Letter: A look at Edwards and Rudow, post-Helene

Right after President Biden withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination for president, Chuck Edwards went online to demand that she “own” President Biden’s record, for which Edwards has such unearned contempt. Fair enough. Kamala Harris is campaigning to be the next president of the United States of America, and she should address the Biden-Harris administration’s record, as well as her own record in a lifetime of public service.

We all know, however, that Rep. Edwards sees the Biden-Harris record only as all bad, in the extreme. While not perfect, the Biden-Harris record is filled with positive accomplishments, along with lots of unfinished business. Of course, any fair observer wants to know what candidate Harris’ policy, political and thoughtful proposals are for addressing the very real problems that America faces.

Unfortunately, in this presidential election moment, Rep. Edwards always fails to rise to the occasion by never “owning” Donald J. Trump’s lifetime record of infamy.

Give credit, however, where credit is due. Since Hurricane Helene, Rep. Edwards and his staff have performed a salutary service by providing comprehensive information about the situations and relief efforts in all 13 counties. Rep. Edwards has risen to this occasion and has used the unique platform he has as a member of Congress to be an integral part of the response and recovery efforts. He embodied a one-day profile in courage Oct. 8 by forcefully debunking the many lies, distortions and disinformation spread like manure about the response efforts and particularly the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s activities, limits and centrality in those efforts.

Unfortunately, a few days later, Rep. Edwards lapsed into incoherence when avoiding reporters’ questions about Trump and Vance being the prime movers in spreading those destructive falsehoods. Rep. Edwards’ courage seemed to wane in the face of the presence of Christian nationalist House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose help Rep. Edwards needs in crafting legislation to support our region’s recovery.

Overall, Rep. Edwards has done well during this catastrophe. One hopes that he has moved out of the narrow confines of MAGA ideology, which labels the complex emergency coordination of local, state, federal and private sector organizations, however imperfect, as “socialism.” That Project 2025 ideology is intent on leaving every family for itself, calling that “freedom,” which would have yielded many, many more deaths and injuries and far greater suffering for every community in Western North Carolina, and would have more deeply hurt “we the people” of our region, state and nation.

It is fascinating how Rep. Edwards has discovered how essential government at all levels is to our country’s well-being, and how he has tempered his criticisms of FEMA, Gov. Cooper and even the Biden-Harris administration as “the whole of government” works in rough harmony to meet the needs of WNC. That lesson, of course, was well understood by Caleb Rudow before Helene required our public officials to work together as well as humanly possible.

The first part of this letter to the editor was originally written in August. It was much longer and excessively snide; it needed to be toned down. There is still a case to be made that Rep. Edwards has always been and will always be diminished under the Trump shadow. But as much as honest disagreement and discourse are necessary, our conversations’ tone and generosity can bear a lot of improvement. Whether Rep. Edwards or Caleb Rudow wins in November, their roles and profiles will be greatly elevated by the long and difficult roads necessary to care for our communities and to implement our recovery and rebuilding. May they both be up to the task.

— Paul Weichselbaum
Hendersonville

Editor’s note: Weichselbaum has donated to Caleb Rudow’s campaign to win the District 11 seat and believes he is up to the tasks and challenges he will face in Congress.