Don’t you just love it when…

You are reading a perfectly good interview with a major political candidate for your party and all of sudden you run into a stereotypical portrayal of homeschooling? That is what happened as I was reading this interview with John Edwards in Salon.

Elizabeth has announced that you plan to hire a tutor to help home-school your two youngest children, Emma Claire and Jack, in the fall so the family can be together on the campaign trail. Have you realized how many conservative votes you could get if you play up your plans for home schooling? I hadn't thought about that.

I assume that evolution will not be part of the curriculum. It'll be part of our curriculum.

Other than thinking about it, have you made any arrangements for home schooling? No. We haven't even talked to the children about it, which we have to do.

Now obviously it was the interviewer Walter Shapiro and not John Edwards who has the misconception about homeschoolers only consisting of conservatives who do not teach evolution. Edwards actually seemed a bit confused by the line of questioning (while I am sure Shapiro thought he was being "witty") I also find it amusing that Shapiro actually seems to think that truly conservative voters would overlook Edwards' more progressive stances just because he homeschools. Please. I have a feeling that it will take a bit more then becoming a homeschooler to convince true conservatives that Edwards is worth voting for.

I do wish that more folks in the media would wake up and realize that homeschoolers come in all shapes and sizes and all political persuasions. And that yes <gasp> liberals do homeschool!

Not sure it will do much good, but I had to respond of course…