* He's got a new take (or is it old?) on the "moral values" crusade, insisting that the fight to end poverty "says something about our character" as Americans.

I wanted to know what more he would do about rebuilding the Gulf Coast-a critical fit with the issues the panel had been debating all evening: class, economic prosperity/decline, inequality. When I buttonholed [John Edwards] to ask, he was supportive but vague. "I've spoken about that. I'm not in the Senate now. If I run for president, I will work on that."

"We're working on that," was all Edwards would say. Then, he hustled outside and hopped into the passenger seat of a waiting rental car that sped off into a sea of yellow taxis.

Political behavior
Social criticism & satire