From "Runner's World" interview with John Edwards, proof there's no interest group you can't pander to and no interest group that doesn't want to be pandered to:

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RW: You've got an amazing empathy for hardship and suffering of other people. It strikes me that that's part of being a runner, especially running marathons. Is there something about the hardship appeals to you?

JE: Suffering is too strong a word. I think being mentally tough enough to drive through difficulty and some level of pain, I think that means something. There's virtually no runner, that I know of, who doesn't experience that on a regular basis, just like I do.

Oh, right. That's why pain is good. Wait right here, we're going to brain ourselves with a stapler so that we can understand what it's like to be poor.

The Running Mate [Runner's World]