Potemkin Village Alert!

I mentioned the Donk "front porch campaign" previously. Now it's in action and as expected, Democrats Choreograph Front-Porch Events.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - The front porch conjures up images of rocking chairs, lazy summer afternoons and icy drinks. But not in election-year politics as Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards use the setting to reach out to voters in choreographed events with miked candidates and hand-picked audiences.

"The most important thing you can do as a political leader is not to talk, but to listen," Edwards said Monday from the front porch of the split-level home of Durham's Democratic mayor, Bill Bell.

It might have looked as though Sen. Edwards just stopped by for a folksy chat in this leafy, upper middle-class neighborhood in his home state.

But the neighbors and friends were hand picked. A large camera stand stood on the lawn. Satellite trucks lined the street. Electrical cables snaked everywhere. Dozens of reporters and photographers were present. A man pushing a lawnmower was stopped by police from getting any closer.

Well, darn! I was hoping that the weasels might show up at my place, so I could tell them to get the heck off.