I thought he was supposed to be for the poor people," Johnson said. "But does he ever socialize with any poor people? He doesn't speak to me."
Johnson said he has put his property on the market, in part blaming the high property taxes for his decision to leave. He also wants to move for another reason.
"I don't want to live somewhere where someone's always complaining about me," he said.
There are always two sides to every story, but this is pretty bad for Elizabeth Edwards. She comes off as really out of touch and more than a bit obnoxious.
Posted by: Brian at April 11, 2007 07:39 PM
