Official Scary Thought for Friday the 13th

John Edwards will be the next president of the United States.

For some time I've harbored a deep unease about the potential for America's blow-dried class-warrior to seize the reins of supreme executive power. Now, with Virginia Gov. Mark Warner stepping out of the race before it even starts, Edwards will have the young, Southern outsider vibe all to himself.

That matters as it gives him a head start on becoming the anti-Hillary, and in that task I'm convinced he will get a huge boost from his wife, Elizabeth. She is currently on a book tour, telling of her battle with cancer, and generally wowing audiences. As a little pudgy, plain even, Elizabeth connects as the Anti-Hillary and John gets residual bonus points from voters for sticking by her side through it all.

Doubt that? A recent account of an Elizabeth book-signing included this snippet:

Doug MacLeod, 55, was buying a book for his wife, who had her own breast cancer scare. After listening to Edwards, MacLeod, a Republican, said he was "a little warmer" to another expected try for the presidency by her husband.

"I'm not really very big into politics," he said. "But I just think they're genuine people," MacLeod said. "And I would like genuine people to run my country."

On top of that, Edwards has spent the last few years ensconced in a bogus UNC-Chapel Hill position fighting "poverty." This has meant that Edwards has jetted around the country giving speeches in favor of the living wage movement. Sounds minor, trifling even, but it does help his standing with union activists who are expected to form the core of the Hillary army.

Should his trial lawyer buddies come across with enough early dough for Edwards to win or show in the all-important money primary in 2007, look out.