UPDATE: Here's a report on Edwards' appearance.
The WGA just announced that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will join striking writers on the picket line Friday. "Following his public statement of solidarity with the Writers Guild of America last week, former U.S. Senator John Edwards will ... support the WGA in its ongoing fight to secure a fair and reasonable deal." He will walk the line at 2 PM at NBC Entertainment, 3000 W. Alameda Avenue in Burbank at the NBC sign on the corner. This absolutely one-ups all previous political activity on the line where Barack Obama's LA staff and volunteers joined the strikers. All three Democratic frontrunners have expressed support for the striking writers, but Edwards has had the least amount of Hollywood support financially or celebrity/mogul-wise. Obama was first to make a pro-WGA declaration. I've already reported that the Hollywood/Big Media moguls were pissed as hell that Obama got out in front of the other Democratic presidential candidates and issued what they considered "a totally knee-jerk response" taking the writers' side. And they let him know it, too. (Clearly the CEOs were naive enough to think that just because they've been hosting political fundraisers and giving donations to him that gives them any clout.)
A good move on Edward’s part, I think. Should get him some press and maybe some traction in California. It’s probably going to be a total mob scene, too.
My son Shane will be covering the NBC rally tomorrow and his newest audio piece about the strike was recorded today - it’s a brand new interview with Tonight Show head writer Joe Medeiros that discusses the layoffs, what Joe would say to Nick Counter if he came face to face with him, and what exactly a strike captain is… it’s at
http://stranahan.com/2007/11/15/wga-day-11-new-shane-audio-nbc-rally-preview/
Comment by Lee Stranahan — November 15, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
I’m impressed. Edwards is making a good move. Obama should have marched himself a while ago. Hillary probably doesn’t want to upset the money people and won’t show up.
Comment by mla28 — November 15, 2007 @ 9:56 pm
The good news. John Edwards is visiting striking writers. The bad news. It’s part of his poverty tour.
Comment by 007 — November 15, 2007 @ 10:06 pm
Obama!!!!
Comment by stuck in development — November 15, 2007 @ 10:33 pm
Even better, there will be Munchkins! And the Munchkins will have Munchkins.
Comment by A Writer — November 15, 2007 @ 11:09 pm
Hillary!!!!
Comment by anotherWGAmember — November 15, 2007 @ 11:18 pm
Comment by Trott Felipe — November 15, 2007 @ 11:34 pm
Bush!!! Uh… oh, wait, I mean… Kucinich?
Comment by IwriteUwrong — November 15, 2007 @ 11:43 pm
I would be more impressed by any presidential hopeful showed some leadership & negating skills, and sorted the strike out
Comment by wamdue — November 16, 2007 @ 12:32 am
He wanted to march earlier but he couldn’t get a hair appointment until Thursday afternoon.
Comment by BigSur — November 16, 2007 @ 5:07 am
Perot!!!! Mondale!!!! Oh, wait….
Comment by Rory L. Aronsky — November 16, 2007 @ 6:00 am
Does ANYBODY really think John Edwards, or any other politician, walking the line is sincere?! Its all a photo op. Nothing more. Fred Thompson is really the only one that can maybe–MAYBE–legitmately walk the line and MAYBE mean it. At least he was a Hollywood actor.
Comment by Please! — November 16, 2007 @ 7:10 am
Thanks for all the help from Presidential candidates, Senators, Congress, the Mayor and the Governor. You know why writers aren’t seeking help from President Bush? We want the strike to end.
Comment by this is ruining my family — November 16, 2007 @ 7:14 am
Can anyone say “pandering”?
If any of these politicians really cared they would just show up, not have their people contact the media, set up a time and a location for a photoshoot. I guess us little people should just consider ourselves fortunate that we are graced with their presence.
Comment by Scout — November 16, 2007 @ 7:16 am
HEY GUYS OBAMA, HILLARY AND GIULLIANI ARE BUSY PICKING UP CASH FROM THE GUYS WE’RE FIGHTING…IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING WHY THEY’RE NOT OUT HERE WITH US.
Comment by JD — November 16, 2007 @ 7:32 am
So, once Edwards is in the picket line, will he whip up hysteria against any foreign-born writers who happen to be in the line and encourage everyone to throw stones at them, the way he basically is doing with foreign-born textile workers?
Comment by a spouse — November 16, 2007 @ 7:33 am
Good move for Edwards to show support for unions in general.
Comment by Vinnie Vegas — November 16, 2007 @ 7:42 am
We don’t need support from a guy who claims he went to work at a hedge fund for a salary of $500k/yr to “learn about poverty.” He’s got about as much credibility as Nick Counter.
Comment by awriter — November 16, 2007 @ 7:47 am
I applaud Edwards forthrightness in this campaign to take stands of any kind. Where’s Kucinich though? As a camera assistant and member of IATSE Local 600, he came out union right or wrong in yesterday’s debate. Or is he just as pissed off as the other IA members who lost their jobs because the two children can’t get along on the schoolyard?
Comment by Nate Goodman — November 16, 2007 @ 8:38 am
Yeah and maybe Giuliani will turn up wearing a dress!
Comment by daphne — November 16, 2007 @ 9:21 am
CHECK OUT THE BACK COVER OF DAILY VARIETY TODAY!
Comment by Anonymous — November 16, 2007 @ 9:45 am
Wow i wasn’t aware that Edwards has so much invested in this strike. Maybe his speech writers are WGA members. Or maybe he’s just angling for votes. I don’t know.
Comment by Bored — November 16, 2007 @ 10:29 am
Quick - someone get Strike Baby there for a photo op.
Comment by Paloma Pigeon — November 16, 2007 @ 12:03 pm
John Edwards has always been a strong supporter of unions so this is no big surprise. It’s a good political move on his part but it’s also completely in line with his stance on union issues.
Comment by Josh Boelter — November 16, 2007 @ 1:00 pm
Picketing at NBC, John Edwards and 3 Munchkins, who were taller than Dennis Kuninch.
Comment by where is Gloria Allred when we need her — November 16, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
Who cares?! He’s only doing it to get on camera doing it. What possible benefit will this have for the writers? Is Edwards working on a script? Otherwise, this should not be a priority for him. If I were out there and heard John Edwards was coming in to hog all the attention for something that doesn’t affect him in any significant way, I would picket John Edwards until he left.
Comment by J. Edwards — November 16, 2007 @ 2:46 pm
Let’s be happy that Edwards is keeping us in the public eye.
Comment by Lorelei — November 16, 2007 @ 3:17 pm
I called Feinstein’s and Boxer’s office today to get their position on the strike. Not surprisingly, neither has issued so much as a statement or picking sides. Do they have any idea the economic impact this strike will continue to have on the L.A. and eventually the California economy? My guess is they know this, but since so much Hollywood money goes into their re-election coffers, they know they can’t bite the hand that feeds them. It’s pathetic. After two weeks, our senators haven’t so much as farted in our direction. Someone needs to jumpstart negotiations. What good are these politicians if its all just photo ops and press releases. We need action and we need it now. Call them today and maybe we can get them moving… Feinstein: (310) 914-7300 … Boxer: (213) 894-5000. Call today. These people only understand annoying phone calls. Annoy them now.
Comment by matty — November 16, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
Here’s some photos I took of Edwards at the NBC picket line today:
http://blogging.la/archives/2007/11/john_edwards_at_the_wga_picket.phtml
Comment by David Markland — November 16, 2007 @ 4:07 pm
As a union member, and a strong supporter of both the WGA strike and Edwards, I’m glad to see him out there on the line. What the writers are striking for matters; fair wages and respect for workers matters, and somewhere America at large forgot that. Perhaps the studios would have seen things differently if faced with a federal negotiator who worked for a pro-labor president.
Comment by omelas — November 16, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
As a non guild member who has been walking the line in solidarity, it’s disheartening to see people attacking Edwards for doing so. Everyone willing to picket and lend their presence should be welcomed. Thanks John.
Comment by Eli — November 16, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
Here’s a link to the video of Edwards speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyXLdWJewQI
I think Edwards did a really good job of stating what is really at the heart of this strike.
Comment by sound editor — November 16, 2007 @ 6:56 pm
“for something that doesn’t affect him in any significant way”
Um…he’s running for President. What would you propose as a good candidate slogan, “screw off citizens, if it doesn’t personally affect me I can’t be bothered”? “Elect me, my hobbies are golf and bird watching, if anything else comes up don’t bother to wake me”?
Comment by Anon — November 16, 2007 @ 7:35 pm
Hmmmm….. Edwards to picket for the writers…Who’s using WHOM here?
GO WRITERS!!!!! Hang in there. By the way, I suggest you picket WALMART. They control the DVD pricing in the US. If Walmart would budge a bit on their margin requirements, you’d have enough cash to solve all the problems.
Does it make sense that Walmart makes 10 bucks on a DVD just to put it on a shelf while the writer gets a nickel to create it in the first place? Sorry, I don’t think so.
Oh, go after Apple too. They won’t budge either. They want to control pricing no matter what the true market value is of a property. THEY want to establish “Apple’s” pricing strategy. But, what’s good for Apple isn’t necessarily good for everyone else. So, embarrass them too. They are the internet entertainment version of Walmart in my opinion — the 800 pound gorilla of music and internet video.
So, go after the RETAILERS. Make them embarrased that they make so much and you make so little. Trust me, when the retailers start to get this bad PR, they will force and end to this and you will WIN!
Comment by BOb — November 16, 2007 @ 8:26 pm
To all the naysayers, if indeed you were there to hear Sen. Edwards’ inspirational words and if you were to know that he has walked in picket lines for years in support of workers, you might want to notice that after only a few short hours of his rally with over 30 camera crews the studios decided to go back to the table. Vote for who you want but don’t challenge a man’s motives until you have met him, spoken to him and looked him in the eye. I have and what he did today he meant.
Comment by j — November 16, 2007 @ 10:47 pm
Man was I bummed when I showed up and found out it wasn’t John Edward the soothsayer.
Comment by One Time Sitcom Writer — November 17, 2007 @ 1:10 am
Bitter writer party of one.
Comment by j — November 17, 2007 @ 2:26 pm