Former senator's PS3 quest leads to Wal-Mart flap
The frenzy over Friday's U.S. launch of the Sony PlayStation 3 didn't end at the thousands of video-game fanatics--or, as the case may have been, enterprising resellers--who lined up all week outside storefronts from sea to shining sea.
But former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat from North Carolina, may now be wishing he went about his quest differently.
The 2004 vice-presidential running mate to John Kerry and possible 2008 presidential hopeful sand his wife, Elizabeth, were determined to snag the hotly anticipated game console for their young children, so they enlisted a staffer for help.
Little did they know that the volunteer would dial up the manager of his local Wal-Mart, a corporation that Edwards has openly criticized for allegedly unfair treatment of its employees. In fact, on Wednesday, he participated in a conference call hosted by the advocacy group Wake-Up Wal-Mart to discuss its "2006 Holiday Campaign" for changes in the megaretailer's practices.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Edwards acknowledged the gaffe and said he never intended for the staffer to approach Wal-Mart. Describing the volunteer is a "young kid" who "feels terrible," Edwards added: "He made a mistake and he knows he should not have used my name."
Meanwhile, the Bentonville, Ark.-based corporation jumped on the staffer's "mistake." In a press release, the company beckoned Edwards to check out its full line of holiday gifts at the store's "roll-back prices" and even chided him a bit: "While the rest of America's working families are waiting patiently in line, Senator Edwards wants to cut to the front."
