MORE ON JOHNNY: Geitner Simmons, who was an editorial writer in North Carolina during John Edwards' Senate campaign and conducted an extensive interview with the candidate, has some interesting observations about the presidential hopeful. An excerpt:

"I'd say the key to Edwards' political fortunes is his public persona. It's what I call the Boy Scout persona: dear, sweet John -- of course we can trust him!

"In that sense, Edwards reminds me of Oliver North. In the summer of '87, the national press and a lot of Washington politicians piled on North (rightly, in my view) for helping run a covert foreign policy operation without the slightest public accountability -- but it was all for naught. At the much-awaited investigative committee hearings, North used his God-and-country-good-soldier persona as an impenetrable shield against the nitpicking by Inouye and all the others. Same thing with Edwards. His persona is his shield: Dear, sweet John as an opportunistic, sleazy lawyer? No way -- he's a decent-minded fellow just standing up for people's rights for redress. It's the American way."

Just like John Hood, Geitner doesn't think Edwards will necessarily win the Democratic nomination, much less the White House, but again, Edwards' challengers would be wise to take him very seriously.