San Diego Review June 1, 1995

Too strong & too smart to punch back

by Dwayne Hunn

Before Ed left his thriving used car sales manager’s business, he got an out-in-the-field taste of what his style of in-your-face political confrontations would bring. Ed’s work often

had him doing television commercials. On this day, one of the Sacramento stations had just finished a commercial with him on Saugstead’s ‘The Hill” dealership. Afterwards, Ed made a few frank remarks about Senator Lunardi. The reporter used in the commercial was a friend of the Senator’s and took exception to Ed’s stinging remarks. The reporter ripped some slashing remarks back at Ed, to which Ed, with one of the quickest tongues in the West, tartly replied.

After more sizzling reports, the reporter bloodied Ed’s mouth Ed, barrel-cheated with a workman’s arms, didn’t strike back. Instead, Ed pinned the reporter to the ground, dripped blood on his shirt and necktie, and pumped him with straight talk as Ed’s car-selling skydivers filled the reporter’s heaven-bound eyes rather than punched up stars. There was little the reporter could do— the politician and others to follow, like the skydivers, were set up by Ed to fail.

Soon Ed took his jazzman’s improvisation, set-up routine, cutting tongue and forthright insights into the big boys’ political arena. For most of the white or black knighted political gladiators who joined the contest, the results resembled those on the “The Hill.”