Hunt, who acted as master of ceremonies at U.S. Sen. John Edwards’ formal announcement of his candidacy for president of the United States on Tuesday in Robbins, opened his remarks with that declaration.
As one who grew up in Robbins, I can vouch for the accuracy of Hunt’s words.
And he spoke for many of the Robbins residents who were on hand for the announcement. It was a very big day indeed for this little town in northern Moore County where Edwards spent his boyhood and where his parents still live.
Never before had the eyes of the nation been on Robbins. On Tuesday, the area in front of the abandoned textile mill where Edwards’ father, Wallace, used to work and where the younger Edwards worked at various odd jobs, was a media mob scene. Television satellite trucks were parked all over, television and still cameras trained on the crowd, cables snaked their way across the ground. Every major newspaper, TV network and cable news organization was there.
And never have so many political heavyweights gathered in Robbins. Joining Edwards were Hunt; Gov. Mike Easley; Jim Black, co-speaker of the state House; former House Speaker Dan Blue, who is expected to run for the U.S. Senate seat that Edwards now holds in next year’s election; former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, also expected to seek the Senate seat; famed civil rights attorney Julius Chambers; Congressman Mel Watt; state Auditor Ralph Campbell; Secretary of State Elaine Marshall; state Democratic Party Chairwoman Barbara Allen; former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, a national co-chairman of the Edwards campaign; New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid; and Congressman Al Wynn of Maryland.
The mood around the old mill was carnival-like, but with a patriotic undertone. Folks renewed acquaintances and made new ones with the people who came in on buses from Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, Haywood County, Carteret County and other places. Marching bands from North Moore High School and North Carolina Central University played spirited music.
Before the program began on the stage that had been erected with the mill as a backdrop, some of the locals remarked on their town’s newfound celebrity, the significance of the event that was about to unfold and the prospects for their favorite son’s ascension to the most powerful office on Earth.
“He’s going to win,” 84-year-old Ruby Spinks said of Edwards. “If prayer will help, he’s going to win. I remember when he used to work in the drugstore.”
“This is the biggest thing to happen in Robbins since Charles E. Brady went up in space,” said retired Robbins Postmaster Barbara Cameron. Brady, a Robbins native, was a space shuttle astronaut.
“Aren’t we happy today?” asked Margaret Shields. “This is a wonderful occasion.”
As Shields spoke, the Mon-kees’ version of “I’m a Believer” blared over the sound system.
D.A. Cockman, who grew up in Robbins and is now superintendent of the Thomasville City Schools, said of Edwards’ chances, “I’m optimistic. Clinton had a similar kind of scenario at this stage of his campaign. If Edwards does well in [his native state of] South Carolina, look out.”
Said Barry Lisk, a Colorado resident and a native of West End, “This has got to be the event of the century in Robbins.”
John Frye was mayor of Robbins from 1952 until 1980. He said Tuesday was unquestionably the biggest day in the town’s history. “Bigger than Farmers Day,” Frye said with a guffaw.
And if Edwards is elected president, Frye said, “it will be the greatest thing that ever happened to Robbins.”
Finally, the program got under way with Hunt presiding. He brought the senator’s wife, Elizabeth Edwards, to the podium, and she asked the crowd, “Do we believe the son of a mill worker can beat the son of a president for the White House?”
Judging by the roar that erupted, they do.
Then Edwards made his way toward the stage, working his way through the crowd and stopping to shake hand after hand as his campaign’s theme song, John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” blasted from the sound system. It was a perfectly choreographed scene, made to order for the TV cameras.
Soon after taking the stage, Edwards said, “I declare myself a candidate for president of the United States.” His audience erupted in cheers.
After the candidate finished his speech, he came down off the stage and began working the crowd again. He embraced Bobby Cummings, with whom he played football and basketball at North MooreHigh. The two graduated in the class of 1971.
After the exchange, Cummings was asked what he and Edwards had talked about.
“We were talking about all those Friday night dinners I had at his house,” Cummings said. “After my parents passed away, the Edwardses had me over to eat every Friday night.”
Asked if he planned to return to Robbins often as his presidential campaign progressed, Edwards smiled, gestured to his left and said, “Sure. My parents live right over there.”
He had spent Monday night at the home of his parents, Wallace and Bobbie, “and I got a really good breakfast this morning,” he said.
Once Edwards had left en route to another campaign stop in South Carolina, those who remained were in general agreement that it had been, as Hunt said, a great day in Robbins.
If Edwards wins the presidency, Tuesday will pale in comparison to the first visit he makes to Robbins as president of the United States.
Brent Hackney is opinion editor of The Pilot. Contact him at 693-2474 or at bhackney@thepilot.com.
