According to the Associated Press, when John Edwards started a poverty think tank at the University of North Carolina in 2005, he gave the university a 'ticket wish list.' One would presume that Edwards can afford to buy his own tickets, but then again, you'd think he could afford his own haircuts.
The point seems moot in any case, since (according to the University) Edwards did not receive any tickets, nor any 'promise of tickets' in connection with his university employment.
But if there's nothing to this, then why is Edwards refusing to release the details of his request?
"While e-mails concerning pre-employment contract negotiations will not be released, the outcome of these discussions is and has been public and can be found in Senator Edwards' employment agreement with the university,'' said Edwards spokeswoman Colleen Murray, who said the former North Carolina senator ''inquired about the possibility of continuing to purchase, in the future, season tickets as he has for many years.''
The university and the Edwards campaign also declined to release an attachment to a January 2005 e-mail from Lackey that appears to detail his compensation request.
It's hard to conceive of anything nefarious here; it's just basketball tickets, right? (Perhaps even tickets devalued by the Tarheels' embarrassing NCAA Tournament loss to my alma mater in a memorable game last March.) But if it is so innocent, why hide it? It's sure to get every conspiracy theorist and blogger searching for the next embarrassing Silky anecdote.
So if you have any guesses as to what's so embarrassing about a simple ticket request, send it in.
