Senator John Edwards Joins Writers on the Picket Line

Today was a busy day on the picket lines. First of all, it was Fan Appreciation Day and fans gathered at each of the gates of NBC Universal's main lot with writers and actors from their favorite TV shows. Battlestar Galactica gathered at one gate, Desperate Housewives at another, Ghost Whisperer and Life at another.

I don't know how that went because I opted to go to the NBC Burbank lot, where we expected SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS, the pro-union, pro-universal-health-coverage candidate for the Democratic nomination for President to join the strikers in the afternoon. While those who gathered at the various main lot gates planned to hop over in the afternoon to see Edwards, I opted to spend my morning time with the writers manning the NBC Burbank lot for the full shift.

For those of you who don't know, the NBC Burbank lot is where NBC has always been. It is the home of the Jay Leno Show and Days of Our Lives among other productions. When NBC bought Universal Studios, that's when the main lot became NBC Universal.

I had invited my visual effects and artist friend , PAM, to the rally because she is involved in the Democratic Party and likes Edwards, although I do not know if Edwards is her candidate like he is mine. Nevertheless, I had successfully avoided being on film until she came along to insist we take our pictures to commemorate our participation. So forgive my bedraggled and windswept appearance in the picture to the left, as walking up and down the sidewalk for hours does not make me pulled together for the camera. I've been wearing my Hercules hat, which commemorates when we reached our first 50 episodes. I thought this was the most fitting of my hats as this is the series for which I have my WGA credit. Besides, Hercules traveled around righting wrongs and that's what we are out here to do today. These strikers are my Hercules of today.

And since turn-around is fair play, here's my friend Pam holding her sign. It was nice to have a friend to share this momentous blending of politics and writing.

As we walked the sidewalk, I chatted with my friend, Hercules and Xena writer PAUL ROBERT COYLE, who introduced me to his friend, SANDRA DOYLE. Paul told me that he had been assigned to NBC Burbank and hence, had been there since the strike began. I also met up with my friend, MELODY FOX, who is currently writing on Flash Gordon, and fellow AWG member, MICHAEL LENT. I also saw my friend JOE REINKEMEYER, whom you might remember from Buffy or Space Above and Beyond and many other shows.

We were approached by a guy from a radio station who wanted to interview us and asked if we had come out because of Senator John Edwards. So he got one of each... me who was out there because of the writers and who was happy that Edwards was coming because he has been my candidate from the beginning. And Pam, who had come out because of Edwards but also supported the writers and spoke very eloquently, I might add.

I was also approached by a guy who works as a grip and he was making a documentary to explain what the writers strike is all about to his fellow grips. These guys who work through IATSE union may have never paid attention to what writers get since they are the guys who work on the set making the principal photography work. Their union is telling them one thing, the papers another, their studio a third thing, and writers a fourth. So I was happy to give him my viewpoint for his documentary.

I have great respect for Edwards. While the other candidates have offered their support in hopes for a speedy settlement, he's the candidate that says, I'm with you, I'm with the workers, I'm with labor, I believe in the fairness of what you are asking for. And he's the candidate who has promised not to cross picket lines to go onto shows to campaign or to debate for the campaign. Just like his Teamster brothers, who choose not to cross picket lines either, and who honk in support every time they see a picket sign. This is why my Independent, no-voting-for-the-system-if-the-system-doesn't-represent-me soul, is firmly behind making him my President. I believe that this Democrat does represent me. And in this case, the publicity he brings us -- another day in the news media who would rather tell us about Brittany than what's going on on the picket line -- is worth more to us, I believe, than the boost it will give his campaign.

From what I could see, SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS arrived with little fanfare. Suddenly he was there in my line of sight, and I started to gravitate towards the spot. Meanwhile, an announcement was made and you could see how people gathered together in a big crowd. You can see in the picture to the left what a press of flesh it was. I couldn't get any closer to him because it was shoulder to shoulder people and cameras.

Since he had come to march with the strikers, he gave only a very short speech, where he did not ask us to vote for him. For today was not about him at all. He indicated that he stood with the writers and that it was important to organize all workers in the country. And that when he was president, he would still be with us. Then he started shaking hands. I did manage to be one of those people he shook hands with.

After shaking many hands, he started to move to his left (and my right) to connect with more people. And I found myself in a situation I had never experienced before. I now know how people get trampled at rock concerts. The press surged forward to follow him, except we were in its path, and there was nowhere to move because we were so packed, we were up against each other. But it was like an unstoppable force pushing on me and I could do nothing but be swept to my right with it.

It was a very weird feeling to be no longer in control of your body moving, or even your feet touching the ground. The sign I was carrying disappeared, no doubt trampled underfoot, and my sole concern became staying on my feet so I didn't disappear like my sign. My secondary concern was to fight my way out of there, but I couldn't do that at first. I had to let the mindless mass of flesh sweep me along in its pursuit of Edwards.

I'm sure they had no idea how they were pushing us like bulldozers and forcing us forward -- they were just intent on being near him to keep shooting their film and photos. Luckily, I kept my footing as I was swept along and eventually, I made my way out of there to the fringes. By this time, a phalanx was forming around Edwards so that he could walk with the strikers. I did try once more to get closer, to maybe get a better picture, but I couldn't see how to do it without getting into that mass again, and I didn't think a photo was worth the danger. So I stayed on the fringes and reasoned that this was not a political rally, but about writers, so the important thing was for me to be walking with the writers, the true reason I was there.

That's when I saw JAMES DENTON of Desperate Housewives, standing by the curb, holding his baby girl, MALIN, and talking to someone. What attracted my attention was not that it was James Denton, but that he wore the John Edwards Campaign T-shirt quite well. Hey, I'm a woman and I notice such things. A well-muscled hunk in a snug T-shirt will definitely attract my attention. And I was pleased to see the logo on it. So I went up to him and said, "That's the right candidate." As we shook hands, I told him that I loved him on the show, but I loved his choice of candidate even more. He told me that he has been traveling with Edwards and said, "John's a good man." After that, I let him get on with talking to others.

I eventually lost track of the phalanx around Edwards, but it didn't matter because it was about time for me to leave to go to work. I did my own pounding of the pavement until I had to hoof it to the car. I hope today helps bring up a speedy return to the negotiation table.