Compassionate Democrats Love Lavish

Does it really matter that presidential candidate John Edwards, whose campaign centers on a Two Americas narrative about rich and poor, has just built a lavish mansion reaching the imperial size of 27,000 sq ft?

Not really.  As Mike Baker points out, we are really missing the point. 

After introducing their new home on her husband’s campaign Web site, Elizabeth Edwards explained the couple had taken special precautions to make the house energy efficient &3151; keeping in line with Edwards’ environmental platform.

So that’s all right.  Still, as efficient as it no doubt is, I doubt if I could afford the energy bills.  28,000 sq ft is a lotta space to keep warm in the winter and cool in the sweltering North Carolina summers.

And what about Grandma Nancy Pelosi.  Apparently her needs for air transportation are somewhat larger than former Speaker Denny Hastert.  And according to Fox News she blames the Bush administration for “publicly mischaracterizing her need for a larger military aircraft to travel back and forth from the West coast.”

Old Denny used to tool around in a government C-20.  That’s the military version of a Gulfstream III that seats 10-12 people.  But the C-20 may not have the range to get to California without refueling.  And that would be a security risk.  Anyway how big of a plane does Pelosi want?  According to ABC News:

Various Republican officials in recent days have claimed that Pelosi has requested a C-32 plane for her travels -- a luxurious and specially configured version of the Boeing 757-200 commercial intercontinental airliner. The plane seats 45 passengers with business-class accommodations and a crew of up to 16, depending on the mission. It features a communications center, a fully enclosed stateroom for the primary passenger, a changing area, a conference facility, an entertainment system, and a convertible divan that seats three and folds out to a bed. The C-32 can cost as much as $22,000 an hour to operate. It’s normally used by the first lady, the vice president, Cabinet officials and members of Congress upon request.

There is only one way to characterize the behavior of the various Republican officials: mean-spirited.

Of course it is true that the gas-guzzling house of John Edwards and the gaz-guzzling plane for Speaker Pelosi hardly fit the imaage of a party that believes that Americans are far too wasteful and that global warming is going to put us under water and do for us all.

But the “little people” have never begrudged their leaders a little luxury.  They do draw the line when it comes to businessmen and Republicans, however.

 And rightly so.