How 'bout a little fire, Scarecrow?

I don't really like to think that the Elizabeth Edwards/Ann Coulter incident was a completely cynical move on the Edwards' part as a ploy to promote outrage that manifests itself as cash. The wingers have, of course, been trying to frame it in exactly that light. GOP Maxim: If they accuse others of it, they're doing it themselves. And it certainly describes Coulter's entire career. I'm inclined to think that Elizabeth Edwards might just be ticked off about a skanky clown using her visibility for the sole purpose of accusing Democrats who are still with their first wives and fathers of well-adjusted, conscientious children of being "faggots." And is invited on the ostensibly serious 'Hardball' to do it again and again. Why not call in and stick it to the ghoulish hag?

At any rate, Ezra Klein has found a rather nifty way to enjoy the incident from a totally cynical perspective:

I've begun to find the John Edwards vs. Ann Coulter smackdown rather deliciously awesome. Coulter's genius has always been to provoke Democrats into selling her books. Her venom + the Left's outrage = profits. The Edwards campaign has reversed the equation. Her venom + their outrage = fundraising. Their Coulter-based appeals have raised $450,000 for the campaign -- cash that will be used to popularize ideas she loathes. They've taken the firestorm she creates and, instead of leaving the lucrative end of it to solely to Coulter, harnessed it for their own coffers. Others should take note: This is the correct karmic payback for Coulter. Not to be silenced, or condemned, but to help elevate everything she criticizes.

Yeah... that's pretty sweet. And cynical or not, it's nice to have Edwards out there talking about poverty and health care. He's still my favorite of the Democratic candidates.