Presidential Candidate John Edwards is building his presidential campaign on the values of socialism, redistribution of wealth and the like. He talks about the two Americas, the very wealthy and the very poor. He has pledged to alleviate poverty and help the working poor.
He has gotten off to a good start by giving a whole lot of people jobs in construction. Surely it was Americans that built his house. They had jobs anyway.
The Breck Girl candidate has built himself a 29,000-square-foot mansion. TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND SQUARE FEET!!!!
Elizabeth Edwards says it’s not pretentious though ….
She said there is nothing ‘grandiose’ about the house and that it was designed to be a functional home with room for her children to play outdoors and a large kitchen to entertain friends and family.
‘This house is a truly fabulous family home,’Â she said. ‘The house has one fireplace, no grand staircase. Its not unlike our lives in smaller quarters for over 30 years, starting with John’s apartment in Oakwood.’
She portrayed their lifestyle as lacking pretension.
‘We don’t take fancy vacations,’ she said. ‘When the kids were young, we used frequent flyer miles to take a trip to Europe. We don’t have jewelry. We don’t have furs. We don’t have fancy cars. Those kinds of accoutrements don’t matter to him. What matters to him is home.’Â
That’s good - it’s just a nice family home 
From the Carolina Journal Online
The rambling structure sits in the middle of a 102-acre estate on Old Greensboro Road west of Chapel Hill. The heavily wooded site and winding driveway ensure that the home is not visible from the road. ‘No Trespassing’Â signs discourage passersby from venturing past the gate.
Ambulance chasing has obviously paid quite well!! I hope he doesn’t lose votes on account of this. I’m thinking the tree huggers are going to be a little upset because of all the trees that had to be laid to waste so that he’d have enough room for this non-pretentious structure. And what about PETA?? Think of all the displaced animals who’ll have to find another home somewhere to make room for the Edwardses’ new digs.
One thing I have not ever understood about socialism in America, the people who want to re-distribute wealth the most are the wealthiest. I would think that was noble on their part except they don’t seem to ever be thinking of re-distributing their own wealth.
They just want you and me to pay more to help alleviated poverty. I guess their contribution is in telling us how much we are obligated to give to other people.
The upside is that no one in the family will ever have to see anyone else in the family if they don’t want to.
tiara tip: Not Exactly Rocket Science
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January 28th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
29,000 square feet? I had to read that three times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Be fair, Beth, they need room for the little rug rats to crawl around, and the nannies, and the housekeepers, and the cooks, and the butler, and the farm hands, and the stable boy, and the beautician (for Breck girl), and the silver spoon polishers ….
Yea, two Americas. HIS and the rest of us.
BSC: You have a point - I’m hanging my head in shame. I didn’t take all the staff and entourage into account. Just think of all the hair care products that have to have a place in the home!!!
January 29th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Being one of those “poor” people with only 2000 square feet on 4 acres, I’m all for him redistributing some of his wealth. Personally I’d like that attached stable that I’m seeing, and 20-30 acres distributed my way.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:23 am
It never ceases to amaze me how progressives characterize conservatives as “rich” and therefore unconcerned with the plight of those who aren’t rich. Just look at Edwards and Kerry and Kennedy — all filthy rich and acting like they “understand” about those less fortunate. In reality, it’s the conservatives who generally give of their time and money to help people who are needy.
RT and I are building our dream home - it’ll be about 3,600 sq. ft. which is WAY bigger than we need - but it was the house plan we loved. Our house, which will be less than 1/7 the size of the Edwards’ is large enough to handle our extended family and any entertaining we’d ever want to do. 29,000 square feet is a ridiculous waste of money.
January 29th, 2007 at 11:40 am
SHOW THE AERIAL PHOTOS!!! SHOW THE PHOTOS!!!
What is “environmentally friendly” about the HVAC on THAT BEAST!!!
Give him a break, they need that much space just to store the hairspray.
January 29th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Let’s not forget the greenhouse gases that a house of that size puts out in order to be air conditioned, adding to the “global warming” burden.
Why couldn’t he have moved to a different state? I would loath for him to be called the president from north Carolina, if he (God help us all) wins in 2008.
January 29th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Well, bless their hearts. You know, I don’t begrudge them having a 29,000 square foot home, there is nothing wrong with that. But don’t talk to me about the chasm that separates the poor from the wealthy and try to make me think you are the champion of the poor.
President Bush doesn’t even live in a 29,000 sq. foot house!!!
January 29th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Reminds me of when they went to Wendy’s for a photo-op with the Kerry’s; after the cameras disappeared they tossed their burgers and fries in the trash and ordered fancy take out, lol.
January 30th, 2007 at 6:18 am
Unbelievable! What does a person do with a house that big? They are obviously very out-of-touch with the average American’s lifestyle and needs.
January 30th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Careful everyone. Getting all bent out of shape about Edwards’ 29,000 square foot house (”ridiculous waste of money”, etc.) is nothing but the same greed and class resentment conservatives (rightly) accuse liberals of. This is America - if a guy wants to buy a 29,000 square foot house and call it modest, and if he can afford it, great. If he wants to redistribute my stuff to someone who doesn’t deserve it, I’ll vote against him, but I won’t get into the whole class envy thing. Visiting Cuba and Eastern Europe cured me of that.
January 31st, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Russ,
I don’t think conservatives are jealous that Edwards built such a big house. They just resent the hypocrisy of a man, who on his presidential website, is telling you to change lightbulbs, take a cold shower, and lower the thermostat while he is building a main house that is 4x larger than the average American home.
You can read my thoughts here