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In a CBS Evening News special series "Primary Questions," news presenter Katie Couric asked 12 United States presidential candidates, "Which country scares them the most?" and if they were president, "what would they do about it?"
Over the last year CBS was hammered in the ratings compared to competing networks ABC and NBC, whose news shows attracted at least 2 million more viewers. For Couric and the gang such sensational leading questions capture one's attention.
Nine of the 12 candidates listed Iran, two, including Hilary Clinton mentioned Pakistan, and a lone John Edwards commented, "Scares me the most in terms of America and being president, China, because I think China presents huge challenges for America because of their size, because of their population."
The prime time show has an estimated viewing audience of almost 7 million. Couric sensing the ratings rocket then challenged Edwards manhood asking, "What would you do about it?" After a pause he murmured, "Well it is a complex engagement, ahhhm.."
While the other presidential hopefuls spoke of war and terror, Senator Edwards chose to focus on economics underpinned by education. His choice to mention China wasn't based so much on increasing military strength rather it concerned market competition and the country's preference for putting heads down and concentrating on domestic development rather than external foreign agendas.
When Edwards came to China in the middle of October last year, he met with the nation's top education, economic and environment ministers. A week after returning to the US he gave an interview with the Asia Society, a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational institution that seeks to promote greater knowledge of Asia in the US.
During this interview he said, "There is no more important relationship that America has than our relationship with China. It's a relationship that, from my perspective as a Democrat, has not gotten the attention that it should have gotten over the last few years." He then added 9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq were key distracters for the current administration.
Before he went into politics Edwards was a trial lawyer, and apparently a very good one. He came from a working class family and was the first in his family to go to college, graduating with honors. Although he drawls in a southern accent, which is often associated with not being too bright, Edwards is anything but. He knows the value of hard work and how education can provide the key to break through poverty. Edwards even runs a Poverty Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
"China is going to become the largest English-speaking country on the face of the planet because they require that their kids in school learn to speak English. And they are completely invested, both financially and emotionally, in closing the education gap that exists in China - both regionally and between the better-off families and those that are poor. About half their kids major in science, math, technology - the areas, which I think, are critical to success in today's world. By comparison, they graduate somewhere around 10 times the number of engineers that we graduate each year".
His father worked in textile mills and it is only natural that Senator Edwards would be wary of China, as this is one of those industries that have moved offshore from places to developing nations like China.
Only last week the third China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue took place in Beijing. Last year in the lead up to the inaugural meeting Edwards spoke critically of the fact that the Bush administration wasted six years to getting around to high level talks with China. Edwards was encouraged by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's initiative though wished it had taken place much earlier.
Back at the Asia Society interview, and Edwards who is often compared to the dynamic JFK said: "I think that, by no means, is it pre-determined where this relationship (China US) is headed. There's great potential and there are great challenges. And we just need to engage this relationship with our eyes wide open in a thoughtful and visionary way. And I think there is great potential for success if we do that. Ignoring the relationship or not giving it the attention it deserves is a huge mistake."
Thoughtful and visionary are the key ingredients here. President Bush has less than 11 months to try and reverse the anti-US front that has spread around the world since he took office. And perhaps a majority of the world's citizens may answer Katie Couric's question as, "The US, this is the nation that scares me the most." To follow up her question and challenge that nation's resolve, "what are the voters going to do about it?" For better or worse, come November 4, 2008, the world will find out.
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